4-25-2006 -- After a three week break, Team Mopar and Don Schumacher Racing Funny Car drivers Ron Capps, Gary Scelzi and Whit Bazemore will take to the strip this weekend in the O‘Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. Entering the sixth event of the year, the team has already racked up two wins and four finals appearances in 2006.
Capps, the current Funny Car points leader, has led the charge early on in his Hemi-powered Brut Dodge Stratus R/T. The Carlsbad, Calif., native has recorded the two Team Mopar Funny Car wins and has advanced to at least the semis in all five events thus far. He will enter Bristol with a 105-point lead over the man in second-place, 13-time Funny Car champ John Force.
The sailing hasn‘t been so smooth for Capps’ teammates, Scelzi and Bazemore. Scelzi, currently 14th in the points standings, will look to get on the right track and go rounds this weekend in his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T. The defending Funny Car champ is also the defending event champ, as he won the 2005 Bristol race on his way to the title.
Bazemore, 10th in points, will look to gain encouragement from his last outing, at Vegas, where he defeated John Force and advanced to the semis before bowing out to teammate Capps. The Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T team also officially announced Todd Okuhara as Bazemore‘s crew chief, with Brian Corradi as assistant crew chief.
Qualifying coverage of the O‘Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 from 10 p.m. to midnight this Saturday, with eliminations coverage set for 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday, also on ESPN2. For more information regarding Capps, Scelzi, Bazemore or the NHRA POWERade Funny Car Series, log on to shoeracing.com or nhra.com.
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