NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Three-time Funny Car champion Ron Capps is no stranger to winning NHRA Mission Food Drag Racing Series races, especially recently at the Texas Motorplex, home of the 39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals, which is the main event of the 10-day Stampede of Speed. This weekend, Capps will be looking to make a splash to open the second half of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
 
Capps and his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra team have three wins at the legendary facility, and after four final-round finishes this season, Capps, who is fourth in points, hopes this weekend’s Texas NHRA FallNationals is where he breaks through for his first win of the year.
 
“The old cliché of ‘everything’s bigger in Texas’ definitely holds true for us in the NHRA,” Capps said. “The FallNationals is what I call a momentum weekend, and it always has been. It’s either going to put you in the place you want to be with two races left to go in the Countdown to the Championship, or it can be the place that takes you completely out of the hunt.”

Last season, Leah Pruett (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all collected NHRA wins in Dallas, and this year’s race will again be broadcast on FS1, with eliminations coverage airing at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 13. It is the fourth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship and the 18th of 20 races during the 2024 season.

A Texas-sized playoff showdown starts with Friday Night Live, which offers more than $40,000 in bonus money to the stars in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. The low qualifier under the lights on Friday night will net Top Fuel and Funny Car stars $15,000 each in bonus money, with $7,500 going to the quickest qualifier in Pro Stock and $5,000 in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

 
Capps picked up wins in Dallas in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022, victories that paved the way for back-to-back world championships as well. He is currently fourth in the Funny Car points standings, following his recent runner-up finish in St. Louis to Jack Beckman, who is racing in place of John Force and is 194 points out of first.
 
If Capps wants to be in the championship hunt, he’ll need to get past points leader Austin Prock, who has seven wins on the season and won the first two races in the playoffs. Beckman sits second (105 points back) and Bob Tasca III in third (-159), thanks to his three wins this season. Reigning champion and defending Texas NHRA FallNationals winner Hagan rounds out the top five, and Capps knows he has work to do to stay alive in the title hunt and also pick up his long-awaited first victory of the season.
 
“In the years we won the championship and had good seasons where we battled for the title, the Dallas race at Texas Motorplex was always one that was sort of a make it or break it for us, and a lot of other teams as well,” said Capps, who has 76 career victories. “So for us, we’re looking to this race to build on the momentum our NAPA Auto Care team has after coming off another final round in St. Louis.”

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:15 and 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 11, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, Oct. 12 at noon and 3 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for noon CT on Sunday, Oct. 13. Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday as well as action from eliminations at 4 p.m.
 
To purchase tickets to the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, call 800-668-6775 or visit tickets.texasmotorplex.com. Children 12 and under are admitted free in general-admission areas with a paid adult.