The odds say that it was just as well that Mike Neff drove his broken race car to the finish line without backing up from the burnout.

Ron Capps would have been a monster to beat anyway.

Who said that? It wasn't Capps. Maybe it was “Fate” talking.

No disrespect intended towards Neff, but after a year of nothing going right for Capps, he's suddenly faced with the prospect of doing no wrong in 2009.

The odds say that it was just as well that Mike Neff drove his broken race car to the finish line without backing up from the burnout.

Ron Capps would have been a monster to beat anyway.

Who said that? It wasn't Capps. Maybe it was “Fate” talking.

No disrespect intended towards Neff, but after a year of nothing going right for Capps, he's suddenly faced with the prospect of doing no wrong in 2009.

Capps ran a 4.048 elapsed time in the final round, just .001 off of Neff’s 4.047 in the semis. Clearly from the first round of competition the NAPA Auto Parts-sponsored driver has had just enough to win every round of competition during the NHRA Lucas Slick Mist Nationals in Phoenix, Az., starting with his triumph over Jeff Arend and continuing through wins over teammate Matt Hagan, Del Worsham and then Neff in the finals.

While many might give the lion’s share of credit to the driver, the driver turned the spotlight on his tuner Ed “Ace” McCulloch. The tuner was clearly cooking throughout the event.

“He's the man," said Capps in the winner's circle. "He's done well in his career, driven Funny Cars, Top Fuel dragsters. He's my hero. I can't tell you how I feel right now. More than anything [this win is great] for the NAPA guys and for Ace. He really worked hard in the off season and kind of started from scratch with the tune-up.

"It's like a really good cook learning how to cook again completely differently. The car is just so different to run, to feel, and it puts me in the trunk at half-track. It's so much fun to drive and when the win light comes on, it's even better.”

When the meal tastes this good, you go back for second helpings and on this day, Capps returned for a third helping and finished off the meal with a nice desert prepared by Chef McCulloch.

"To run the 4:04 in the final was awesome,” Capps added. “Ace could've just tried to go down the track, but he wanted to give the fans the best run this weekend.”

If you think this season strikes an eerie resemblance to the team’s strong 2007 start, Capps warns that 2009 will present its own unique flavor, one intended to provide heartburn to the competition.

"Our focus this year is to roll into each race and rip their hearts out in each run; focus on winning each race,” Capps explained. “The points will come, the Countdown will come. Honestly, Ace had this look in his eye like, 'get out of my way, and [to me], 'you'd better hang on because you're going in the trunk of this car when it gets out there.'

"It's a great feeling, because we were embarrassed by not winning any races last year. We flat out didn't give NAPA what they deserved. And they came on board when they saw what we did in 2005-2007 (11 wins) and those three years were great. This is what we should have been doing last year."

Sunday’s victory marked the 28th career victory for Capps, and second consecutive in 2009. He now holds a 97-point lead over second place Del Worsham, a semi-finalist on Sunday.