One year after suffering heartbreak in the finals of the NHRA U.S. Nationals, Capps could do no wrong Sunday.

Seeking redemption from a loss in the finals one year ago, Capps picked up the win in the inaugural Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car Allstar Callout, and also jumped to the top spot in qualifying heading into race day at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals.

“Overall it is a huge day for our Ron Capps Motorsports organization and all of our partners to do this,” Capps said. “It is a little bit of a competitor in Pep Boys and we have the NAPA Auto Care car this weekend, but I thank Pep Boys so much for doing this.

“It really puts the U.S. Nationals back to the way it used to be. We haven’t had this much excitement like we have had this weekend since we had the Bud, Skoal and Traxxas shootouts. That really brought a new element to this race.”

In the specialty race where drivers selected their opponents, Capps was the No. 2 seed, and had the second choice in who he raced in round one Sunday. After top-seeded Robert Hight called out red-hot Bob Tasca III, Capps chose the man who was the source of that
heartbreak last year in selecting Tim Wilkerson as his first-round opponent.

In that duel, Capps simply outran the defending U.S. Nationals race winner with a 3.864-second pass at 333.58 mph and nabbed the top spot on the Funny Car ladder with his Toyota Supra. Wilkerson crossed the stripe second with a respectable 3.920, 329.50 mph.

“We were always watching the points to see where we are at, but nobody really got serious about calling others out until probably Brainerd. And then us drivers started talking to each other and you started to hear some banter going back and forth,” Capps said. “We had our official team meeting because I wanted everybody involved in our team and not just me out there calling them out. It was a group effort and it turned out to be so much fun.”

While Capps had an idea of who he might call out entering the weekend, as the conditions continued to change – and after Hight’s stunning callout of Tasca – the strategy began to shift entering Saturday selections.

“The hair on everybody’s neck stood up when Robert called Tasca out. That was big,” Capps said. “We knew the conditions were cooling off, which started to change our strategy. We were probably going to call out the next biggest driver in that group because you wanted to take
advantage of the lane choice that you are automatically going to have first round. We weren’t sure if we were going to take (Matt) Hagan or someone else, and then the conditions changed.

“With that, it took a little bit of an advantage away and all of a sudden the lanes became very close. So with lane choice not being that big of an issue, and with the sting from Wilkerson’s run last year in the final round, that is why we picked him.”

In the money round of the Pep Boys Callout, Capps matched up with his old Don Schumacher Racing teammate Hagan and pulled out the win in an absolute thriller. Capps got away first and won by inches, winning on a holeshot with a 3.936-second pass at 330.47 mph to collect the $80,000 payday. Hagan, who led until the finish, crossed the stripe with a 3.900, 328.86 mph in his Dodge Power Brokers Dodge Charger.

Afterwards, Capps apologized to his final-round foe for staging a bit too deep, nearly foiling his own effort.

“That was not a holeshot win. I apologize to Matt and his team. We probably went the same E.T. or better. So I took that little bit away from (Dean Antonelli). It probably went 89 or 90, but I went in and I didn’t mean to roll that far,” Capps said. “I was mad at myself as the light came down, but the car was hauling the mail and I could hear Matt, but I didn’t see him. That is dangerous. I have lost a lot of close races this year just like that.

“I didn’t mean to do that during staging, but it is cool to win on a holeshot as a driver. And to do it for this much money is awesome.”

Wedged between those two runs was a semifinal victory over John Force. In that race, Capps earned lane choice for the final round with a 3.896-second lap at 332.59 mph to eliminate the 16-time champion from Callout contention.

Hagan advanced to the finals with wins over Alexis DeJoria and Hight.

At the end of the day, that first-round shot by Capps ended up being the difference in qualifying as well as Capps and crew chiefs Dean “Guido” Antonelli and John Medlen also stole the top-qualifier award away from Hight. That run propelled him over Hight’s 3.866 at 327.27 mph by two thousandths of a second.

“That 86 that Guido, Medlen and the NAPA Auto Care guys put down, I knew it was on a pretty good run,” Capps said. “When the clutch came in and it just planted me in the trunk of that Supra I knew it was going to be decent. I had no idea it would be an ‘86’ in those conditions. That was big.”

With Hight holding down the top spot for three of the five rounds of qualifying thanks to a strong effort Friday night, Capps was able to unseat his rival during Q4 with that stout 3.864. That pass bumped Hight to second in the order, while Tasca slotted in third with a 3.878 at 331.53 mph.

John Force and Blake Alexander rounded out the top five with identical 3.881-second laps.

While Capps relished an opportunity to collect a big payday and a special trophy from his visit to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, the ultimate prize is still out there. And after slapping the wall in his NAPA Auto Care Toyota on Friday, disqualifying his first run of the weekend, it was redemption for Capps on Sunday to sit atop the field.

“I’ve been a mess since Friday night. I was so mad at myself for putting that Darlington stripe on that Toyota Supra,” Capps said. “We found out what the problem was, but I felt like I could have caught it, and I am better than that. I was bummed that we ruined the body a little bit. That body is the one we blew up in the first round in Bristol and we came back with the body we have on now and won the Bristol race. This No. 1 thing is just another day. Tomorrow is going to be
great to know that we have it. To have lane choice on race day is always the goal.”

Capps’ chart-topping lap is his first at Indy and his fifth No. 1 of the season, tying him with Hagan for the most this season in the category. It is also the 34th pole position of his career.

Now Capps shifts his focus to race day at the NHRA U.S. Nationals as the defending Funny Car world champion looks to secure his first victory at the sport’s biggest race.

“I hear it every year I come here, ‘When are you going to win the U.S. Nationals?’ It gets monotonous,” Capps said. “I have a great racecar right now. The final round last year, I made the mistake of almost counting it. When you have that good of a car and to have lane choice and watch him throw down and whoop our butts, it stung.

“But I learned another lesson at Indy last year. We are going to have a great celebration tonight, and then get ready for tomorrow.”