“He didn't red light,” said car owner Don Schumacher, with confidence, when asked about Ron Capps run against teammate Jack Beckman in the first round.

In 685 previous runs in either a Top Fuel dragster or a Funny Car, Capps has only turned on the red light once. Now, according to the NHRA, in his 686th pass he's done it twice.

Capps, his car owner and others who have looked at the ESPN tapes disagree.

“Obviously it was frustrating first off to race our teammate first round,” said Capps. “It's inevitable, but it's not something you like doing."

“He didn't red light,” said car owner Don Schumacher, with confidence, when asked about Ron Capps run against teammate Jack Beckman in the first round.

In 685 previous runs in either a Top Fuel dragster or a Funny Car, Capps has only turned on the red light once. Now, according to the NHRA, in his 686th pass he's done it twice.

Capps, his car owner and others who have looked at the ESPN tapes disagree.

“Obviously it was frustrating first off to race our teammate first round,” said Capps. “It's inevitable, but it's not something you like doing.

“The run was very strange. The NAPA Brakes Dodge left, it went out and it rattled the tires loose early and I saw Jack going on down there. I coasted down and took the turnoff and came around the corner and I'm sure I was visibly upset that we lost. I felt that with John Force going out and Robert Hight going out we really could have made up some ground and got ourselves back in the hunt.

“Gary Gerould of ESPN came over to interview me and asked how I felt about the red light. I said, What red light? I didn't red light. I left on amber and I didn't red light, but apparently the red light was on.

“After coming back and talking with the ESPN guys and they looked at the slo-mo footage and we looked at our camera and Beckman's guys looked at their camera, it appeared to affirm what I already knew. I left on amber, I didn't leave early and the car didn't move.

“There were some things that happened in the left lane not just in Funny Car but in other classes where there some really phantom 60-foot and reaction times in the left lane. So, there was something going on in there.

“We would have lost the round anyway, but it's a little frustrating.”

“I've been driving Funny Cars for 13 years. I've only red-lit once. If I make a mistake I'm the first one to come back and tell everybody that I made a mistake driving. I told John (Medlen), Ace (Ed McCulloch) and Don (Schumacher) I was 100 percent sure I left on amber and I didn't red light.

“As I said, It wouldn't have made a difference.”

At the time of this posting, NHRA stands behind the sheets which show Capps clocked the second red light of his career.

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