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Ron Capps Motorsports Post-Race Recap: Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals

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Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Event 14 of 20
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
Indianapolis
Sept. 4 – 7, 2026

Ron Capps Wraps Up NHRA Regular Season with Semifinal Finish at U.S. Nationals

By: Ron Capps Motorsports (Photos Courtesy Ron Capps Motorsports)

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 8, 2026) – Ron Capps capped a strong NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series regular season with a semifinal finish Monday afternoon at the 72nd annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park. After leading the Funny Car standings for much of the season, Capps entered the finale just 12 points out of first, reclaimed the lead during qualifying, and advanced to a semifinal showdown with Matt Hagan that ultimately decided the regular season championship. Capps finished the regular season second in points and will enter the Countdown to the Championship solidly in title contention after a standout weekend.

Capps and his special-edition Carlyle Tools Funny Car rolled into Indianapolis ranked third in points with a deficit that could be erased through qualifying points alone. Led by crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli, the NAPA Auto Care team went to work immediately on Friday, kicking off qualifying with the second-quickest pass of the session, a 3.938-second E.T. at 329.10 mph, to earn three bonus points. Capps earned another four points with the quickest pass of the second session on Saturday, a 4.003 E.T. at 315.64 mph. With a 3.914-second pass at 332.18 mph in the third session, Capps went to the provisional No. 1 spot and grabbed four more bonus points to sit just one point behind Hagan going into Sunday’s final two qualifying rounds. On Sunday, the fourth session also counted as the first round of the PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout, which was Capps’ 20th career specialty event and fifth Callout. He drove into tire smoke for the first time all weekend, allowing Alexis DeJoria to advance. Capps closed out qualifying with low E.T. of the fifth and final session, a 3.936 E.T. at 329.34 mph, to claim another four bonus points and take the points lead back.

The Carlyle Tools Funny Car kept the momentum going in the first round of eliminations Monday, where Capps faced fellow nitro veteran John Smith. Capps fired off his quickest pass of the event, a 3.908 E.T. at 333.66 mph, to move on over Smith. The turnaround for the quarterfinals brought some tense moments in the Ron Capps Motorsports pit, as Antonelli discovered a mechanical issue and the team had to thrash to fix it in time to face Daniel Wilkerson. As they were delayed heading to the staging lanes, Capps had to suit up in the pit area and Antonelli didn’t have a chance to fine-tune his adjustments for the round. With the track heating up, Capps drove his way to a 3.989 at 320.97 mph to defeat a tire-smoking Wilkerson. That set up a pressure-packed semifinal match with Hagan to decide the regular season champion. Without lane choice, Capps was relegated to the right lane. Like the two Top Fuel dragsters that ran in the lane before him, Capps went into tire smoke almost instantly after hitting the throttle, and Hagan went on to win the round and reclaim the No. 1 ranking.

“We didn’t think it’d be that big a deal to be in the right lane,” said Capps, a two-time U.S. Nationals winner. “It’s a lesser chosen lane with Funny Cars for sure, but we still went 3.93 in qualifying there, so we thought we could still get down there pretty well. But we sat up there and watched the two dragsters, including Alan Johnson’s, smoke the tires at the hit of the throttle in the right lane, and we knew it was going to be not good for Funny Cars. We went up there, and it did blow the tires off at the hit. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have two lanes that we could have given them a run for their money, but Hagan’s car ran great, and all the drama and build up made it extra exciting for the fans. It was a fun battle and now we focus on the (overall) championship. But all in all, just a good finish to the regular season. A strong No. 1 qualifying effort by the guys, and Guido used his NAPA Know How to get us up there for the quarterfinals and get past that round. Little moments like that are fun. We’ll get the NAPA colors back on the car and head to Michigan.”

After a well-deserved weekend off, Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team will kick off the Countdown to the Championship at the inaugural NHRA Great Lakes Nationals, Sept. 18-20, at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. Capps is in pursuit of a fourth Funny Car world championship. 

Qualified: No. 1 (3.914 E.T. at 332.18 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.908 E.T. at 333.66 MPH defeated John Smith 4.759 E.T. at 181.74 MPH
E2: 3.989 E.T. at 320.97 MPH defeated Daniel Wilkerson 7.835 E.T. at 98.32 MPH
E3: 9.500 E.T. at 69.72 MPH defeated by Matt Hagan 4.020 E.T. at 327.35 MPH

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car Point Standings (Unofficial):

1Matt Hagan1083
2Ron Capps1056
3Jack Beckman1043
4Jordan Vandergriff1014
5J.R. Todd966
6Austin Prock890
7Alexis DeJoria822
8Chad Green807
9Dan Wilkerson695
10Spencer Hyde667

Maddi Gordon Reaches Quarterfinals in First NHRA U.S. Nationals Top Fuel Appearance

Competing in the marathon that is the NHRA U.S. Nationals for the first time as a Top Fuel pilot, Maddi Gordon took her Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster to the quarterfinals Monday afternoon at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Riding momentum from a runner-up finish at the most recent race on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour, Gordon found consistency in qualifying and threw down a promising pass in the opening round of eliminations before hazing the tires in the second round. The NHRA Rookie of the Year contender wrapped up the regular season in the No. 6 points position and now heads into the six-race Countdown to the Championship with her first-year Ron Capps Motorsports team.

Led by crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching, the Carlyle Tools team took a methodical approach to qualifying, beginning with a smooth 3.818-second pass at 324.67 mph in the first session on Friday evening to sit ninth. Saturday qualifying began with the final Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season, which Gordon earned her way into with her final-round appearance at the Brainerd Nationals. In her fourth #2Fast2Tasty appearance of the season, Gordon went into tire smoke and lost to Leah Pruett. She faced similar issues in the third qualifying session later in the day. Gordon returned to form in the fourth session on Sunday, posting a 3.826 E.T. at 332.84 mph. A consistent 3.825 E.T. at 332.18 mph followed in the fifth and final session, where she collected one bonus point for clocking the fourth-quickest pass.

Racing out of the No. 13 position on the ladder, Gordon met up with Billy Torrence in the opening round of eliminations on Monday morning. Gordon cut a sharp .035 reaction time and powered to a 3.763-second pass at 336.99 mph to take down the No. 4 qualifier. In a rematch from the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Gordon and Pruett squared off again for a trip to the semifinals. Gordon grabbed the starting line advantage, but when both drivers started to haze the tires, Pruett recovered first and got the win. Gordon posted a 4.126 E.T. at 216.24 mph.  

“Definitely bummed to go out second round at the U.S. Nationals, the biggest race of the year and the last race before the Countdown,” said Gordon, who earned her first Top Alcohol Funny Car Wally at the 2024 Cleetus and Cars NHRA regional race. “I think our whole Carlyle Tools team had a really good feeling about this weekend. The car was running great. I felt confident, the team felt confident, and we just really had a lot of good mojo, especially leaving Brainerd. I really, really thought we had a good shot this weekend. We had Carlyle Tools on both race cars. The ‘Tools Wars’ are big, so we had great representation here. We had a little too much power for the racetrack, but we’re all learning and we’re going to take it into the Countdown.”

The U.S. Nationals marked the conclusion of the regular season in the NHRA Mission Foods Series. With one win in two final-round appearances, Gordon will enter her first six-race Countdown to the Championship ranked No. 6 in the Top Fuel points standings.

“It’s exciting that the points are going to reset, so everybody’s on a closer playing field going into the playoffs,” Gordon said. “We’re heading into the Countdown with two new racetracks that nobody has ever been to. The crew chiefs don’t have years of data, which I think is going to even the playing field a little bit for those first two races. Definitely bummed with Indy, but we’re going to look forward. The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason, so we’re going to keep trucking on to the next one.”

Gordon and the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team will have a weekend off before heading north to the inaugural NHRA Great Lakes Nationals, Sept. 18-20, at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.

Qualified: No. 13 (3.818 E.T. at 324.67 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.763 E.T. at 336.99 MPH defeated Billy Torrence 3.774 E.T. at 334.98 MPH
E2: 4.126 E.T. at 216.24 MPH defeated by Leah Pruett 3.975 E.T. at 265.38 MPH

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Point Standings (Unofficial):

1Doug Kalitta1352
2Shawn Langdon1344
3Leah Pruett1095
4Tony Stewart900
5Antron Brown893
6Maddi Gordon863
7Josh Hart754
8Billy Torrence710
9Justin Ashley691
10Clay Millican589