NORWALK, Ohio – Ron Capps continued his mid-season dominance with his fourth Funny Car win of 2016 at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.
Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners of the 12th NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events of the season in Norwalk, Ohio.
Capps raced his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T to a winning pass of 3.956 seconds at 317.49 mph to the losing run of Courtney Force at 4.010 at 314.17. This is his third win in four races, he has a commanding 130 point lead over Force who is second and credits his Don Schumacher Racing team for the success.
“What Rahn Tobler (crew chief) is doing right now is hard work,” Capps said. “This guy has been working his tail off. It is big picture to him, he is not just a good crew chief, he is a good racer and I love that. When he is pointing at me in the windshield before a run, it gives me all the confidence in the world.”
With the win, the 49th of his career, he ties legendary racer Don Prudhomme for 11th on the all-time NHRA win list. Capps is a former driver of ‘The Snake’ and continues to admire the pioneer of the sport.
“He was my hero growing up,” Capps continued. “These wins happen and you are told you have tied someone you are completely enamored with growing up, so when you are mentioned like that it blows me away. It doesn’t seem possible, to be mentioned with someone like Snake is crazy.”
Langdon, a DSR teammate to Capps, piloted his Red Fuel dragster to his second consecutive win of the year when he bested J.R. Todd in the final. His winning run of 3.846 at 319.75 to the losing effort of Todd at 3.937 at 285.05 earned Langdon his 13th career Top Fuel victory. Langdon defeated Troy Buff, Antron Brown, Brittany Force as well as Todd for the win. Langdon had fortune on his side in the first round when Buff red-lighted giving Langdon the automatic win while his dragster lost traction early in the run.
“I think we are starting to see a little luck go our way, we really should have been out first round,” Langdon stated. “We were just fortunate Troy Buff redlit and we went back and looked at everything and couldn’t find out why it did what it did. We went back to what we did in qualifying on Saturday with a hot weather tune up. We were able to put together three good straight runs and felt like we had a very strong car today.”
In Pro Stock, Line faced his teammate and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson in the final. Line, in his Summit Racing Chevy Camaro, had the early advantage off the starting line and held off Anderson for his seventh win of the season. Line had a winning pass of 6.678 at 208.42 to Anderson’s trailing run of 6.717 at 208.36. Line defeated Curt Steinbach, Erica Enders-Stevens, and Vincent Nobile en route to his final round match up with Anderson.
“It was a hard today, it was very hot out there,” said Line. “We didn’t run as well as we would have liked today and there were cars that were very close to us. They are getting closer and to win at the Summit race, in a Summit Car, at a Summit track is a huge deal. Greg and I have been very fortunate to make that happen a bunch of times, it’s fun.”
Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Krawiec, won his third race of 2016 when he defeated his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson teammate Andrew Hines in the final. Krawiec, who was also the No. 1 qualifier, had the winning run of 6.926 at 194.72 to defeat Hines who covered the distance at 6.937 at 193.29. His path to the win was eventful as he went off the end of the track into the sand trap following both his semifinal and final runs.
“We went back to the pit and had to take out 30 pounds of pea gravel,” said Krawiec. “We put new brake pads on it, checked the fluid, drained everything and made sure it was 100 percent. We stopped fine in the lanes and everything. I see my fourth round win light against my teammate and went ‘not again’. I pulled the clutch in and went in for a ride.”
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing will resume July 7-10 with the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, in Joliet, Ill.
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NORWALK, Ohio — Final finish order (1-16) at the 10th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The race is the 12th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
TOP FUEL:
- Shawn Langdon; 2. J.R. Todd; 3. Doug Kalitta; 4. Brittany Force; 5. Tony Schumacher; 6. Antron Brown; 7. Leah Pritchett; 8. Pat Dakin; 9. Tripp Tatum; 10. Troy Buff; 11. Chris Karamesines; 12. Richie Crampton; 13. Clay Millican; 14. Luigi Novelli; 15. Terry McMillen.
FUNNY CAR:
- Ron Capps; 2. Courtney Force; 3. Robert Hight; 4. Tommy Johnson Jr.; 5. John Force; 6. Alexis DeJoria; 7. Del Worsham; 8. Cruz Pedregon; 9. Tim Wilkerson; 10. John Hale; 11. Matt Hagan; 12. Jack Beckman; 13. Brandon Welch; 14. Jeff Diehl; 15. Chad Head.
PRO STOCK:
- Jason Line; 2. Greg Anderson; 3. Shane Gray; 4. Vincent Nobile; 5. Allen Johnson; 6. Alex Laughlin; 7. Erica Enders; 8. Drew Skillman; 9. John Gaydosh Jr; 10. Chris McGaha; 11. Jeg Coughlin; 12. Curt Steinbach; 13. Charlie Westcott Jr.; 14. Kenny Delco; 15. V. Gaines; 16. Bo Butner.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
- Eddie Krawiec; 2. Andrew Hines; 3. Jerry Savoie; 4. Angelle Sampey; 5. Matt Smith; 6. Cory Reed; 7. Hector Arana; 8. LE Tonglet; 9. Hector Arana Jr; 10. Michael Phillips; 11. Jim Underdahl; 12. Steve Johnson; 13. Scotty Pollacheck; 14. Michael Ray; 15. Chip Ellis; 16. Angie Smith.
NORWALK, Ohio — Sunday’s final results from the 10th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The race is the 12th of 24 in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:
Top Fuel — Shawn Langdon, 3.846 seconds, 319.75 mph def. J.R. Todd, 3.937 seconds, 285.05 mph.
Funny Car — Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 3.956, 317.49 def. Courtney Force, Chevy Camaro, 4.010, 314.17.
Pro Stock — Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.678, 208.42 def. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.717, 208.36.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.926, 194.72 def. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.937, 193.29.
Pro Modified — Bill Glidden, Chevy Camaro, 5.893, 245.63 def. Bob Rahaim, Chevy Corvette, Foul – Red Light.
Top Alcohol Dragster — Rich McPhillips, 5.434, 267.16 def. Jeff Veale, Broke – No Show.
Top Alcohol Funny Car — Jonnie Lindberg, Chevy Camaro, 5.546, 266.95 def. Kris Hool, Camaro, 5.646, 261.07.
Competition Eliminator — Doug Doll Jr., Dragster, 7.474, 165.70 def. Frank Cervelli, Dragster, 6.853, 194.04.
Super Stock — Rick Baehr, Chevy Camaro, 10.618, 122.05 def. Nick Morris, Ford Mustang, 9.943, 129.49.
Stock Eliminator — Joe Santangelo, Chevy Camaro, 10.695, 112.98 def. Craig Marshall, Dodge Dart, 11.104, 113.19.
Super Comp — Don Higgins, Dragster, 8.892, 176.58 def. Ray Connolly, Dragster, 8.874, 177.56.
Super Gas — Steve Collier, Chevy Vega, 9.923, 163.49 def. Rusty Cook, Chevy Corvette, 9.965, 162.22.
Top Dragster presented by RacingRVs.com — Lauren Freer, Dragster, 6.421, 215.20 def. Danny Nelson, Dragster, 6.485, 216.10.
Top Sportsman presented by RacingRVs.com — Gary Wojnowski Jr., Chevy Monte Carlo, 6.916, 194.94 def. Larry Demers, Chevy Cobalt, 7.313, 189.73.
Factory Stock Showdown — David Barton, Chevy Camaro, 8.410, 162.84 def. Bruno Massel, Chevy Camaro, 8.522, 160.71.
AA Gassers — Brian Spotts, Anglia, 5.677, 123.88 def. Alan Borowski, Anglia, 5.692, 124.22.
NORWALK, Ohio — Final round-by-round results from the 10th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the 12th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series:
TOP FUEL:
ROUND ONE — Shawn Langdon, 8.819, 86.59 def. Troy Buff, Foul – Red Light; Leah Pritchett, 3.884, 318.17 def. Richie Crampton, 4.133, 288.27; Antron Brown, 3.771, 321.50 def. Luigi Novelli, 6.260, 104.74; Doug Kalitta, 7.521, 110.42 was unopposed; Brittany Force, 3.776, 323.74 def. Chris Karamesines, 4.035, 293.35; J.R. Todd, 3.806, 322.04 def. Terry McMillen, 6.379, 109.36; Tony Schumacher, 3.792, 323.81 def. Tripp Tatum, 3.887, 318.09; Pat Dakin, 3.830, 316.67 def. Clay Millican, 5.267, 135.24;
QUARTERFINALS — Kalitta, 3.814, 324.05 def. Dakin, 11.088, 72.77; Todd, 3.831, 302.89 def. Pritchett, 3.881, 314.75; Force, 3.805, 321.96 def. Schumacher, 3.840, 316.15; Langdon, 3.800, 325.14 def. Brown, 3.873, 311.77;
SEMIFINALS — Todd, 3.868, 297.09 def. Kalitta, 3.874, 312.42; Langdon, 3.808, 321.35 def. Force, 4.579, 206.16;
FINAL — Langdon, 3.846, 319.75 def. Todd, 3.937, 285.05.
FUNNY CAR:
ROUND ONE — Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 3.966, 317.87 def. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Solara, 6.794, 102.96; Del Worsham, Toyota Camry, 4.337, 210.50 was unopposed; Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.976, 319.52 def. Brandon Welch, Chevy Monte Carlo, 6.347, 110.53; Courtney Force, Camaro, 3.943, 322.42 def. John Hale, Charger, 4.638, 186.18; Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 3.980, 319.82 def. Jack Beckman, Charger, 5.710, 124.61; John Force, Camaro, 4.254, 237.71 def. Matt Hagan, Charger, 5.042, 272.78; Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 4.800, 170.34 def. Chad Head, Camry, 8.107, 91.20; Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.984, 317.72 def. Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 3.991, 322.34;
QUARTERFINALS — Capps, 3.990, 305.36 def. Pedregon, 4.654, 184.47; C. Force, 3.988, 317.05 def. DeJoria, 4.002, 317.19; Hight, 3.982, 318.17 def. J. Force, 3.998, 319.14; Johnson Jr., 3.958, 320.58 def. Worsham, 4.049, 320.43;
SEMIFINALS — C. Force, 4.042, 306.19 def. Johnson Jr., 5.283, 153.37; Capps, 3.963, 316.60 def. Hight, 4.018, 275.79;
FINAL — Capps, 3.956, 317.49 def. C. Force, 4.010, 314.17.
PRO STOCK:
ROUND ONE — Alex Laughlin, Chevy Camaro, 6.697, 206.23 def. Jeg Coughlin, Dodge Dart, 6.736, 205.91; Erica Enders, Dart, 6.728, 205.76 def. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.734, 206.61; Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.681, 208.36 def. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.853, 171.71; Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.681, 207.56 def. John Gaydosh Jr, Chevrolet Camaro, 6.723, 205.79; Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.670, 208.39 def. Bo Butner, Camaro, 11.324, 79.18; Jason Line, Camaro, 6.634, 209.23 def. Curt Steinbach, Camaro, 6.748, 204.66; Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.636, 209.33 def. Charlie Westcott Jr., Ford Mustang, 6.849, 202.36; Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.650, 207.34 def. V. Gaines, Dart, 8.457, 110.82;
QUARTERFINALS — Gray, 6.681, 207.37 def. Johnson, 6.694, 205.10; Nobile, 6.678, 207.59 def. Skillman, 9.535, 99.17; Anderson, 6.652, 208.23 def. Laughlin, 6.698, 207.88; Line, 6.662, 209.04 def. Enders, 6.737, 205.57;
SEMIFINALS — Line, 6.675, 208.62 def. Nobile, 6.762, 207.69; Anderson, 6.675, 208.04 def. Gray, 6.699, 206.86;
FINAL — Line, 6.678, 208.42 def. Anderson, 6.717, 208.36.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
ROUND ONE — Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.863, 196.10 def. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 7.022, 193.99; Cory Reed, Buell, 6.956, 194.24 def. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 7.730, 133.12; Hector Arana, Buell, 7.013, 194.07 def. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, Foul – Red Light; LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.915, 194.83 def. Angie Smith, Broke; Angelle Sampey, Buell, 6.914, 194.97 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.085, 192.14; Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.940, 193.54 def. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 6.949, 195.70; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.914, 194.80 def. Chip Ellis, Buell, Foul – Red Light; Matt Smith, 6.879, 195.36 def. Michael Ray, Buell, 8.088, 122.76;
QUARTERFINALS — Savoie, 6.891, 194.66 def. Tonglet, 6.974, 193.77; Hines, 6.889, 194.83 def. Reed, Foul – Red Light; Krawiec, 6.909, 194.35 def. Arana, 6.951, 193.35; Sampey, 6.885, 195.31 def. M. Smith, 6.909, 192.96;
SEMIFINALS — Krawiec, 6.891, 196.56 def. Savoie, 6.889, 195.62; Hines, 6.893, 195.79 def. Sampey, 10.165, 83.70;
FINAL — Krawiec, 6.926, 194.72 def. Hines, 6.937, 193.29.
NORWALK, Ohio — Point standings (top 10) following the 10th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the 12th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series –
Top Fuel
- Doug Kalitta, 1,009; 2. Antron Brown, 940; 3. Steve Torrence, 846; 4. Brittany Force, 832; 5. Tony Schumacher, 729; 6. Shawn Langdon, 711; 7. J.R. Todd, 645; 8. Clay Millican, 572; 9. Richie Crampton, 570; 10. Leah Pritchett, 463.
Funny Car
- Ron Capps, 966; 2. Courtney Force, 836; 3. Jack Beckman, 823; 4. Del Worsham, 762; 5. Tommy Johnson Jr., 750; 6. Matt Hagan, 747; 7. Tim Wilkerson, 723; 8. Robert Hight, 722; 9. John Force, 668; 10. Alexis DeJoria, 640.
Pro Stock
- Jason Line, 1,389 *; 2. Greg Anderson, 1,274 *; 3. Bo Butner, 796; 4. Allen Johnson, 719; 5. Drew Skillman, 683; 6. Vincent Nobile, 613; 7. Chris McGaha, 557; 8. Shane Gray, 532; 9. Jeg Coughlin, 528; 10. Alex Laughlin, 498.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
- Eddie Krawiec, 557; 2. (tie) Andrew Hines, 391; Jerry Savoie, 391; 4. Angelle Sampey, 372; 5. Chip Ellis, 300; 6. Hector Arana, 291; 7. LE Tonglet, 253; 8. Matt Smith, 192; 9. Scotty Pollacheck, 183; 10. Steve Johnson, 179.
* Clinched berth in NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship
Story and photos courtesy of the NHRA
