Capps starts new streak, wins pole for Big O Tires Nationals
Funny Car driver Ron Capps went from zero to hero in 4.080 seconds Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The veteran driver's streak of qualifying for 105 straight NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events ended two weeks ago when he failed to make the 16-car field for the event near Phoenix.
He started a new one in style by winning the pole for today's NHRA Big O Tires Nationals and set the track speed record at 315.49 mph.
"It had been four years since I didn't qualify, so it was tough," said Capps, who drives for Don Schumacher Racing. "The dedication for the NAPA (crew) guys to pack up, come here and spend (Monday) testing a brand-new car when they could have gone home.
"(The pole) was what they needed; that was the spark the guys needed."
Other top pro qualifiers entering today's championship eliminations are Del Worsham (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Sportsman racing starts at 9 a.m., and the first round of pro eliminations begins at 11.
■ TOP FUEL -- Worsham started the season by winning six of the first 14 titles in Top Fuel for Al-Anabi Racing and then set NHRA records for elapsed time and speed three weeks ago in Mohnton, Pa.
But in the six-event Countdown to the Championship playoff, Worsham has lost once in the first round and twice in the second round to drop to fourth in points.
He arrived Friday at Las Vegas with a new dragster he never had driven, and the new-car smell suited him as he won the pole for the season's penultimate event.
Worsham, 41, moved to the top on his final qualifying run with a time of 3.796 seconds at 322.88 mph to earn his sixth pole of the year.
■ PRO STOCK -- Edwards won his fourth Las Vegas pole with a run of 6.594 seconds (208.84 mph) in the third session that set track elapsed time and speed records.
Edwards won the NHRA event at Las Vegas in April and has won two of the past three at the track.
Runaway season points leader Jason Line fell to the No. 2 position but extended his lead to 199 points over KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson in championship points.
Line can clinch his second title today if he advances to the final round or goes two rounds farther than Anderson.
■ PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE -- Arana took the top spot in the third of four sessions.
The top time for Arana, 22, was 6.879 seconds (195.39 mph) and gave the rookie his seventh pole of the season and fourth straight.
Veteran rider Joe DeSantis, 69, sustained an apparent wrist injury when he crashed in the final session. The resident of Rootstown, Ohio, was transported to University Medical Center for further evaluation and treatment.
■ SPORTSMAN -- Boulder City's Duane Shields, ranked No. 1 nationally in Top Alcohol Dragster, qualified eighth and lost in the first round of eliminations Saturday night.
Pole winner Jim Whiteley of Grand Junction, Colo., and Joey Severance of Woodburn, Ore., are the only drivers who can overtake Shields in two weeks at the season finale in Pomona, Calif. Whiteley advanced to today's second round, and Severance lost in the first round.
■ TRACK WALK -- Ticket-holding spectators are invited to join drag racing legends Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen for a fan walk that begins at 9:30 a.m. near the starting line.
Jeff Wolf is a freelance reporter. He can be reached at (702) 406-8165 or nitrorodeo@gmail.com.
