It is officially Oct-Tobler in the NHRA.

After watching the competition slowly inch ahead over the past few months - namely the drivers and crew chiefs across the aisle at John Force Racing - Ron Capps and crew chief Rahn Tobler have closed the gap both in qualifying and on race day. Case-in-point, Sunday afternoon in St. Louis.

Capps hung right with national record holder Robert Hight over the first two days in qualifying at Gateway Motorsports Park and then took full advantage when both Hight and JFR teammate Courtney Force fell out early, earning his eighth win of the season and second in a row Sunday at the sixth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.

“It wasn’t just today. We left Reading with a lot of confidence. It was hot there, the conditions that we like, but then we saw Robert’s article that said when it is cool conditions, nobody is in their league - which is true here lately - but we wanted to close the gap,” Capps said. “On Friday we had good conditions and we went 85 and Robert went 84. We were right there with him. Then it cooled off Friday night and we went 84 and he went 83. I really feel like (Rahn) Tobler has worked on that part of the tuneup. Last year we said a semifinal average finish was going to win a championship and we did that going to Pomona. But I think this year is going to be even tougher.

“It is going to take more than a semifinal average finish. So it was big for Tobler to show he can run in the cool conditions. The season-ending race is points and a half and it is going to be cool with stout conditions. We know that going in so we have to be able to run with those guys there and we are starting to show that we can.”

Capps defeated upstart Jonnie Lindberg in the final, powering around the young racer with a 3.879-second pass at 331.53 mph in the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to earn his 58th career victory and fourth at Gateway. Lindberg had a 3.904 at 326.87 mph in the runner-up effort.

What made the matchup even more fascinating is that Lindberg is not part of the 10-driver Countdown to the Championship, creating a nothing-to-lose situation for the team.

“Back in Charlotte I said several times - the toughest cars in the Countdown every year are the cars that didn’t make the Countdown and we saw that today with the Lindburg and Alexis (DeJoria) cars,” Capps said. “Those are two great cars that should be in it and they have nothing to lose. They are the ones that are going to decide championships. It happens every year.

“They are the ones to be worried about because we are trying to race smart and they don’t have to worry about that. They are testing for next year. I knew in the final they were going to go up there and swing for the fence. Typically Jim Head is not known for always being consistent, he likes to tinker and try things and Tobler said not to count them out. We were expecting them to run what they ran, maybe better. Lindberg is a natural. He drives his own cars, tunes his own cars. He is a very talented kid and a lot of fun to race against.”

Capps added a close win against John Force in the semifinals, along with round wins over Jack Beckman and Jim Campbell to reach his third final in the last four races and 11th total final of the year. Lindberg had wins over Hight, DeJoria and Tim Wilkerson.

Meanwhile, the cars closest to Capps in the Funny Car championship, Robert Hight and Courtney Force, fell out in the third and second rounds respectively.

“It is tough because I almost don’t want to know (when drivers lose). In Reading I didn’t want to know what they did in front of us because I didn’t want that to affect me. Your heart rate goes up because you are like, here is our chance,” Capps said. “It is a product of the Countdown. Not only are you watching what you are doing, but you are grandstanding and looking to see what these other people are doing. Sometimes it will bite you in the butt, but you try not to worry about it.

“We definitely knew when he went out. We knew when Courtney went out. People may say not to worry about points, but I don’t know anybody out here that doesn’t worry about every little point. We definitely were and that is what you have to do.”

Capps leaves St. Louis with a 46-point cushion over Hight and a 108-point lead over Force. But it was the efforts shown by his crew chief - and a few kind words - that has Capps most excited entering the final three races of the season.

“(Tobler) is the best racer. He is fun to race with. I love his old school mentality and he gave me the biggest compliment this weekend,” Capps said. “After one of our runs I told him he was doing a great job. I told him, even though we didn’t have lane choice, we had a great run. He said to me, ‘no, you are driving like a champion.’ That floored me. You don’t hear those old school guys give out compliments. If they don’t say anything, that is a compliment. To get one out of him, to me, was huge.”