COMMERCE, Ga. (May 5, 2012) - Ron Capps came close to getting a baseball over the plate when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday at Turner Field before an Atlanta Braves game. Even back in his wheelhouse, the popular driver of the NAPA Brakes Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car came even closer than his pitch when he earned the No. 2 qualifying spot for Sunday's championship eliminations of the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. It is the third consecutive NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event in which he qualified No. 2 since not qualifying for the April 15 eliminations at Las Vegas. Better news - but not great news - is that in each of the past two events Capps advanced to the championship round. "Finishing second the last two races really isn't that bad and we qualified second again here this weekend," said Capps, who has never won a title at Atlanta. He was runner-up three times (1995, 2000 and 2001) and has not advanced out of the semifinals since 2001. "There are 14 other guys that would trade places with us the past couple weeks. We feel we let a few races get away, especially that final round at Houston. That was a tough one." At Houston, Capps lost traction when he had a substantial lead over Mike Neff who won and gave John Force Racing each of this year's first six Funny Car titles. Neff, however, did not qualify at Atlanta. "I can't say enough about this NAPA team," Capps said. "It's such a confidence builder as a driver to have a consistent race car that goes down the track. It really takes the pressure off and that's really important in conditions like we have at Atlanta this weekend. It's really tricky out there with the heat and crosswind. "You have to be on your game and that's pretty easy to do working with guys like (crew chief) Rahn Tobler, (assistant crew chief) John Collins and this entire NAPA Brakes crew. And, it puts pressure on your opponent too. "When I wake up on Sunday morning, I know I have a hot rod and that's a good feeling to have." Capps will open Sunday racing against second-generation racer Daniel Wilkerson. Temperatures in the mid-80s and relative humidity hovering around 60 percent held down performances, and similar forecast is for Sunday. From: Jeff Wolf
