Ron Capps Motorsports Post-Race Recap: Seattle

Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals
Event 12 of 20
Pacific Raceways
Kent, Wash.
July 24 – 26, 2026

By: Ron Capps Motorsports (Photos Courtesy RCM)

Ron Capps Staying Focused on Big Picture Following Early Exit at Seattle

KENT, Wash. (July 26, 2026) – Funny Car points leader Ron Capps bowed out in the opening round of eliminations Sunday morning at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals, but he’s staying focused on the championship picture as the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads into the final two races of the regular season. Capps retained his points lead at Seattle on the strength of his class-leading three wins on the season, along with consistent late-round finishes throughout the year. The driver and Ron Capps Motorsports team owner is chasing his first regular season championship and fourth series title.

Capps began his Northwest Nationals qualifying effort with a pair of tire-smoking runs on Friday, but he clinched his position in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs in the process. Traction issues continued in the third qualifying session on Saturday, but Capps still improved. That paved the way for crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli to guide Capps to his best pass of the weekend in the final session, a 3.940-second effort at 329.18 mph.

Qualified No. 10, Capps earned a first-round match with another one of the most experienced drivers in the class, two-time world champion Cruz Pedregon. Capps went into the round with a 56 – 30 round-win record against Pedregon, and 80.43% of Drag Race Bracket Bonanza players picked Capps to get the win again in this meeting. Capps took the starting line advantage, but fateful tire smoke returned. While Capps made every effort to regain traction, he had to watch as Pedregon made his quickest pass of the event to move on.

“It was weird for the NAPA car not to go down the track in the first three qualifying runs, and Guido was pretty confident he found the problem last night after Q4,” said Capps, who earned his first win as a professional driver in Seattle in 1995 while competing in Top Fuel. “We felt very good about it today. We had cloud cover. We felt like he could run a mid-to-high 3.80, and that’s really what this car loves to do. For some reason it shook the tires, so Guido is up there looking at the computer and him and the NAPA Auto Care guys will figure it out.”

Capps went into the weekend as the points leader for the eighth time in 11 races. He’s the only Funny Car driver with three wins on the season, highlighting a 2026 campaign that also includes one runner-up finish and two No. 1 qualifier awards. He’s keeping all that in perspective as he moves past a challenging West Coast stretch.

“We’re fighting for a championship, and the regular season championship on top of that,” said Capps, a four-time Seattle winner across Top Fuel and Funny Car. “We’ve built up a great points lead because of the success we’ve had so far this season. We’re obviously going to lose a little bit of that depending on who goes further, but that’s why we worked real hard to win those races and gain those points. We’ll just see what happens. We’re going to have to fight all these teams for a championship anyway. Our championship juices are already flowing.”

Though the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series has some time off before wrapping up the regular season, Ron Capps and his NAPA Auto Care team will be back on track again next weekend as Capps and his teammate Maddi Gordon take part in the fan-favorite 49th annual Night Under Fire on August 1 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. The match racing event will feature several NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car stars battling for the “King of Nitro” title. The next NHRA Mission Foods Series event is the NHRA Brainerd Nationals, Aug. 21-23, at Brainerd International Raceway.

Qualified: No. 10 (3.940 E.T. at 329.18 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 5.812 E.T. at 124.81 MPH defeated by Cruz Pedregon 3.914 E.T. at 330.63 MPH

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

1	Ron Capps	884
2	Jack Beckman	847
3	J.R. Todd	842
4	Jordan Vandergriff	830
5	Matt Hagan	820
6	Chad Green	703
7	Austin Prock	692
8	Alexis DeJoria	685
9	Spencer Hyde	578
10	Dan Wilkerson	577

Gordon Reaches New Personal Best Elapsed Time at the NHRA Northwest Nationals

Maddi Gordon, the driver of the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster, is leaving Pacific Raceways with a new personal best elapsed time, made in the opening round of competition today at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals as Gordon endeavored to turn on the win light against racing legend Tony Stewart. Stewart managed to outpace the up-and-comer, but the early exit has done nothing to stifle Gordon’s signature positivity. 

Gordon had an incredibly consistent hot rod all weekend long after one bout with tire smoke in the first qualifying session on Friday. From that point forward, crew chiefs Rob Flynn and Troy Fasching expertly tuned the Carlyle Tools dragster to a series of successful passes. When they returned for Q2, Gordon laid down a respectable run of 3.839 seconds at 318.99 mph to make her way into the top half of the field.

On Saturday, qualifying continued carrying Gordon on a path of positive momentum. The talented rookie recorded a 3.731 at 337.92 in the first heat of the day, backing it up with another stout lap of 3.735 at 334.57, demonstrating the kind of consistency that teams need in this stretch of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Gordon kicked off race day from the eighth spot on the Top Fuel ladder and faced Stewart in the opening round. This was the fifth time this season that the two have faced off against each other in eliminations. Despite Gordon getting the starting line advantage, Stewart outpaced her early on to take the lead. It was an entertaining side-by-side drag race but ultimately, Stewart turned on the win light with a 3.707 at 334.73 to defeat Gordon’s 3.727 at 333.49, the best elapsed time of her burgeoning career.

“Saturday kind of uplifted all of our confidence in the race car,” said Gordon. “Just getting down the race track, making two fast passes. I think we all felt confident going into today, racing Tony Stewart. This was the fifth time we’ve raced him all year. We’ve seen him a lot. This was a tough loss. It was a good race. I had a good light and the car ran well. It just wasn’t good enough. Like Chuck (Grospitch, car chief) says, ‘Some days you’re the bug. Some days you’re the windshield.’ This time we were the bug. We were tied in points, so I’m pretty bummed. We’ve got a lot of awesome people in our hospitality today and I feel bad for everyone who came out to watch. But, there’s a positive in everything. And that was our fastest E.T. yet, so we’re making strides in the right direction. Rome wasn’t built in a day. The data is showing a lot of progress. It takes time to build those runs. But we’ve got Night Under Fire coming up, so we’ve got good things. And we’ll just keep moving forward.”

Before Gordon and the Carlyle Tools team head to the next stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule, they will head to Norwalk, Ohio for Summit Motorsports Park’s Night Under Fire, featuring some of the best nitro cars and drivers in the world.

Qualified: No. 8 (3.731 E.T. at 337.92 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.727 E.T. at 333.49 MPH defeated by Tony Stewart 3.707 E.T. at 334.73 MPH

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

1	Shawn Langdon	1107
2	Doug Kalitta	1102
3	Leah Pruett	898
4	Antron Brown	755
5	Tony Stewart	700
6	Maddi Gordon	681
7	Josh Hart	673
8	Billy Torrence	618
9	Justin Ashley	535
10	Clay Millican	489