BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Believe it or not, three-time NHRA Funny Car champion Ron Capps began his professional drag racing career 30 years ago.
Capps will mark that milestone when the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series stops at Arizona’s Firebird Motorsports Park April 5-7.
Capps made his professional debut aboard Roger Primm’s Top Fuel dragster during the 1995 Phoenix event, making next weekend’s annual race at the Chandler, Ariz., facility his 632nd aboard a nitromethane-powered race car.
Among active Mission Foods Series competitors, Capps is the fourth-most senior driver. His 75 Funny Car wins rank second in the category only to John Force, who carries an 18-year advantage over Capps, and his 76 overall wins (one Top Fuel) place him sixth on NHRA’s all-time victories list.
Capps, 58, has raced for some of the biggest names in the sport, including Don Prudhomme and the late super-team owner Don Schumacher. In 2022 he launched Ron Capps Motorsports, where he serves as both the owner and driver of his namesake operation.
Capps has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.
“My mentality is still to get myself as prepped as can be every season, especially with all of the new drivers coming up. We’ve got some unbelievable, young drivers in the sport,” he said. “It’s what I think of when I get up in the morning; how to be better at everything. And then you throw the company ownership onto that, there’s a lot more to it.
“I used to have to just worry about being the best driver and best brand representative but now there’s a lot more on my brain. But, I’m still so motivated.
“I’ve had the conversation with Don Prudhomme and he’s one of the few that when he retired, he actually retired. He didn’t come back after some time and ‘unretire’ or do any one-off races, or pop back into the sport,” Capps said. “He said one morning, he just wasn’t motivated to get into the race car and get his fire suit on and that’s how he knew it was time.
“I’ve already got an eyeball out the side looking at younger drivers for a chance to add a team, but to be honest, the topic of me retiring from driving, I don’t even see it on the horizon at this point. John Force is a great barometer, he’s a rare breed to go this long. It sets the tone for a lot of people in the sport.”
Capps is interested in growing RCM.
“We’re already looking at adding a dragster,” he said. “I’ve been a part of multi-car teams. When I first signed on with Don Prudhomme, I jumped right into a multi-car team — two Funny Cars and a dragster, and then when I went to Don Schumacher’s, he had seven teams at that time.
“Guido (Antonelli, crew chief) and I have talked about expanding and I’ve always said, I’ll only do it when Guido feels like we’re ready; he’s the leader of our team. If he’s OK with adding a car, which he is, we’ll add a Top Fuel dragster.
“So, we’ve already started that process and will do it at the right time. It’s something we’re actively working towards but we’re not going to just jump at the first thing that comes our way. It has to be the right fit, and it has to all make sense.”
Capps has had many memorable moments over 30 years.
“There’s always those big moments — the first win, of course, when I was in Top Fuel and to beat such big teams like we did was really incredible, but if I had to pick just one, it would be winning Indy last year in the Don Prudhomme Hot Wheels tribute car,” he recalled. “You just couldn’t have scripted that any better.
“The fans just absolutely loved that car, and to win with it at the biggest race of the year and have Don Prudhomme there and share the winner’s circle with him and go to a team dinner with him afterward, it was all just completely surreal.”