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    • Oct 10, 2021

Ron Capps Wins Funny Car Final Against Matt Hagan At The Texas Fall Nationals, His Second 2021 Win

Don Schumacher Racing has a great shot at winning the 2021 NHRA Funny Car championship but with which driver seems to be the best question. Ron Capps closed the gap on his points-leading teammate Matt Hagan by beating him in the final round of the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals with a holeshot victory. This was Capps second win of the season and the 68th of his career in his 130th final round appearance.



"I'm just trying to be the weak link," said Capps after the win. "We have a great race car, a real hot rod, so I really don't want to be the weak link so it raises my intensity every time to not be second leaving the starting line, to not do anything wrong, to do the best I can every time.


"It's rare to beat Hagan on a holeshot but I just am so focused for my team, for NAPA Auto Parts, because there's just a lot of stuff going on right now. A lot of thoughts rolling around in your brain at this time of year and the Countdown, and you're just trying to focus. There was a lot of emotion going into that round. It's good to get a little bit of ground from third place and gain a little bit on Hagen and those guys, and it's nice to go right to Bristol."


Hagan, in just his third race back after recovering from COVID-19, reached his second final round and did enough to stay in the points lead.


RPM Round By Round:


Round 1 - Capps faced Jack Wyatt in the first round but this was not much of a race as Capps dominated from start to finish with a run of 3.898 at 324.75 MPH.


Round 2 - Paul Lee was waiting for Capps in the quarterfinals and was ready to put up a fight. This was a close race from start to finish but Capps was able to get to the strip just before Lee with a run of 3.928 at 323.58 MPH.


Round 3 - In the semi's, it was Cruz Pedregon ready to take his shot. Pedregon had a great launch for the early lead but Capps gets the win with a run of 3.924 at 326.56 MPH.


Round 4 - Championship competitors and teammates Matt Hagan and Ron Capps faced off in the final. With both drivers fighting for the championship, this was an opportunity for Hagan to stretch his lead or for Capps to cut it down. With a holeshot victory, it was Capps with the win running a 3.930 at 326.87.


See the Funny Car recap by Phil Burgess:






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