CAPPS GRABS NO. 2 IN ATLANTA QUALIFYING
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
Contact: Judy Stropus
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 14, 2005) - Ron Capps, driving the Brut Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car, claimed his best starting position of the year today at the NHRA Southern Nationals, posting a solid 4.785/321.04 pass in the final session, which was good for No. 1 until his teammate Gary Scelzi surpassed it by three thousandths of a second, relegating him to No. 2.
There was only a slight disappointment in the Brut camp, as Capps had been No. 12 going into that round, which was delayed for two and a half hours because of rain.
"We feel like Scelzi and Zippy (Scelzi's crew chief Mike Neff) rained a little bit on our parade," he smiled. "But, seriously, we're tickled. No, I'm a Brut guy, I can't be tickled. We're happy. Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) and (co-crew chief Dan) Olson predicted we would run a low. 80 and because I'm a driver I put a little extra into it and squeezed that .81 into a .78.
"It's a great effort. It was cool because it was nice that we got the track dried. The NHRA's Safety Safari did a great job. I figured the fans all were gone. I did the burnout, I looked out there and the stands were still packed. It was good to give those guys a show and put the Schumacher cars 1 and 2."
Capps faces Bob Gilbertson in first round of eliminations on Sunday.
Capps' crew chief Ed McCulloch has a successful history at Atlanta Dragway. He is second only to John Force in victories at this track as a Funny Car driver. Force has won six times here, Ace three times (1990, 1988, 1986).
Did his history at this track as a driver help him as a crew chief? "There really is nothing to relate to," he said. "Things have changed so much over the years since I was driving. But to be able to come to a race track where you've had success you always think, way down deep inside, that maybe you could do pretty well here.
"We've been working on this. We made some changes after we stayed in Bristol and tested and we made some changes, and the changes that we made deleted all the information that we've been gaining all year long. We came here after the couple of runs of testing and we sort of started from scratch, so we've been searching.
"Our combination is good and it's going to be good," he added.
Contact: Judy Stropus
COMMERCE, Ga. (May 14, 2005) - Ron Capps, driving the Brut Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car, claimed his best starting position of the year today at the NHRA Southern Nationals, posting a solid 4.785/321.04 pass in the final session, which was good for No. 1 until his teammate Gary Scelzi surpassed it by three thousandths of a second, relegating him to No. 2.
There was only a slight disappointment in the Brut camp, as Capps had been No. 12 going into that round, which was delayed for two and a half hours because of rain.
"We feel like Scelzi and Zippy (Scelzi's crew chief Mike Neff) rained a little bit on our parade," he smiled. "But, seriously, we're tickled. No, I'm a Brut guy, I can't be tickled. We're happy. Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) and (co-crew chief Dan) Olson predicted we would run a low. 80 and because I'm a driver I put a little extra into it and squeezed that .81 into a .78.
"It's a great effort. It was cool because it was nice that we got the track dried. The NHRA's Safety Safari did a great job. I figured the fans all were gone. I did the burnout, I looked out there and the stands were still packed. It was good to give those guys a show and put the Schumacher cars 1 and 2."
Capps faces Bob Gilbertson in first round of eliminations on Sunday.
Capps' crew chief Ed McCulloch has a successful history at Atlanta Dragway. He is second only to John Force in victories at this track as a Funny Car driver. Force has won six times here, Ace three times (1990, 1988, 1986).
Did his history at this track as a driver help him as a crew chief? "There really is nothing to relate to," he said. "Things have changed so much over the years since I was driving. But to be able to come to a race track where you've had success you always think, way down deep inside, that maybe you could do pretty well here.
"We've been working on this. We made some changes after we stayed in Bristol and tested and we made some changes, and the changes that we made deleted all the information that we've been gaining all year long. We came here after the couple of runs of testing and we sort of started from scratch, so we've been searching.
"Our combination is good and it's going to be good," he added.
posted by David @ 1:11 AM
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