POMONA, Calif. — There was a moment during the racing shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic when Ron Capps realized it was time to begin working toward something new.
Capps, who captured his second NHRA Funny Car championship in his 17th season with Don Schumacher Racing last year, was worried about where his next paycheck would come from amid the COVID-19 shutdown.
He said it was then he realized it was time take control of his future. Thus, Capps began planning what has become Ron Capps Motorsports. Capps’ NHRA Funny Car team debuts this weekend during the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
“Right in the middle of the pandemic was sort of that big moment for me where I realized I needed to take control over my destiny,” Capps recalled. “It just worked out. The best part was NAPA Auto Parts came on board.”
He remembers making a phone call amid the COVID-19 shutdown to discuss how he was going to earn a paycheck with Don Schumacher Racing only to find out the voice on the other end of the line was in the middle of a round of golf.
In that moment, Capps knew it was time to take control of his future.
“So many people in this world, especially in the United States, were worse off during this pandemic,” Capps said. “It scared me that I was talking to somebody about what the next steps were going to be and am I going to have a job. It just reminded me while I was on the phone, whether he was on the golf course or on his boat, that I needed to have a little more control.”
By September of last season Capps had enough of the pieces in place and notified Don Schumacher of his intentions to leave the Don Schumacher Racing and form his own race team.
Amid all that, Capps still had to find the time and mental wherewithal to focus on winning the NHRA Funny Car championship. He ended up doing that in dramatic fashion during the Auto Club NHRA Finals, something that Capps still looks back on in amazement.
“It was unique to go through that championship and through our playoffs knowing I had already let Don Schumacher know in September that I was leaving,” Capps recalled. “To have all that noise going on behind the scenes and still be able to win the world championship like we did, you really couldn’t have scripted it better.
“By that time in October I knew NAPA Auto Parts was going to be part of my venture,” Capps noted. “A lot of other sponsors were jumping onboard and I knew it going into the last race. To be able to be crowned world champion and then go right into this new venture as a team owner was something … you couldn’t have written it better.”
Capps formally announced the launch of his team during the PRI Trade Show in December. He brought with him his longtime sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts, as well as his entire championship team from Don Schumacher Racing.
“I hired the exact same team that I won the championship with last year,” Capps said. “That was the first thing I did. That, to me, was an absolute that we had to do because people are everything.”
He is one of three new team owners entering the nitro ranks this year, joining former Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Brown and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart.
He admits there have been many sleepless nights leading up to the opening round of the season, but he said his best sleep came last week on the night before the first day of testing at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Ariz.
“It was a lot of sleepless nights. I probably slept the best last Thursday when I got to Phoenix for our preseason testing,” Capps said. “Showing up there in the pit area, seeing my name on the trailer, seeing Ron Capps Motorsports, firing the car up for the first time and knowing the next morning I was going to step on the gas and be able to drive as a team owner and a driver, I slept like a baby. It was so nice.”
His attention is now on the Winternationals, the opening round of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season, which begins Friday with the opening round of qualifying.
While he stopped short of saying he believed he could win the Funny Car title in his first season as an owner/driver, he acknowledged that, ultimately, that is the goal.
“You’ll never hear me say that because it sounds cocky,” Capps said. “That is the goal. There is no reason why we can’t. Last year if you had asked the top-12 Funny Car drivers, some may have told you that’s what we think we can do. You hope you can. The way the countdown is setup and the playoffs and the way things are, you just don’t know until the time comes.
“We always have a chance. I would not want to race our NAPA car. Not for the last 14 years we’ve had NAPA. Our car has always been consistent and tough to beat, but you never know what’s going to happen in drag racing.”