CARLSBAD, Calif. — Funny Car driver Ron Capps of Carlsbad finally won his first race of 2023. The 2-time defending World Champion of Funny Car drag racing also jumped into the NHRA Funny Car season points lead just before he won the final elimination round at Bristol, TN.
CBS 8's John Howard spoke with Capps after the big win.
John: First off, congratulations on the first win of the year. How does it feel?
Ron: Crazy. I didn't realize it was only seven races that we've gone, but I felt like it felt like two or three years since we won a race. We've had a great season and we got the points lead even before the final round. So to have the points lead at that time without a win shows the consistency our racecar has had but yeah, it was such a relief to get that win at Tennessee.
John: Tell me your thoughts about that final. The elapsed time was .3998 for you and .3999 for Alexis. Does it get any closer than that, for Pete's sake?
Ron: No. And I could hear going down the track. It was obvious, I knew it was going to be close. The way that track is, it's called Thunder Valley. The grandstand just goes straight up (on both sides) you're actually in a valley. So the sound echoes off the trees. I could hear her, and it was like a video game. You're trying not to look out the window going 330 miles an hour. You're trying to focus on where you're going. But when you hear something out there, it's hard not to look.
John: I saw on your Twitter feed a little "ice chest treatment" for a member of your crew. What was that about?
Ron: We had to hire somebody new. So we brought in a kid named Alex. That was his first win. He'd never even worked on a drag car before this year. And so the rookie got the ice chest. The problem is, and they did this to Tony Stewart who won earlier this year, they dumped the ice chest on him and they didn't hold the lid. The lid came down, hit the kid (on the head) and almost gave him a concussion. So, he's got his rookie stripes off now. That was fun. He was seeing stars there for a minute.
John: Final question, Ron. We aired that video of you going out and talking to the fans during the rain delay in New England. You mentioned the idea of a dragster versus funny car event at that track. Let me take that one step further. What about the concept of a Top Fuel dragster going against a motorcycle, but the motorcycle gets some sort of a headstart? Or what about mixing all the different classes? Is that a stupid idea, or is worth considering?
Ron (chuckling): Well, let's do this Let's get you on the motorcycle and have you go down the track...doing maybe 180 miles per hour, and have a top fuel dragster come by you at 330 mph with fire coming out of the side header pipes. Ha ha. I don't think that would be a great idea. It'd be fun driving the dragster. But oh my gosh, that'd be a scary thing on a motorcycle.
John: But I would have a fire suit on. No problem.
Ron: We would get good TV ratings, John. There's no doubt about it.
John: All right, Ron. We appreciate your time as always. Congratulations on another win and best of luck the second half of the season.
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