Ron Capps has two positive things going for him as he heads to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for this weekend's NHRA Nationals: the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car he drives for Don Schumacher Racing is showing promise after four straight first-round losses, and the quarter-mile at The Strip has arguably one of the best racing surfaces in the country.

Capps credits crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch and the NAPA crew for the team's newfound confidence after experiencing a "technical" epiphany before eliminations at the last event in Houston. Despite losing the opening round to a strong opponent, Capps' run was solid and straight and boded well for the future. Ron Capps has two positive things going for him as he heads to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for this weekend's NHRA Nationals: the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car he drives for Don Schumacher Racing is showing promise after four straight first-round losses, and the quarter-mile at The Strip has arguably one of the best racing surfaces in the country.

Capps credits crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch and the NAPA crew for the team's newfound confidence after experiencing a "technical" epiphany before eliminations at the last event in Houston. Despite losing the opening round to a strong opponent, Capps' run was solid and straight and boded well for the future.

"We need to get back on track more than anything else," said Capps, a two-time Funny Car victor at The Strip. "We keep saying it's early in the season but, even though we lost in Houston, I felt good about what Ace has done with the NAPA Dodge. And there's no better time than right now to be going to Vegas.

"The Strip at Las Vegas has always been good to us, and Ace always runs well there," added Capps, who is 15th in the point standings. "So it's just a good time for everybody involved - our sponsors, our team, (team owner) Don Schumacher - to get this car going and win some rounds.

"Right now it would be nice to just go past first round. I thought I'd never say that again, but that's the kind of season it's been. It's been kind of a topsy-turvy, strange kind of year," said Capps of having to adapt to the extra 100 pounds added by NHRA to the Funny Cars this season. "Anything can happen at these races and we've seen that. So, what we need to do is just get better, and I think the whole team has got that same focus."