There is just something magical about Brainerd International Raceway to Ron Capps.

Perhaps it is the pristine racing surface and race-favorable conditions. Maybe it is the friends, family and crew members that have such strong ties to the Minnesota area. Or, perhaps, it is the rabid fan base that flocks to the facility each year making up BIR’s famous “Zoo” camping area, with sections such as “Capps’ Corner” showcasing the dedication that these fans have to the sport.

Either way, Capps and BIR have a special relationship dating back several decades. Not only did the eventual Funny Car world champion get his start in the sport on its hallowed grounds, but Capps would go on to dominate at the facility in becoming the second-winningest pro at the track behind only John Force. 

On Sunday, Capps added to that tally with his seventh win at Brainerd and, more importantly, earned the 75th win of his illustrious career at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals to move him into a tie with Pat Austin on the all-time win list.

“There is just something special about this place,” an elated Capps said. “My career started here, literally, by a guy giving me a shot and it started in the staging lanes right over there. It is tough to win a race period, but to do it when your family is around is rare and it’s very cool. We’re going to test tomorrow, but we are taking the Wally out to the Zoo tonight. We did it the last time we won here. We took the Wally out and made sure everybody that helped us win gets a chance to get a picture and maybe pour a shot over the Wally.”

To add to Capps’ legend at the facility, the driver of the NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Funny Car earned his seventh triumph at the facility in an epic showdown with longtime rival Robert Hight. In a battle of two fierce competitors on the track, and perhaps two even more fierce competitors behind the scenes in crew chiefs Dean “Guido” Antonelli and Jimmy Prock, Capps was able to come out on top in a close drag race.

Capps left first and ran a smooth 3.887-second pass at 332.75 mph to earn his second win of the season. Hight, meanwhile, fell short of his third win of the season with a 3.900 at 324.90 mph to earn the runner-up spot.

“With Guido, I can see it in his eyes when he’s racing Jimmy Prock and Robert Hight,” Capps said. “It’s very cool because you know they’re going to push each other, and sometimes one of them makes a mistake and pushes too hard. But as the conditions got better and better, we were convinced they were probably going to go 85. That’s what Jimmy does, right? And Guido didn’t want to make a mistake and push too far.

“So the way I staged the car could have probably went an 86 in qualifying. I could hear Robert all the way down like a video game and I’m like, ‘Oh, come on, baby, just make it.’ It was a huge relief (when we won). I talked about the consistency that we’ve had. We’ve got all kinds of Funny Cars that have won multiple races this year, and yet here we are in the points lead with one win going into here. That tells you the consistency. You’re going to have to do it on the starting line to beat the NAPA car and you’re going to have to be good because Guido doesn’t make very many mistakes in smoking the tires. It grows my confidence. It’s just a lot of fun right now.”

Capps, the top qualifier from Saturday, had little trouble in advancing to his fifth final round of the season. He had passes of 3.906, 3.892 and 3.914 in the three rounds leading up to the final, easily dispatching of Jim Campbell, Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca, respectively, as all three of his Sunday opponents ran into trouble during their runs.

Hight, meanwhile, reached his third final round of the season with wins over Bobby Bode, Dave Richards and John Force. 

After the race, Capps admitted that he fed off of the energy of the crowd in collecting Sunday’s win, even going as far as spending some time with those fans -- and a few other VIPs — in the famous camping area the night prior to the race.

“We make a point of going out and celebrating in the Zoo a little bit with everybody here. We did it again last night,” Capps said. “We have two executives from NAPA that went out in the Zoo last year and they came back to this race. They haven’t been to any other NHRA races, but they came back here so we took them out again last night.

“We were back in bed at a decent hour, but there’s just something about (this place). There’s been times that I didn’t go out there on a Saturday night and we went out first round. So I was like, ‘That’s not happening again.’ So we make sure we go out. I’m still a huge fan of the sport, so I go out there and enjoy time with the fans. But I will say it is bizarre sometimes to pull up and they have Capps’ Corner and all of that crazy stuff.”

While Capps was able to regain the points lead for the first time since Bristol in early June, he is the first to admit that the Funny Car landscape has changed dramatically since then. While he faced little resistance in his march to the final Sunday, that has not been the case with a litany of different drivers capable of winning on any given Sunday.

“There’s so many cars right now (that can win),” Capps said. “We’re going to Indy and all of a sudden you have legitimately a dozen Funny Cars that can go win in any given weekend. So here we are again. We had to fight tooth and nail to get the championship (last year) and it’s going to be that way again.”

Next up for the teams is a trip to the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, a race where Capps is the defending race winner. Last year Capps was able to finally check a win in the sports biggest race off of his bucket list and used that momentum to power his way to a second title in the Funny Car category. This year, he is looking to do the same as he takes the points lead into the regular season finale in two weeks.

“We had a small goal we set to get to Indy and win the regular season points like we did last year,” Capps said. “We were down and we went into Indy and won the race and took the points lead. You could not have asked for a better weekend. I can’t believe I’m going there as the defending champion of the race. It’s going to be pretty neat.”