Kalitta, Capps, Enders-Stevens Win Spring Nationals
 |
| L-R: Kalitta, Capps, Enders-Stevens |
Ron Capps moved to second on the all-time Funny Car win list with a victory over teammate Jack Beckman in an exciting final round showdown in Sunday's 28th annual NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas.
Erica Enders-Stevens scored her second straight win in the Pro Stock division, driver Doug Kalitta raced to his first victory of the season in Top Fuel.
Capps collected his 44th-career Funny Car victory and second win of the season, taking down his Don Schumacher Racing teammate and top qualifier Jack Beckman.
Capps, who came in as the third qualifier, picked up round wins over John Hale, Matt Hagan and Robert Hight before facing Beckman.
Facing each other for the fifth time in the finals, Capps got the jump at the start but Beckman started to close the gap before both cars started hazing the tires and dropping cylinders. Beckman drifted toward the center line and back it down while Capps gathered his car back up and pulled out the victory, running 4.244 at 258.32 mph over Beckman’s 4.480, 205.16
The win moved Capps past Tony Pedregon and into second in the all-time Funny Car wins list behind John Force, who is currently the NHRA all-time win leader with 142 victories.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]"It's crazy to think that I am number two on that list," Capps said. "I am not that good, so it just shows you from my time with (team owner) Don Prudhomme on down to my team at Don Schumacher Racing, all of the great people I have worked with over the years, it's a credit to them."
Capps also moved into the points lead by six points over his teammate Hagan, who fell to Capps in the second round.
In Pro Stock, defending race winner and hometown favorite Erica Ender-Stevens pulled out the victory over Chris McGaha for her second-straight victory and 14th of her career.
Enders-Stevens and McGaha left the line nearly side by side with Enders-Stevens gaining a slight advantage before pulling out to a .027 advantage at the finish, running 6.571 at 211.73mph over McGaha, who clocked in with a 6.598, 211.66 in the loss.
"It’s so hard to win," said Enders-Stevens, who bested Allen Johnson, Vincent Nobile and Jonathan Gray to reach the finals. "People have no idea how challenging it is to pull together and to be on top two weeks in a row is an incredible accomplishment. This was one of the more emotional wins for me given the adversity we faced and what we all overcame today."
Enders-Stevens’ victory propelled her to the top of the Pro Stock standings by 15 points over Jason Line.
Doug Kalitta picked up his first win since last August with a victory over Tony Schumacher in the Top Fuel final.
Kalitta, lost to Schumacher in his only other final-round appearance two months earlier at Phoenix, started the day as the fourth qualifier and fought his way to the finals with victories over Troy Buff, Larry Dixon and top qualifier Spencer Massey at face Schumacher in the finals.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Lining up for their 16th-career final-round showdown, Schumacher was first off the line with a .009 light and held the lead up to the halfway point when the engine on his U.S. Army dragster let go, giving Kalitta a clear run to the finish line, posting a time of 3.820 at 324.98mph.
"Tony’s a tough competitor, and here lately, we’ve had a tough time getting around him," said Kalitta, who had lost to Schumacher 10 straight times since 2003. "We got by him, so it wasn’t until the end that we got him.
"I’ve had a couple dry spells. It’s one of those deals where you never know when you’re going to win one of these, so you have to appreciate the opportunity and appreciate these wins when you get them. It’s a good feeling. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come."
Despite the loss, Schumacher’s runner-up finish moved him into the lead in the Top Fuel points standings by 33 points over Massey.