TOPEKA, Kan. – Ron Capps continued his dominance over the Funny Car field with his win at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.
Larry Dixon and Allen Johnson also visited winner’s circle after dominating their respective classes at the race that marks the halfway point of the regular season for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series.
Capps showed why he’s the car to beat this season in Funny Car, driving his NAPA Dodge Charger R/T to a 4.265-second run at 286.07 mph; enough to push the driver past runner-up and No. 1 qualifier Ashley Force Hood and give Capps his third win of the season.
“When they said we won, it was such a great feeling. Ed McCulloch fought the conditions today and all weekend long. We dropped cylinders all weekend, and we got put in that lane that was considered not as good as the left lane, and we won two rounds in that right lane. To have conditions with a 125-degree track temperature and have a two-lane dragstrip with both lanes getting wins was a phenomenal job by Heartland Park Topeka and the NHRA Safety Safari.”
The win helped strengthen Capps’ lead over second-place Del Worsham in the point standings.
Larry Dixon was dominate over the Top Fuel class the entire day and picked up his second win of the season with a 3.971 run at 301.74 in the final round. The run in his Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing dragster was just enough to push Dixon past Clay Millican, who was making his first final round appearance in over five years.
“I’ve had worse weekends [than Bristol], but it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone to say that I’m not where I want to be driving the car, and I think it peaked out last week,” said Dixon. “Alan [Johnson, team owner] took his crew chief hat off and put his coach hat on and worked on me and getting me right. We went and ran the car at Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday after Bristol and just made a whole bunch of runs. That was just nice, hitting the throttle and getting runs. They learned a lot from that test, and I learned a lot from that test. I was very excited and there wasn’t anything apprehensive about coming to this event. I just wanted to come here and get the gloves on and get in the game.”
The win pushed Dixon from sixth into the fourth spot, just 141 points behind first-place driver and defending world champion Tony Schumacher.
In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson grabbed his first win in almost three years, driving his Team Mopar / J&J Racing Dodge Stratus to a holeshot win at 6.726 at 204.94 over Mike Edwards.
“I told the media at the end of the track that I felt like we should have won 10 races the last year and a half, and this is the first one,” said Johnson. “We’ve had the car, and I just haven’t done my job very good the last year or so. I knew a win would come, but I’ve been very, very frustrated with myself, to be honest. I hadn’t done my job really well for the last year, but I’ve really been working on it. I feel like I’ve got my mojo back, and we’re going to do well the rest of the year.”
The runner-up finish for Edwards closed the gap between he and current points leader and defending world champion Jeg Coughlin to just 75 points.
Final finish order
TOP FUEL
1. Larry Dixon; 2. Clay Millican; 3. Spencer Massey; 4. Shawn Langdon; 5. Tony Schumacher; 6. Antron Brown; 7. Brandon Bernstein; 8. Cory McClenathan; 9. Terry Haddock; 10. Doug Kalitta; 11. Morgan Lucas; 12. Steven Chrisman; 13. Joe Hartley; 14. Scott Palmer; 15. Chris Karamesines.
FUNNY CAR
1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger; 2. Ashley Force Hood; 3. Tim Wilkerson; 4. Jack Beckman; 5. Bob Tasca III; 6. John Force; 7. Tony Pedregon; 8. Del Worsham; 9. Matt Hagan; 10. Jeff Arend; 11. Cruz Pedregon; 12. Jack Wyatt; 13. Jerry Toliver; 14. Mike Neff; 15. Robert Hight; 16. Daniel Wilkerson.
PRO STOCK
1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Stratus; 2. Mike Edwards; 3. Greg Anderson; 4. Jeg Coughlin; 5. Greg Stanfield; 6. Rickie Jones; 7. Jason Line; 8. Warren Johnson; 9. Ron Krisher; 10. Rodger Brogdon; 11. Kurt Johnson; 12. Dave Northrop; 13. Larry Morgan; 14. Steve Spiess; 15. Ronnie Humphrey; 16. Johnny Gray.
Final round results
Top Fuel — Larry Dixon, 3.971 seconds, 301.74 mph def. Clay Millican, 4.056 seconds, 293.41 mph.
Funny Car — Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.265, 286.07 def. Ashley Force Hood, Ford Mustang, 4.495, 238.26.
Pro Stock — Allen Johnson, Dodge Stratus, 6.726, 204.94 def. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.718, 205.88.
Top Alcohol Dragster — Jim Whiteley, 5.361, 265.74 def. Tom Conway, 5.369, 264.23.
Top Alcohol Funny Car — Steve Harker, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.656, 253.47 def. Sean O’Bannon, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 5.724, 253.37.
Competition Eliminator — Bruno Massel, Chevy Cobalt, 7.970, 126.33 def. David Rampy, Bantam Roadster, 7.471, 154.74.
Super Stock — Gary Emmons, Pontiac Firebird, 10.163, 119.20 def. Lloyd Wofford, Plymouth Volare, 10.278, 126.80.
Stock Eliminator — Adam Davis, Chevy Camaro, 11.448, 109.99 def. S.E. Buchanan, Plymouth Barracuda, 11.480, 112.51.
Super Comp — Ryan Herem, Dragster, 8.887, 174.44 def. Bob Fuller, Dragster, 8.911, 178.19.
Super Gas — Tommy Phillips, Chevy Corvette, 9.921, 142.55 def. Rick Cates, Corvette, 9.882, 159.82.
Super Street — Tim Forshee, Pontiac Firebird, 10.969, 134.74 def. Brandon Kanan, Chevy Corvette, 14.446, 76.43.
Round-by-Round results
TOP FUEL
ROUND ONE — Shawn Langdon, 3.998, 299.93 def. Terry Haddock, 3.969, 298.21; Clay Millican, 4.050, 297.75 def. Joe Hartley, 4.203, 251.58; Brandon Bernstein, 3.985, 297.22 def. Doug Kalitta, 4.080, 293.41; Antron Brown, 3.981, 303.71 was unopposed; Larry Dixon, 4.009, 285.17 def. Steven Chrisman, 4.114, 286.56; Tony Schumacher, 3.956, 301.40 def. Chris Karamesines, 11.259, 60.78; Spencer Massey, 3.999, 293.60 def. Scott Palmer, 5.769, 121.83; Cory McClenathan, 3.977, 299.53 def. Morgan Lucas, 4.090, 251.06;
QUARTERFINALS — Millican, 4.026, 295.46 def. Bernstein, 4.097, 280.31; Langdon, 4.034, 297.29 def. Brown, 4.044, 297.22; Dixon, 3.983, 302.89 def. McClenathan, 4.146, 234.82; Massey, 4.007, 291.19 def. Schumacher, 4.025, 295.53;
SEMIFINALS — Millican, 4.020, 299.00 def. Langdon, broke; Dixon, 3.988, 302.01 def. Massey, 4.053, 290.88;
FINAL — Dixon, 3.971, 301.74 def. Millican, 4.056, 293.41.
FUNNY CAR
ROUND ONE — Tim Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.251, 285.29 def. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Solara, foul; Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.271, 287.17 def. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.596, 240.51; Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.252, 288.58 def. Jack Wyatt, Dodge Stratus, 4.393, 246.48; John Force, Mustang, 4.232, 290.94 def. Jerry Toliver, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.393, 256.11; Del Worsham, Solara, 4.237, 290.07 def. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.589, 192.96; Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.259, 292.33 def. Jeff Arend, Solara, 4.320, 285.77; Ron Capps, Charger, 4.280, 284.09 def. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.274, 288.27; Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.234, 293.03 def. Daniel Wilkerson, Impala, 4.893, 165.74;
QUARTERFINALS — T. Wilkerson, 4.264, 286.74 def. Worsham, 6.268, 117.08; Force Hood, 4.262, 286.92 def. Tasca III, 4.296, 288.83; Capps, 4.298, 275.51 def. Force, 4.320, 283.85; Beckman, 4.314, 285.17 def. T. Pedregon, 4.355, 283.31;
SEMIFINALS — Capps, 4.289, 286.68 def. Beckman, 4.394, 274.83; Force Hood, 4.263, 283.49 def. T. Wilkerson, 4.392, 271.52;
FINAL — Capps, 4.265, 286.07 def. Force Hood, 4.495, 238.26.
PRO STOCK
ROUND ONE — Greg Stanfield, Pontiac GXP, 6.720, 205.60 def. Johnny Gray, Dodge Stratus, 9.134, 107.33; Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.715, 206.07 def. Kurt Johnson, Chevy Cobalt, 6.762, 205.16; Jason Line, GXP, 6.728, 205.10 def. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.793, 203.95; Rickie Jones, Stratus, 6.788, 204.14 def. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, foul; Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.731, 205.47 def. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.748, 204.79; Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.691, 205.98 def. Dave Northrop, Stratus, 6.790, 203.34; Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.683, 205.72 def. Ronnie Humphrey, Stratus, 8.386, 116.46; Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.705, 205.54 def. Steve Spiess, Cobalt, 6.828, 202.30;
QUARTERFINALS — Anderson, 6.761, 204.73 def. Jones, 6.803, 203.22; Coughlin, 6.741, 204.91 def. Line, 6.803, 204.57; Edwards, 6.722, 205.13 def. Stanfield, 6.772, 204.82; A. Johnson, 6.716, 205.07 def. W. Johnson, 6.853, 202.85;
SEMIFINALS — Edwards, 6.734, 206.29 def. Coughlin, 11.139, 79.03; A. Johnson, 6.733, 204.85 def. Anderson, 6.769, 205.01;
FINAL — A. Johnson, 6.726, 204.94 def. Edwards, 6.718, 205.88.
Point Standings
Top Fuel 1. Tony Schumacher, 715; 2. Antron Brown, 672; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 649; 4. Larry Dixon, 574; 5. Cory McClenathan, 563; 6. (tie) Shawn Langdon, 522; Morgan Lucas, 522; 8. Spencer Massey, 447; 9. Doug Kalitta, 443; 10. Joe Hartley, 365.
Funny Car 1. Ron Capps, 729; 2. Del Worsham, 610; 3. Ashley Force Hood, 603; 4. Tony Pedregon, 584; 5. Jack Beckman, 553; 6. Tim Wilkerson, 498; 7. Matt Hagan, 480; 8. Bob Tasca III, 460; 9. John Force, 453; 10. Cruz Pedregon, 420.
Pro Stock 1. Jeg Coughlin, 789; 2. Jason Line, 716; 3. Mike Edwards, 714; 4. Greg Anderson, 650; 5. Allen Johnson, 552; 6. Greg Stanfield, 482; 7. Ron Krisher, 432; 8. Kurt Johnson, 423; 9. Rickie Jones, 388; 10. Warren Johnson, 330.
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