Drag Racing Star Ron Capps Eager to Help NAPA Promote Atlantic City Indoor Race
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Ron Capps enjoys all forms of motorsports but rarely gets as excited about attending one like he is about being at the 12th annual NAPA Know How Atlantic City Indoor Midget Car Race on Jan. 24-25 in fabled Boardwalk Hall.
“I grew up reading Chris Economaki’s National Speed Sport News and remember in the winter reading his stories about the indoor Midget races back East but never thought I’d be able to get to the East Coast to see any,” said Capps, a lifelong Californian.
“Another benefit of being with a great sponsor like NAPA is being able to be involved in events like this.”
Capps drives the 320-mph NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit and after spending this week testing with his team in South Florida he will head to New Jersey to help promote the NAPA-sponsored event.
“NAPA became the sponsor of the race last year through its East Coast Region and I was invited to go,” he said. “I went last year and saw what all the hype was about and it was more than I expected.”
Although Capps has competed in many short-track races including NASCAR star Tony Stewart’s summer all-star event at Eldora Raceway in Ohio, he’s content with signing autographs at the Atlantic City event and presenting the winner’s trophy instead of racing on the concrete track.
“These guys are the best in the country, and I’d be stupid to think I could jump in one of their cars without a lot of practice and be able to compete with them,” he said. “They’re the best around.”
The historic Boardwalk Hall, which is on Atlantic city’s famed Boardwalk along the Atlantic coast, opened in 1929 and has hosted the biggest names in the music industry – from Louis Armstrong and the Beatles to Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Barbara Streisand and Justin Bieber. It also has hosted countless major sports events including the nation’s first indoor college football game in 1930. It is listed on the United State Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.
ABOUT RON CAPPS
Ron Capps will compete in his 20th season of NHRA professional racing and 10th with Don Schumacher Racing in 2014. His team has been sponsored by NAPA AUTO PARTS since 2008.
Capps, who was born in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and lives with his family near San Diego, has won 41 NHRA national event titles and has produced with his NAPA team the quickest Funny Car run in history with a time of 3.964 seconds. His top speed in the NAPA Dodge Charger R/T with crew chief Rahn Tobler is 320.89 mph.
ABOUT NAPA AUTO PARTS
NAPA (www.NAPAonline.com) was founded in 1925 to meet America’s growing need for an auto parts distribution system. Today NAPA has grown to more than 6,000 U.S. NAPA AUTO PARTS stores and 64 distribution centers with more than 400,000 part numbers in inventory and more than 15,000 NAPA AutoCare and AutoCare Collision Centers nationwide.
Sources: Don Schumacher Racing Corporation/Ernie Saxton Communications, Inc.