Ron Capps is a three-time NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion, who won his 77th career contest less than two weeks ago at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee. Victory in the Super Grip Thunder Valley NHRA was his eighth win at this dragstrip and broke a drought of 33 consecutive races where he failed to find his way to the Winners Circle.
Now Capps, whose love and participation in all forms of racing is well-known, is taking his know-how to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) for the Thursday, June 26th Thursday Night Thunder Heroes midget race, an all-star , celebrity contest that features some of the biggest names in American motor sport. The facility hosts NHRA’s U.S. Nationals each Labor Day weekend on its dragstrip; the short oval lies to the east of the right lane of straight-line competition and is a 0.625-mile paved oval.
Capps isn’t the only NHRA star taking part in this race; he’s joined by USAC Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown champion, three-time NASCAR driving champion, INDYCAR champion and, now, two-time NHRA Top Fuel race winner Tony Stewart. The Brownsburg, IN track hosts Night Before the 500 competition each May.
The field of this celebrity all-star race is just starting to come together. It’s a field of current and retired drivers and draws from many racing series. Stewart was announced on Wednesday, as was 2013 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Brad Noffsinger. Open-wheel racer Michael Lewis joined Capps as the third and fourth racers announced after Stewart and Noffsinger’s acceptance on Wednesday.
A man who competes in sprint cars, go-karts, and online iRacing competition, Capps has driven in multiple Chili Bowl events and was the sole drag racer invited to participate in the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) in August of 2023, when he competed at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. Next week, the Californian makes his IRP local debut at the controls of Matt Seymour Racing’s No. 29 Allstar Midget, which will be wrapped to resemble his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car. Regular Matt Seymour Racing driver Jake Trainor, of Medway, MA earned his second Little 500 win this year.
“To be invited to race such a historic track in a midget, and for such an historic name like the Seymour racing family, it just doesn’t get any better,” two-time NHRA U.S. Nationals victor Capps regaled. “They haven’t all been announced yet,” he said of the entry list, “but I’ve seen the full list of all-stars racing that night, and it’ll be pretty wild to be racing side by side with some of the greatest drivers in the world and drivers I’ve looked up to for a long time.”
Next Thursday night’s opportunity was one that Capps couldn’t pass up, even though he’s racing this weekend in the two-dayAmerican Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals and will depart Brownsburg following the all-star race to compete in next weekend’s three-day Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, OH. Capps was runner-up in last year’s race at Norwalk.
Capps is excited to partner with Matt Seymour Racing, acknowledging the team is “synonymous with championships and such an historic name in the open-wheel world. I grew up watching Thursday Night Thunder which was the midgets at the IRP oval,” he reminisced. “Any chance I get, I’m on FLO Racing watching open-wheel racing. It’ll be really cool to be around some of the people I watch weekly, and have a chance to drive one of the best cars out there.
“We’ve been pretty busy without our NHRA schedule, but I’ve been home for a few days and was able to jump on my iRacing rig and run some laps in a midget at the IRP oval. Of course there’s nothing like the real deal, but I feel like, at least I got a little bit of set time heading into next week. Getting to dive the No. 29 after watching Jake Trainor win the Carb Classic this year, and then strapping into that same car is pretty neat. I’m beyond excited!”
This weekend Capps competes in the two-day America Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals near Richmond, VA. With high temperatures and humidity expected, the Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle racers will have three Saturday qualifying sessions and four rounds of Sunday eliminations. The finals are being broadcast on FOX starting at 4PM ET.
Leave a Reply