Veteran nitro Funny Car driver Ron Capps isn’t the best driver to never win an NHRA world championship. He accomplished that feat in 2016.

Now Capps heads to the season finale – the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., Nov. 11-14 with a 58-point lead over his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan and 83-points in front of third-place Cruz Pedregon.

And mathematically the top seven drivers in the points standings – fourth through seventh being J.R. Todd, John Force, Bob Tasca III and Robert Hight – are still in the championship hunt since 180 points are up for grabs in Pomona.

“The plan to win the race is the ultimate and that would take care of business,” Capps said. “There also more available points in qualifying and they are giving a few more points for qualifying position. Honestly, right now, we are going with the same mindset and that’s to qualify. There are going to be 20-plus Funny Cars and you just don’t know.

“Anybody who looks past qualifying with a race with more than 16 Funny Cars is asking for trouble, so that’s our first goal. With a 58-point lead if we can gain three on Hagan and the people behind us, that will put it over the threshold of 60, then that creates another whole round because points and a half, is 30 points a round. That increases the cushion a little bit. Our mindset is Friday get in the show and try and steal those points and gain on Hagan, which is tough to do with a team like his because that car can throw down.”

After working several years with world championship crew chief Rahn Tobler, Capps had to adjust to new tuners when Tobler retired in January of 2021.  Dean "Guido" Antonelli and John Medlen became the co-crew chiefs, and it has gone better than Capps imagined.

“It is way cool,” Capps said. “Obviously all these years hoped we would someday get to work together, and the circumstances came so last minute. It didn’t take long to get used to working with each other, shoot we went to Gainesville (the season-opening race) and were No. 1 qualifier. I knew we had the car. It has been fun. I didn’t even know the guys names on the crew. It has been and it has been crazy.”

Capps has two wins this season at the Winternationals in July and in Dallas during the Countdown. His worst qualifying position was ninth in Topeka, Kan.

Capps has long been considered one of the best drivers in the nitro Funny Car class and he’s well aware of what a second world championship would mean on his resume.

“I’ve heard other drivers talk about their second (world championship) and third,” Capps said. “You don’t ever see me wearing my (championship) ring. It’s great to have the championship but it is almost like you forget about it because you are so set on trying to win another one. It would be, I can’t say better, because it is hard to explain that first one, I don’t know about validation, but it would be pretty cool to win it with the group of people I have with me now.”

The dragstrip at Pomona is one Capps’ favorites.

“I love it,” Capps said. “I moved down here to the San Diego area with Snake (Don Pudhomme) when I went to work for him, and Pomona has become my home track. I grew up in Central California, and Sonoma was my home track. I have always loved Pomona. It is the perfect place to end the season and the perfect place to start it and it is the most historic track I think we go to. I love it.”

Capps knows what it takes to win as he has collected 68 national event wins in his decorated career and he isn’t about being amped up when he arrives in Pomona on the final weekend.

“I don’t try and change anything,” he said. “In fact, I have a bunch of buddies and we are doing the same thing leading into the race. We park our motorhomes their at the track and go out to dinner and we are going to do the same thing we always do. I’m not one of those who is going to buckle down because it is the last and I’m going to be overly cautious of having any distractions. I’m just going to try and so the same thing. Obviously, you to stay focused but I’ve always thought trying to keep the same thing up. It is easy to say. You get there and you definitely know you’re in a much more stressful situation.

“Last week (in Vegas) was the perfect example. We knew as the day went on, we knew we had to keep gaining points and we kept winning rounds. When I would start to feel a little bit about the heat of the battle, my crew guys and Guido would crack or joke or the crew guys would have music on they know I would like. They would know what keeps me back in my frame of mind. It has been that way all season.”