After a thrilling run during the Stampede of Speed at Texas Motorplex has come to an end and the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series is moving on to the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
There are only two races left in the six-race Countdown to the Championship, and tensions are growing as the title favorites emerge in the Funny Car and Top Fuel classes.
Capps Gains Ground On Hight
Ron Capps has been steadily creeping up on Funny Car points leader Robert Hight with his recent performances during the Countdown.
While it was a disappointing opening round of the Countdown for Capps — who exited in the quarterfinals at Maple Grove (Pa.) Raceway — he made a major comeback the next weekend at the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C., and added a fourth win to his season.
The 28-year Funny Car veteran maintained an air of serious determination, even while riding the high of his victory.
“I just want to get back in the fight,” Capps said in Concord. “You can’t count on Robert Hight and Jimmy Prock to do that, to give you that chance and crack the door open.”
The third race of the Countdown took place during the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Ill. The event delivered high drama in the Funny Car class as Capps and Hight faced off in the final round of eliminations.
Though Hight flipped the win light, Capps was lurking a mere 46 points behind him as the series headed south to Texas Motorplex for the FallNationals. Capps qualified respectably in third, but Hight had a stronger run during Friday and Saturday’s sessions, stretching the gap to 50 points.
“We needed to take care of business today,” Capps said in Texas. “We left some points on the table in St. Louis in the final, and so we wanted retribution.”
Capps blasted down the dragstrip in all four elimination rounds on Sunday, defeating Jeff Diehl, John Force and Hight on his way to the finals.
In his showdown with Matt Hagan, Capps scored the Texas victory with a 3.911-second elapsed time.
“We never left the championship conversation,” Capps said. “If we can leave Vegas in the position we’re in right now, or even gain a little bit, that’d be huge. It’s shaping up to be another year like last year.”
The gap between Capps and Hight is 10 points.
Ashley Rides Momentum To Vegas
It was a tough start to the weekend at the Texas NHRA FallNationals for Justin Ashley, as the Top Fuel points leader qualified 10th.
To further his need for a solid performance on race day, Ashley arrived at the Texas drag strip with a meager 14-point lead over four-time champion Steve Torrence following his first-round exit at the previous event.
“First round losses can kill you in the Countdown, but only if you let them,” Ashley said following St. Louis. “We don’t want to look at this race under a microscope and we have to look at the season and the Countdown as a whole. We have been doing a great job and I fully expect that to continue the rest of the season.”
The Phillips Connect dragster driver virtually predicted his ensuing success in Texas, as he came back from his anomaly of a weekend in St. Louis to score a repeat win at the FallNationals.
Meanwhile, his main title rivals Torrence and Force made early exits, allowing Ashley to extend his lead. Torrence lost in the first round of eliminations and Force saw her last green light of the weekend in the quarterfinals.
Force took second in the standings, 82 points behind Ashley, while Antron Brown moved up to third place, two points behind Force. Torrence was relegated to fourth, 96 points behind Ashley.
At this stage in the season, hope is every bit as valuable as points, and that’s something Brown hasn’t lost just yet.
“This is how tight this field is right now, it can go either way no matter who you race,” Brown said. “We’ve got two races left and the championship is still right there in front of us so we’re just going to keep pushing.”