Funny Car Points Leader Ron Capps to Start Race Day from the Pole at NHRA 4-Wide Nationals
By: Ron Capps Motorsports
CONCORD, N.C. (April 25, 2026) – NAPA Auto Care Funny Car driver Ron Capps earned the 39th No. 1 qualifier of his career on Saturday at zMAX Dragway during the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. The three-time Funny Car world champion scored his second pole of the season on the strength of his Friday night run of 3.883 seconds at 333.91 mph during the weekend’s second qualifying session to cement his points lead heading into Sunday eliminations.
Capps and the NAPA team were solid throughout qualifying, clocking quick and consistent three-second passes in all four rounds and gobbling up seven championship bonus points in the process. Before his impressive Q2 blast, Capps opened the weekend with a 3.988 E.T. to place fourth. On Saturday, the NAPA team pulled up to the line for the third session, which also served as the first round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Capps earned his spot in the race-within-a-race after his runner-up finish at the most recent event in Pomona, Calif. Crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli tuned Capps’ 12,000-horsepower machine to a 3.957 E.T., the quickest pass of the quad, to advance into the final round of the Mission Foods-backed race. Later, Antonelli sent the NAPA Funny Car down the track in 3.929 seconds at 325.61 mph, earning another three bonus points for posting the quickest run of the session, but opponent Jordan Vandergriff’s slight starting line advantage allowed him to cross the finish line beams first for the win.
“Man, I had a .073 light and got beat on a holeshot. Hardball, that’s what Funny Car is nowadays, but I talked about it last night, I love having Dean Antonelli as the guy I get to go to battle with because he can adapt pretty quickly and it’s great to have a race car like we have right now,” Capps said of his team’s hot start to the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, which now includes two No. 1 qualifiers, a win, and a runner-up finish through the first four events.
“Guido was upset with himself last night, feeling like he left a bunch on the table, and I’m just like ‘enjoy this for one moment,’ but it put a cylinder out down there, got on the rev limiter, did all kinds of things that he was not wanting it to do. He felt it should’ve run a 3.85 or 86, which I love to hear, but we knew conditions today would be tricky because it was overcast that second run and humid. But here we are. That’s two No. 1 qualifiers this year already. Another yellow hat; it’s cool.”
Starting from the No. 1 seed, Capps and the NAPA team face a loaded quad in the first round of eliminations, lining up against No. 8 qualifier and Gainesville winner Chad Green, No. 9 Spencer Hyde, the 2025 Rookie of the Year, and No. 16 qualifier and reigning Funny Car world champion Austin Prock.
“We have the toughest quad tomorrow; it’s stacked, and you just never know with the four-wides, anything can happen. There’s a lot of unpredictability. You never know what Jimmy Prock is going to do. Spencer Hyde, they really found their groove last year with that car. It’s fun to race them, I’ve known Spencer and that family since he was a kid; I’m a huge fan. And then you look at Chad Green, they’ve been running really well. You go down the list and there’s at least 12 Funny Cars that can win on any given Sunday, and that’s tough.”
Capps will be looking to maintain his Funny Car points lead on Sunday as he makes a run for his fifth zMAX Dragway Wally trophy, second of the season, and 79th of his career. Eliminations kick off at noon ET.
