Ron Capps Motorsports Post-Race Recap: Epping

NHRA New England Nationals
Event 8 of 20
New England Dragway
Epping, N.H.
June 5 – 7, 2026

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

Funny Car Points Leader Ron Capps Records Another Semifinal Finish at NHRA New England Nationals

EPPING, N.H. (June 7, 2026) – Ron Capps continued to lead the way in the NHRA Funny Car championship chase Sunday at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway, driving the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car to his second consecutive semifinal finish. The three-time Funny Car world champion entered the eighth event of the 20-race NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season as the points leader and left with that lead intact, adding another late-round race day run to a season that already includes two wins, a runner-up finish, and two No. 1 qualifying efforts.

Capps powered to the provisional No. 3 position in Friday’s opening qualifying session, earning one bonus point with his 4.065-second pass at 319.22 mph. He then lost traction around the eighth-mile mark in the second session, his only brush with traction issues for the weekend. Capps and crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli stepped up to a 3.945 E.T. at 328.22 mph in Q3, the second-quickest pass of the session, to earn two more bonus points. It was also the first round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, and Capps turned on the win light over two-time and defending world champion Austin Prock. In the final qualifying session and final round of the Mission Challenge, Capps moved first and charged to a 3.953-second pass, but Jordan Vandergriff drove around him to take the win. With qualifying wrapped up, Capps secured the No. 6 slot on the eliminations ladder.

Capps’ string of passes in the mid-3.90-second range continued on race day. He threw down the third-quickest run of the first round, a 3.948 E.T., to defeat a tire-smoking Daniel Wilkerson. He then set low E.T. of the second round with his 3.938-second pass to knock out Alexis DeJoria in a side-by-side race decided by just one thousandth of a second. By advancing to the semifinals, Capps also earned a spot in the next Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. The NAPA Auto Care machine was consistent and quick again in the semis, where Capps posted a 3.943 E.T. at 325.37 mph but it wasn’t quite enough to outpace Jack Beckman, who won with a 3.904 E.T.

“This is the time of the season to have the points lead,” Capps said. “To have two Wallys at home already is incredible. Going into this year, we said the Funny Car division was as tough as we’ve ever seen it, and here we are again saying the same thing. So, to be on top is great. It speaks to the consistency that we’ve had, but honestly, we’re not at our best, which is even cooler because we feel like we are struggling a little bit to get a little better, and when you can say that you’re the points leader when you think you’ve got more room to improve, that’s pretty neat as well. Guido and the NAPA Auto Care guys have done a great job. I feel comfortable driving the car. We’re just having a great season so far.”

Capps now carries his points lead into the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, June 12-14, at Bristol Dragway where he returns as the defending event champion. With eight victories there, the Ron Capps Motorsports team owner is the winningest driver in the professional ranks at the historic Tennessee facility.

Qualified: No. 6 (3.945 E.T. at 328.22 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.948 E.T. at 324.05 MPH defeated Daniel Wilkerson 8.349 E.T. at 119.34 MPH
E2: 3.938 E.T. at 327.11 MPH defeated Alexis DeJoria 3.953 E.T. at 328.54 MPH
E3: 3.943 E.T. at 325.37 MPH defeated by Jack Beckman 3.904 E.T. at 329.75 MPH

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

1	Ron Capps	617
2	J.R. Todd	602
3	Jordan Vandergriff	588 / 608
4	Chad Green	555
5	Matt Hagan	546
6	Jack Beckman	511 / 531
7	Alexis DeJoria	487
8	Spencer Hyde	401
9	Austin Prock	358
10	Dan Wilkerson	296

Note: The NHRA New England Nationals Top Fuel and Funny Car final rounds have been postponed to next week’s Bristol, Tenn. event due to weather

Top Fuel Rookie Maddi Gordon Gains More Experience at NHRA New England Nationals

Maddi Gordon experienced another first in her Top Fuel rookie campaign Sunday at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway, where the Ron Capps Motorsports driver had to pedal her Carlyle Tools dragster for the first time in competition during a second-round loss to Leah Pruett. Competing in the eighth of 20 races on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule, Gordon continued to gain critical race-day experience while maintaining her No. 6 position in the Top Fuel points standings.

Gordon went into New England Nationals qualifying with increased OKUMA branding on her Carlyle Tools dragster as part of a six-race collaboration with the newly announced official CNC machining partner of Ron Capps Motorsports. She lost traction early in her first qualifying attempt before going straight down the groove with a 3.808-second pass at 330.55 mph in the second session to move up four spots to ninth. A smooth 3.828 E.T. at 332.75 mph followed in the third session. Gordon closed out qualifying in the No. 10 spot after coasting to the finish line in the final session.

In the first round of eliminations on Sunday morning, Gordon paired up with 2025 regular season champion Tony Stewart. Crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching sent Gordon on a weekend-best 3.753-second blast at 337.50 mph to defeat a tire-smoking Stewart. It was the second-quickest pass of the round, giving Gordon lane choice for her second-round match with Leah Pruett. Gordon stepped up on the starting line to lead the race out of the gate. Both drivers drove into tire smoke, and though Gordon pedaled the throttle, Pruett recovered quicker and took the win.

“That first-round run was amazing – we’ve been looking for that mid-3.70 for multiple races, so that was huge,” Gordon said. “Second round against Leah, I had a great reaction time, so I’m super happy about that. But it was my first-ever time pedaling the car and I waited a little bit too long to pedal it. Didn’t blow it up, so that was great. But these next couple of days I will go back and watch NHRA.tv 100 times, visualize it, look at what the graphs tells us, and I think I’ll come back in Bristol and be a better driver. I always want to do perfect, so when I don’t do perfect, I get bummed at myself. When I used to snow ski, I would always come back the following year and be a 10-times better skier because I’d watch videos over and over, and visualize myself in those situations. And that’s exactly what I’ll do this week. But there’s a positive in everything. I had a good light and we’ll head into next weekend with a good-running race car.”

Gordon won’t have to wait long to get back into her Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster, as the NHRA Mission Foods Series season continues June 12-14 at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn.

Qualified: No. 10 (3.808 E.T. at 330.55 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.753 E.T. at 337.50 MPH defeated Tony Stewart 4.867 E.T. at 156.37 MPH
E2: 5.623 E.T. at 191.48 MPH defeated by Leah Pruett 4.696 E.T. at 200.08 MPH

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

1	Shawn Langdon	828 / 848
2	Doug Kalitta	728
3	Leah Pruett	610 / 630
4	Josh Hart	466
5	Tony Stewart	458
6	Maddi Gordon	447
7	Billy Torrence	430
8	Antron Brown	397
9	Justin Ashley	388
10	Clay Millican	346

Note: The NHRA New England Nationals Top Fuel and Funny Car final rounds have been postponed to next week’s Bristol, Tenn. event due to weather