Ron Capps Wins Fourth NHRA Funny Car Event in a Row at the Heartland Nationals

May 31, 2017

Antron Brown (left), Ron Capps (center), and Tanner Gray celebrate their victories in Topeka

Funny Car driver Ron Capps won the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Series 29th annual Heartland Nationals presented by Minties at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas. It was his fourth event win in a row.

Capps defeated his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan in the final round with a 3.924-second pass at 321.42 mph. Hagan was the No. 1 qualifier in Funny Car at Topeka. Capps is the first driver since Robert Hight in 2012 to win four NHRA Funny Car events in a row.

“I’m just the luckiest dude in the world,” Capps said after the races on Sunday. “I had nothing to do with it I just stepped on the gas at the right time and held the car together in the right lane. We’ve won a championship for a reason and we’ve won four in a row together for a reason. Everyone just gels together.”

Capps won events at Royal Purple Raceway in Texas, Max Dragway in North Carolina, and Atlanta Dragway in Georgia before winning at Topeka. Capps, the reigning NHRA Funny Car champion, knocked out Cruz Pedregon, Courtney Force, and Hight before facing Hagan in the final. Hagan set a national record with a 3.802-second pass at 338.85 mph in qualifying on Saturday. He eliminated Jack Wyatt, J.R. Todd, and Jack Beckman before losing to Capps in the final.

Capps increased his lead in the NHRA Funny Car standings over Hagan to 119 points after eight events.

Tanner Gray getting his tires hot and sticky on his way to the W at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas

Top Fuel driver Antron Brown won his second event of the season at Topeka. He beat Steve Torrence in the final round with a pass of 3.709 seconds at 332.75 mph. It was the first-time Brown won an NHRA Top Fuel event at Topeka.

“The competition has been so tight that you have to run these cars on edge every lap,” said Brown, who won the 63rd event of his NHRA career. “We kept our head down and stayed poised. We went out there and raced our hearts out. It feels really good to win here at Topeka. I’ve been wanting to win here for so long.”

Brown knocked out Kebin Kinsley, Shawn Langdon, and Leah Pritchett in the elimination rounds before facing Torrence in the final. Torrence beat Mike Salinas, Brittany Force, and Clay Millican in the elimination rounds. Brittany Force set the national speed record at 333.96 mph in eliminations. Torrence went to the final round for the fourth time this season.

Pritchett leads the NHRA Top Fuel standings after eight events. She has a 30-point lead over Torrence. Brown is third in the NHRA Top Fuel standings, 41 points behind Pritchett.

Rookie Tanner Gray won the NHRA Pro Stock title at Topeka. He beat Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the final round. Gray won his second event of the season. Coughlin lost when he red lit on the start in the final race.

Leah Pritchett (far lane) battles Tony Schumacher at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas

“I felt like I was pretty consistent all day,” Gray said after the races. “My guys gave me a great racecar. I definitely wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for them. They put a lot of hard work into this new car. There’s no doubt we have a championship caliber team.”

Bo Butner, who was the top qualifier and lost to Gray in the semifinals, leads the NHRA Pro Stock standings by 24 point over Greg Anderson. Gray is third, 60 points behind Butner.

The next race in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season is the fifth annual NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.

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