Hot or cold. Night or day. Sunshine or cloudy. Ron Capps, Rahn Tobler and the entire NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car team have proven, time and time again, that they know how to get down a racetrack no matter the conditions.

Coming off a clean sweep at the NHRA national event in Epping, N.H. one week ago amid varying weather conditions, Capps continued his hot streak on Friday a few hours south with the two quickest passes of the day to take the provisional top spot at the NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park as the veteran looks for his third top qualifier award of the season and second straight.

“It is nice only having a few days (between events). Everything is pretty fresh,” Capps said, referencing the short layover between events. “In Epping, we had cool conditions and went 86 and then it got hot in qualifying on Saturday and it was hot on Monday to win. Today was the same thing. The first lap was hot, the track was upwards of 120 degrees at one point, so that first run was stout for those conditions.

“We have a great crew chief and they are able to adapt and that is what is needed.”

Capps set a new track record and recorded the ninth quickest pass in NHRA Funny Car history during Friday’s early session, running a 3.870-second lap at 318.62 mph to rocket to the top of the charts. He followed that up with a slower, but still quickest of the session, 3.878 at 321.04 mph during session two, placing the NAPA Dodge Charger R/T firmly at the top.

“During the second session, it is what the crew chiefs say, the track was so good it ate up a lot of the tuneup. It just gobbled up the advantage they gave the car to move quicker earlier,” Capps said. “It ran almost the same numbers and then it got down to where there are bumps in each lane and it just spun a little more and knocked a little bit of e.t. off.

“It is pretty bad when I get out to do the interview and I was bummed because it slowed down from an 87 to an 87. But that just tells you what kind of car we have right now.”

Matt Hagan is currently second in the Mopar Express Lanes/Rocky Boots Dodge Charger with a 3.901 at a track record speed of 326.71 mph. Robert Hight is third with a 3.915 at 323.74 mph, while Del Worsham (3.931) and Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.932) round out the top five.

While Capps would certainly love to add another green hat to his collection, his focus on Saturday will be all about getting the car ready for race day and trying to collect back-to-back Wallys.

“It would be nice to have another green hat, but I think you have to approach it like race day because I think we will see warm conditions like race day. And that is what is nice about having a crew chief that can race on Sunday,” Capps said. “We run late in the day tomorrow afternoon, so you never know. But we are focused on getting this car ready for Sunday.”

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