NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Round one of the Funny Car eliminations in Epping, N.H., saw the unexpected unfold in both lanes of New England Dragway. Ron Capps' car lost traction and erupted in fire, while Terry Haddock's car held together long enough to power right into the semis on a Bye in round 2. 

While the audience was astounded at the turn of events, the attention turned toward Haddock's success, and away from the sparks and fire emanating from Capps' Dodge Charger Hellcat Funny Car. Check out the photos of what the two-time Epping winner endured, and hear from Capps in his own words about how he literally survived the round. 

“Haddock has been running well and we knew we couldn’t take them lightly, so we definitely were prepared to lay down a good number. [Dean Antonelli] came on the radio and said ‘we need to make sure we win this round’ because we knew there was a Bye into the semis and you can’t take that for granted. The car was driving fine, it was smooth, it didn’t seem out of control, and all of a sudden, the tires came loose. I waited and gave it a pedal and then the car blew up and caught fire.

"I didn’t even realize it at that point because I was trying to stay on it and get ahead of Haddock, and then just before the finish line, I saw him drive by. By then, my legs started to feel really hot so I just wanted to get the car stopped and get out of there. The fire burned up my suit pretty badly, and I’ve got to give credit to Impact Racing. My Impact firesuit protected my legs, and other than a little soreness, I’m alright. The suit did what it was supposed to do. The whole situation is a bummer because if we would’ve won that round, we would’ve had an automatic Bye to the semis, so it’s just disappointing to give up rounds like that. But, we’ll comb through all of the data, figure out why it smoked the tires, and head to Norwalk.”

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