CAPPS OUT TO PROVE POMONA WAS NO FLUKE
Sat, 2009-02-21 08:00
You know you’ve got it going on when you start quoting your crew chief in the interviews.
Funny Car driver Ron Capps couldn’t help but to make good use of his crew chiefs words on Friday evening after he sped to the quickest elapsed time in provisional qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Slick Mist Nationals in Phoenix, Az.
"I quoted Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) at the top end, 'confidence breeds success,'" said Capps. "That's so apparent now. Obviously, [when] you win, you have a lot of confidence, but I really left there knowing we had a great car. And you always want to show up at a race after winning and at least in the next couple of runs show that you did win because you were the best car. And we proved that already. So, it's just nice to keep doing that.” You know you’ve got it going on when you start quoting your crew chief in the interviews.
Funny Car driver Ron Capps couldn’t help but to make good use of his crew chiefs words on Friday evening after he sped to the quickest elapsed time in provisional qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Slick Mist Nationals in Phoenix, Az.
"I quoted Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) at the top end, 'confidence breeds success,'" said Capps. "That's so apparent now. Obviously, [when] you win, you have a lot of confidence, but I really left there knowing we had a great car. And you always want to show up at a race after winning and at least in the next couple of runs show that you did win because you were the best car. And we proved that already. So, it's just nice to keep doing that.”
Capps recorded the second quickest 1,000-foot elapsed time with a 4.023-second run at over 305.63 miles per hour.
If Capps had a different swagger about himself after Pomona, the Phoenix effort added to it.
This confidence began for Capps not at Pomona, but weeks earlier in West Palm Beach, Fla. He led most of the testing until a last minute stretch by Del Worsham overtook him.
That didn’t bother Capps in the least. He was already on a roll, his confidence building with each passing moment.
Then, the announcement by the NHRA limiting testing by nitro teams to just four days in 2009 hit home.
The team began to test more than usual in Phoenix knowing they’d have to be frugal with testing during the season.
Pretty soon they found themselves trying to cram as much into their “free” test time as possible. What could have been a negative, turned swiftly into a positive.
“I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence headed into Pomona,” Capps admitted. “Ace didn’t either. We tried so many things that when we tried to put it [the combination] back to where it was, it took a few runs to get it back.”
Capps said throughout testing that McCulloch wouldn’t allow him to run past half-track. On the last pass he was given permission, if the car felt alright.
Capps ran a 4.14 elapsed time on that run.
“We were still a bit apprehensive,” Capps admitted. “We had to pedal it to get in the field and had to pedal it in the first round. He went large on race day.”
McCulloch went large in Friday’s Phoenix qualifying too.
After last season’s shortcomings, they’re not holding back – even if it is only the second race of the season. Their last national event win before the NHRA Kragen Winternationals two weekends ago was in St. Louis in 2007.
"We think about it every morning...about how we should have done last year,” Capps explained. “I just haven't had a car that when we got to the starting line on a Friday night session that we've threatened to be on the pole. And Ace is just a guy who wants to keep a good baseline on the car. We just never [have been] guys who threw the shot out there. Now he's feeling comfortable."
The shots are coming too.
Funny Car driver Ron Capps couldn’t help but to make good use of his crew chiefs words on Friday evening after he sped to the quickest elapsed time in provisional qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Slick Mist Nationals in Phoenix, Az.
"I quoted Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) at the top end, 'confidence breeds success,'" said Capps. "That's so apparent now. Obviously, [when] you win, you have a lot of confidence, but I really left there knowing we had a great car. And you always want to show up at a race after winning and at least in the next couple of runs show that you did win because you were the best car. And we proved that already. So, it's just nice to keep doing that.” You know you’ve got it going on when you start quoting your crew chief in the interviews.
Funny Car driver Ron Capps couldn’t help but to make good use of his crew chiefs words on Friday evening after he sped to the quickest elapsed time in provisional qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Slick Mist Nationals in Phoenix, Az.
"I quoted Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) at the top end, 'confidence breeds success,'" said Capps. "That's so apparent now. Obviously, [when] you win, you have a lot of confidence, but I really left there knowing we had a great car. And you always want to show up at a race after winning and at least in the next couple of runs show that you did win because you were the best car. And we proved that already. So, it's just nice to keep doing that.”
Capps recorded the second quickest 1,000-foot elapsed time with a 4.023-second run at over 305.63 miles per hour.
If Capps had a different swagger about himself after Pomona, the Phoenix effort added to it.
This confidence began for Capps not at Pomona, but weeks earlier in West Palm Beach, Fla. He led most of the testing until a last minute stretch by Del Worsham overtook him.
That didn’t bother Capps in the least. He was already on a roll, his confidence building with each passing moment.
Then, the announcement by the NHRA limiting testing by nitro teams to just four days in 2009 hit home.
The team began to test more than usual in Phoenix knowing they’d have to be frugal with testing during the season.
Pretty soon they found themselves trying to cram as much into their “free” test time as possible. What could have been a negative, turned swiftly into a positive.
“I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence headed into Pomona,” Capps admitted. “Ace didn’t either. We tried so many things that when we tried to put it [the combination] back to where it was, it took a few runs to get it back.”
Capps said throughout testing that McCulloch wouldn’t allow him to run past half-track. On the last pass he was given permission, if the car felt alright.
Capps ran a 4.14 elapsed time on that run.
“We were still a bit apprehensive,” Capps admitted. “We had to pedal it to get in the field and had to pedal it in the first round. He went large on race day.”
McCulloch went large in Friday’s Phoenix qualifying too.
After last season’s shortcomings, they’re not holding back – even if it is only the second race of the season. Their last national event win before the NHRA Kragen Winternationals two weekends ago was in St. Louis in 2007.
"We think about it every morning...about how we should have done last year,” Capps explained. “I just haven't had a car that when we got to the starting line on a Friday night session that we've threatened to be on the pole. And Ace is just a guy who wants to keep a good baseline on the car. We just never [have been] guys who threw the shot out there. Now he's feeling comfortable."
The shots are coming too.
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