What a difference a year makes for Ron Capps.
After missing out on qualifying for the nitro Funny Car field at the inaugural SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout last year, Capps claimed glory Saturday night at the second annual event in Bradenton, Fla.
Capps clocked a 3.870-second elapsed time at 330.47 mph to defeat reigning NHRA world champion Austin Prock’s 4.003-second elapsed time at 316.16 mph.
“We knew that Jimmy (Prock) can run 3.79 (seconds) because he did it the night before. And I talked about my interview down there and that’s Robert Hight’s’ car and I love Austin Prock,” Capps said. “I love the proudness that he brings to that car, but I’ve been racing that car for world championships for a long time and that team, and if you ask anybody on that team, win or lose, when we’ve had battles for the championship with Robert driving it, I’m the first one to go over and shake their hands and tell them how much they push us and how much they push me and how good a team they are. That’s been going on for years, that is still the team that I’ve battled for championships for the last decade. Robert Hight, to me is probably one of the toughest. If anybody asks me who the toughest, not even John Force, believe it or not, it’d be Robert Hight. We’ve had some unbelievable races and him, and I race the same, for the same respect. Now, he put Austin in that car, it brings a whole new element and it’s been fun to watch, and it reminds me of my rookie year with Don Prudhomme with the Copenhagen car.
“So, I see a lot of myself in Austin, he dirt raced, he raced midgets, all the same things that I did coming up and I love it. I love that Jimmy has his son driving for him. And God, he’s a lightning bolt in the seat. You got to be… I’m not sure you can outdo him.”
Capps career is full of highlight reel performances, including three NHRA nitro world championship – the latest in 2022 and he was thrilled to add this win in Bradenton to his resume. A race he thought he didn’t win against Prock.
“You can try, but he is got something, something about him that really makes it tough to beat,” Capps said of Austin Prock. “And so, we saw what they did last year, and Guido (Capps’ crew chief Dean Antonelli) knew that they could throw down. He even said we might have to try to go 3.80 flat and just see what we can do. It did try to mow through the clutch, and I saw Austin’s nose out there about 300 feet and it just stayed there and then all of a sudden it disappeared. And when I hit the chutes, he still came by me with his chutes out.
“I didn’t know if we’d won or lost. And I actually really thought we lost until I came around the corner. But I said it last year, I don’t think we’ve seen a dominant season like we saw last year from start to finish with that team over there with Austin and Jimmy.”
A year ago, in the NHRA season Prock advanced to 12 final rounds and captured eight Wallys. He also had an NHRA nitro Funny Car record with 18 No. 1 qualifiers in 20 races.
“We’ve had some pretty unbelievable races during certain years and I’ve been in a car that felt that dominant for a stretch during a year,” Capps said. “But to do it all season long, I don’t think anybody’s done that in a long time. You can go back the Snake days, you can go back to (John) Force days, but we got more races now. And in today’s age, to do what they did last year, you just take your hat off and your kind of thankful that you can tell people later on that you were there for it.
“Yeah, you got your ass kicked, but like I told Jimmy (Prock) at the awards banquet when we had a drink and I said, ‘Man, you didn’t even leave a crumb for anybody.’ So to answer your question directly, when we had those dominant years, and listen, I had back-to-back seasons (2021 and 2022) with Guido and won championships, you have to push the people that you’re going to race for world championships, the Dickie Venables and Matt Hagans, J. R. Todd and his team. Then, obviously Robert Hight and Jimmy Prock through those days, and you just go down the list.”
After five runner-up finishes in 2024, Capps want to be the car that pushes Prock this season. On Saturday, Capps ousted Daniel Wilkerson, Jack Beckman and then Prock to claim the lucrative victory.
“We felt like in those years we were rattling off wins, you just go up there and do it unless somebody runs quicker than you and pushes you and gets in your head that you have to push yourself. And nobody did that last year to them all season,” Capps said. “There were flashes of people may be stepping up here and there, but honestly, they were never pushed. And you have to do that. And you ask Don Prudhomme, who’s been texting me all day long, you have to get into people and make them step outside the box. And that’s tough to do with a Jimmy Prock, but Guido is as good as it gets.
“He’s just as good as Jimmy Prock. And I love the fact that when he rolled out of the trailer for the final, he said, ‘We’re going to try to go 3.80, maybe 79. I love that about him.”
