Defending Funny Car world champion Ron Capps rolled to his third win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge bonus race on Saturday, defeating J.R. Todd in the final round at Pacific Raceways as part of the 34th annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals.
In the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the bonus event in Seattle. Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car) and Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) each qualified No. 1 at the 11th of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
Capps went 3.951s at 322.65mph in his NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra to slip past Todd’s run of 3.967s at 323.81mph, giving the back-to-back world champ his third specialty event win in the past four races. He will attempt to pick up his first double-up weekend of the year on Sunday in Seattle, where Capps has two career event wins.
“This deal has really changed the way you wake up S aturday morning,” Capps said. “There’s a lot going on inside your head up there. You’re trying to win this and you’re still trying to improve your qualifying spot, too, but this deal is really cool. We’re very excited to get another win in this and it also gives us a lot of good data for tomorrow.
“I want to just say it over and over: Thank you to Mission Foods for putting this on. They really created something cool. We all saw the points is the thing that stood out for most; it’s great money, we appreciate that, too. But as you know, we won the world championship last year by less than a handful of points.”
Funny Car legend John Force put on an impressive show to close out qualifying, jumping to the No. 1 spot for the first time this season with a run of 3.915s at 327.35mph in his PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS. It’s also the 166th career No. 1 qualifier for the 16-time world champ as he looks to win at Pacific Raceways for an incredible 10th time. Bob Tasca III took second with a 3.949s at 322.81mph and Capps qualified third.
“When you’re out here, and you got four teams and so many people represent, it’s hard to make everybody happy,” Force said. “We have a race to win tomorrow, our cars are good, some are a little bit off, some are hot. I didn’t think we’d be that fast. But like Danny (Hood, crew chief) said: ‘Hang on.’ So when he does that, I know he’s pushing it. So I’m excited and I love Seattle.
“It’s funny, the days beat you up and you feel like everything’s going wrong, and then all of a sudden you run like that, you get young again.”
Four-time Top Fuel world champ Torrence made the most of his Saturday, picking up his first victory in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge by knocking off Shawn Langdon in the final round with a run of 3.788s at 325.61mph in his Capco Contr actors/Toyota dragster. It’s the first win of any kind this season for Torrence, who was second in points entering the weekend. That shows the team’s consistency this season, but Torrence has been eager to get back in the winner’s circle. He did that on Saturday, knocking off Doug Kalitta and then Langdon to win the bonus race and enjoy plenty of momentum heading into Sunday’s eliminations.