Drag Racing’s history has always fascinated three-time NHRA Funny Car champion Ron Capps. Coming up in February, Capps relishes the fact he’ll have the opportunity to be a part of it. 

Capps is just one of the frontrunning Funny Car racers entered to compete in the inaugural Scag Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout presented by Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage, Feb. 8-10, 2024 in Bradenton, Fla. The $250,000 prize posted for the winner is more than Capps or any of his Funny Car counterparts have ever raced for. 

“This event has been snowballing since the idea came up,” Capps said. “I’m pretty pumped about it. It’s fun to hear all the ideas. But I think the format will be something that we as fans – even though we’re racers – have always thought, ‘Let’s try this’ or ‘Let’s try that.’ Now is going to be the chance we get to finally do that.”

The event schedule will allow teams to test in prime conditions for a few days before going into race mode. Competition will begin with one qualifying session under the lights on Thursday, Feb. 8, followed by three sessions on Friday. The eight qualified drivers in Top Fuel and Funny Car and the 16 qualified drivers in Pro Stock will draw chips to determine the pairings for Saturday eliminations. The Top Fuel and Funny Car winners will walk away with $250,000 each, while the Pro Stock winner will take home $125,000. 

Capps is no stranger to big-money events, having raced in the Big Bud Shootouts and U.S. Smokeless Showdown events. His only big bucks showdown as a team owner has been the Pep Boys Allstar Callout event. 

“We wanted to make it the largest payout in drag racing history and make it legit,” Capps said. “I think that’s huge. Right away, when it was first announced, our sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts, saw the headlines and wanted to know more about it. I think it raised a lot of eyebrows with a lot of companies.”

Capps will be one of 13 Funny Car drivers invited to participate. He will need to be one of the eight quickest, as random drawing will do elimination pairings.  

“You’re gonna have to be ready to learn on the fly who you have next,” Capps said. “A lot of the crew chiefs say they race the racetrack, but a lot of them also race the other crew chiefs. Drivers, we have to race the other driver. Everybody’s different. Whether it’s Pro Stock or the fuel cars, it’s going to be exciting for us on the grounds at Bradenton, but I guarantee for everyone tuned in across the world on FloRacing, it’s going to be even more exciting. They’re going to know as quickly as we do, if not sooner sometimes, who our next opponent will be. That’s going to create a lot of excitement, I guarantee it.”

There’s a lot to be anxious about this event. This is how Capps and those participating see it. 

“It would be huge to be able to win the inaugural event, especially since us, the racers, have worked so hard to help put it on,” Capps said. “I think everyone’s going to want to win this first trophy and take home this first check for sure.”