Capps isn't slowing down at Infineon

SONOMA — Ron Capps had 30 career Funny Car victories heading into this weekend's FRAM/Autolite NHRA Nationals, but only one of them had come in the past year-and-a-half. If the 46-year-old Capps is slowing down a bit on most of America's tracks, though, he has discovered his fountain of youth at Infineon Raceway.

Capps won here for the second straight year on Sunday afternoon, holding off Tim Wilkerson in the final to claim his first Funny Car win of the season.

Other Sunday winners included Antron Brown in the Top Fuel category, Greg Anderson in Pro Stock and LE Tonglet in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Capps' win probably meant the most. He grew up in San Luis Obispo and later lived in the Bay Area, where he met his wife and taught racquetball before making it big on the racetrack. His daughter was born in Palo Alto. Capps acknowledged Sunday that it can be difficult to race in front of a home crowd, and to accommodate friends and family all with tickets, but he made it clear that Infineon has its advantages — starting with the professionalism of media relations director John Cardinale and his staff.

"You ask any driver what's a great track to go to, that's the first thing that pops in their mind, is how good a feeling it is when they left there, and how they've been taken care of," said Capps, pilot of the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger. "And my family and all that's great, and I've won here. I remember standing up there with the Copenhagen car, my first win (in 1997). Just something about it."

Capps has an additional tie to Infineon — the memory of Eric Medlen, the Funny Car driver who won at Infineon in 2006 but died a year later when he crashed in a training run at Gainesville Raceway. Medlen's father, John, is Capps' former crew chief. The driver attended a charity dinner in Eric Medlen's name on Thursday, at Stone Tree Golf Club in Novato.

Capps, the No. 3 qualifier this weekend, was tested in the first round Sunday, crossing just 25 thousandths of a second ahead of Bob Tasca. But he picked up momentum as the day wore on. He turned in the best elapsed times in the quarterfinals (4.132 seconds) and the semifinals (4.168) before clocking at 4.145 in the final. His top speed in that last race was 303.57 miles per hour.

Capps beat the resurgent Cruz Pedregon on a red-light infraction in one semifinal race, while Wilkerson took advantage of his opponent's setback to beat John Force, who had set Funny Car track records during Friday-night qualifying.

Capps moved up two spots to sixth in the Funny Car point standings, and Wilkerson was able to strengthen his position in the No. 10 spot — an important distinction with the 10-car Countdown just three weeks away. Mike Neff was eliminated in the first round Sunday, but retains his overall lead with 1,094 points, 163 ahead of teammate Robert Hight. Neff is still the only Funny Car driver to have clinched a berth in the Countdown.

Brown won the Top Fuel class for the third time this season, having claimed victories at Las Vegas and Atlanta. He also lost in the final at Bristol a month ago, and has edged up to third in the division standings, moving past Larry Dixon. Del Worsham, Spencer Massey, Brown, Dixon and Tony Schumacher all have secured spots in the Countdown.

Brown and his Matco Tools dragster weren't really tested in the first three rounds, as Ron August, David Grubnic and Worsham all experienced problems of various types; none of them rose above 228.73 mph, positively sluggish for a Top Fuel car.

Brown said those breezy runs didn't affect him one way or another.

"You learn this through experience — and this is my 14th year out here drag racing — is when you start worrying about other competitors and what they do, that's when you've lost that race, because you're not thinking of the things you need to do," he said. "... Our competition in all four pro classes right now is ridiculous. I mean, the No. 16 guy can win a race. I won a race from the 13 spot before. ... You've got to go out there and race that lane. And if you don't, I'm telling you, one little hiccup and you lost, you're done."

Schumacher pushed Brown hard in the final after beating Dixon in a semifinal, but wound up 38 thousandths of a second behind his Don Schumacher Racing teammate. Tony Schumacher is the most successful Top Fuel driver of all time, with 67 victories and seven series championships, but has been repeatedly frustrated in 2011. He has lost four times in the final round, with three of those losses coming to teammates — including a week ago to Massey and earlier in the season to Brown. This was the 25th all-Schumacher team final.

Meanwhile, Anderson became the winningest Pro Stock racer ever at Infineon, claiming his fourth victory to move past Darrell Alderman, Warren Johnson and Jim Yates. Anderson also won here in 2004, 2005 and 2008. He won by a bumper in his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP on Sunday, edging series points leader Mike Edwards. Anderson and Jason Line both joined Edwards in the Countdown field.

Tonglet's Pro Stock Motorcycle win was nearly as close. He rode his Nitro Fish Buell past Michael Phillips' ride by a wheel length to claim his third victory of the season, most among the motorcyclists. Hector Arana III, the No. 1 qualifier, set a track record with a 6.843-second pass in the first round, but suffered a mechanical failure against Tonglet in the quarterfinals.

Karen Stoffer and Eddie Krawiec clinched Countdown positions.

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.