NHRA's Ron Capps remains the guy to beat after Friday qualifying

Published Jun. 11, 2016 11:20 a.m. ET

foxsports

Ron Capps continued his domination of the NHRA Funny Car class as he concluded Friday's NHRA Summernationals qualifying as the provisional No. 1 qualifier with a track record 3.870-second ET at 318.62 mph.

Capps was joined atop the leaderboard by Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Capps has been flawless in the eastern swing, winning last weekend's New England Nationals from the No. 1 qualifying spot.

Capps took over domination of the Funny Car class from teammate Matt Hagan, whose 3.901 placed him second and ahead of Robert Hight's 3.915.

As impressive as Capps run was, he isn’t sure Friday’s performance is a slam dunk to hold through Saturday.

"We run late (Saturday) afternoon, so you don't know about that second session," Capps said regarding the likelihood his time will hold up as quickest. "I hope it does. It would be nice to have another green hat (for winning the pole) but that's what's great about having a crew chief who can race on Sunday when the conditions aren't what they were Friday night."

Torrence, who led last weekend's Epping qualifying on the first day, repeated the feat as he emerged as the top runner after two sessions with a 3.735, 325.06. Defending Top Fuel series champion Antron Brown was second with a 3.742 while Shawn Langdon was third with a 3.747, 326.71.

“It feels good,” said Torrence. “The car has been running well all year and to come into Englishtown with some momentum from Epping and the car continuing to do well, it’s a huge boost of confidence for myself and for the guys.”

Line extended the KB Racing top qualifying streak to 31 consecutive qualifying sessions the three-car team has led the Pro Stock division.

His 6.519, 212.56 performance placed him ahead of Greg Anderson's 6.533. Bo Butner rounded out the three-car domination with a 6.540, 212.53.

“My car is great right now,” said Line. “It feels very good but the other teams are gaining on us, there’s no doubt about it, so we have to step it up.”

Englishtown's hometown hero Krawiec showed his home field advantage as he edged Jerry Savoie for the top spot with a 6.783. Savoie came close with a 6.788. Hector Arana Jr. landed third with a 6.799.

“Anytime you can go low ET the first session coming out it definitely helps build momentum,” said Krawiec. “We made a good clean run.”

***

Tracy Renck is a Senior Writer for CompetitionPlus.com, a leading independent online drag racing magazine, since 1999. For the latest in dragster news worldwide, visit www.competitionplus.com or follow on Twitter @competitionplus