BRAINERD, Minn. — Funny Car veteran Ron Capps is quick to sing the praises of Brainerd International Raceway and the loyal fans at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
As Capps and the rest of the stars of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series travel to Brainerd for this year’s annual race, his focus will be on another win at the penultimate race of the regular season.
Capps has been driving Funny Cars for 30 years and Brainerd International Raceway is always one of his favorite stops on the NHRA tour.
He has an impressive seven wins from the facility, the most of any active NHRA driver. The fan-favorite track has been so good to Capps, he has his own “Capps’ Corner” section of the famous Zoo camping facility.
This year, Capps and his team are focused on capitalizing on a track they are very familiar with in their 12,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra.
“Brainerd is a unique race in and of itself, but for the teams, it’s always an event that you circle on the calendar because you want to make sure, performance-wise, you have a race car that’s ready to go for battle heading into the playoffs,” said Capps, a three-time NHRA world champion.
“By the time you leave there, you want to feel confident knowing that you have a car that can go win the U.S. Nationals. You don’t want to go into Indy and be searching for a tune-up at the biggest NHRA event of the year, but at the same time, you don’t want to overlook Brainerd because it is one of those tracks that can hold anything under good conditions. It surely can catapult you, confidence-wise, when you have a good race in Brainerd into Indy, and overall, it’s probably the most fun event we have on the circuit.”
Last year, Justin Ashley (Top Fuel), Blake Alexander (Funny Car) and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) all won in Brainerd, while Antron Brown, Austin Prock and Greg Anderson took home Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge wins.
As a self-proclaimed rock-and-roll fan, Capps will have his eye on the unique trophy on Friday night. The event kicks off in festive fashion with the introduction of the American Rebel Light Friday Night “Battle for the Battle Axe.”
The Friday night qualifying session at Brainerd will award the low qualifier in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock a bonus, as well as a unique Rebel Axe trophy.
Earlier this season, Capps ended a year-long winless streak when he won in Bristol. He currently sits fourth in the overall points standings.
“We have a huge contingent of NAPA Auto Parts guests that come out to Brainerd, and it’s always a blast,” Capps said. “I also like to make sure our team members have the opportunity to really enjoy the race. The NAPA folks put on a great fishing event every year on Thursday with our crew to kick the weekend off, and I love that the guys get a chance to have some fun before we get into racing.”
