BROWNSBURG, Ind. — One year after driving his Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme Hot Wheels tribute car to the Funny Car victory at the 2023 NHRA U.S. Nationals, Ron Capps will pay tribute to his former team owner yet again at this weekend’s 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Capps’ NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra will sport a special red, white and blue livery modeled after Prudhomme’s Army Funny Car, which went on a dominant run after its debut in 1974. The three-time world champion is chasing his third consecutive win at the most prestigious event of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Capps’ win in the ‘Snake’ Hot Wheels tribute car at last year’s U.S. Nationals came on the 50th anniversary of Prudhomme’s win at the 1973 U.S. Nationals. Prudhomme himself was a part of the NAPA team all weekend, from warming up the Toyota GR Supra before the first qualifying session on Friday to standing behind Capps on the starting line for the final round on Monday afternoon. It was Capps’ second consecutive win in his third consecutive final round at the Big Go.
“Running the Hot Wheels Don Prudhomme tribute car at the U.S. Nationals, having ‘Snake’ there, and then winning the race was certainly one of the highlights of my career,” said Capps, who drove for Prudhomme’s Snake Racing team from 1997 through 2004. “It’s been talked about since last year, and ‘Snake’ has told me it’s one of the coolest things that he’s been around, and that’s saying something coming from Don Prudhomme. It’s hard to top that, but there’s only one car that’s cooler than that car, and that’s the Army car that Don ran.”
The U.S. Army started its partnership with Prudhomme in 1974 and continued to support ‘The Snake’ through the 1980 season. During that time, he went on one of the most dominant stretches in NHRA history.
“I don’t think a lot of fans nowadays understand just how successful that race car was,” Capps said. “Almost half of his Funny Car wins were in that livery. All four of his Funny Car world championships were in the Army car. I had the Army model from Revell that I built as a kid. Shoot, I wanted to join the Army just because of that Funny Car. But going back to 1975, Don Prudhomme in the Army car won all but two national events the whole season. In 1976, he won all but one of the national events on the NHRA tour. It’s pretty amazing.”
During the time Capps and Prudhomme raced together, they added 13 event wins to Prudhomme’s long list of accolades. The 2023 U.S. Nationals victory with the Hot Wheels tribute car added another win to the duo’s tally, and now 20 years after their last full season together, Capps and Prudhomme have the opportunity to add yet another historic victory.
“Don Prudhomme gave me my start in Funny Car,” Capps said. “He saw something in me, and I never had to bring money to the table. It was something I’ll never forget. Being able to drive for one of the coolest guys in the sport, let alone in motor racing, is pretty neat. But to be able to give back like we did last year and run such a historic car was great.”
Just like last season, Capps and his Ron Capps Motorsports team went all-in on the throwback look, including special old-school crew uniforms and hats. Last year, the Hot Wheels tribute car won the Best Appearing Car award and the uniforms won the Best Appearing Crew title. The team’s partners all signed off on the one-race look as a tribute to Prudhomme and a unique element for the fans at the 70th running of the NHRA U.S. Nationals.
“Thanks again to NAPA for helping us do something so cool,” Capps said. “I hope our fans will visit one of their thousands of auto parts stores and auto care and collision centers for all of their aftermarket needs.”