It’s hard to imagine Ron Capps with pompons in his hands and leaping into the splits Saturday upon entering crew chief Rahn Tobler’s office in one of the NAPA AUTO PARTS technical trailers at zMAX Dragway at Bristol, Tenn.

But if that’s what it would have taken to help his Mello Yello Funny Car team snap out of a 13-race slump, the 2016 NHRA Funny Car champion would have happily taken the chance on ripping a groin muscle.

“Tobler looked so down on himself (Saturday morning),” Capps said. “We didn’t run well the night before, and he just had that look. Those are the times you have to play cheerleader, and that’s what I think my job is.

“I said ‘Tobler, you’re going to find it today (Saturday). Today is going to be (hot) like tomorrow (will be). You set the bar for the last three years. You were the one who went out and made other crew chiefs want to retire in these hot conditions,’ and he did.

“He found that clutch disc problem and away we went.”

All the way to the winner’s circle after defeating Bob Tasca III and Tobler’s former assistant crew chief Eric Lane in the final round for Capps’ track record fifth Bristol title.

The other Mello Yello event winners at Bristol were Tony Schumacher in Top Fuel and Jeg Coughlin Jr. in Pro Stock. The three winners have combined for 222 NHRA titles: Schumacher 84, Coughlin 79 and Capps 59.

Capps’ time of  4.234 seconds at 296.37 mph beat Tasca’s 4.300 (286.98) to give Don Schumacher Racing 300 nitro titles and 323 overall.

Capps opened the day by defeating 16-time world champion John Force in what boosted the team’s confidence.

“That’s a final round matchup,” Capps said of facing Force. “It’s a matchup for a championship, it always is. We didn’t have lane choice, we’re running John Force, and someone had just spilled oil in (our) lane, but typical Rahn Tobler, he put it right down the track, over the bump and it was just on a great run and set the tone for the rest of the day.”

He went on to beat reigning world champ Robert Hight, JR Todd, who has two wins this year in 11 races, and Tasca.

The victory earned Capps his 59th Funny Car win.

“This is a great facility, and when you roll into this place you get a special feeling,” Capps said. “Getting to the winner’s circle at a track like this is even more special, because you feel like you really had to earn it, and this weekend I am proud of what my team accomplished in some tough conditions.”

They raced on a hot track Saturday and even hotter one Sunday when track temps soared to 147 degrees.

Capps, Tobler and the NAPA Dodge Charger team had been mired in a slump since early October after dominating the first half of the 2017 season but had not won a Wally Trophy since the 21st race of the season, which was their eighth of the year.