Capps Drives His Dodge Charger to the 2021 NHRA Funny Car Championship

Ron Capps didn’t have a great final event of 2021, but he did well enough to secure his second title.

This past weekend marked the end of the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series at the Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California. Coming into the final event of the year, Dodge Charger drivers sat first-second-third in the Funny Car class, with leader Ron Capps holding a fairly commanding lead over the others. More importantly, Capps had a huge lead over fourth place driver J.R. Todd, who was the highest non-Dodge in the standings and the only non-Dodge with a mathematical chance at the championship.

Unfortunately, the final event of the 2021 NHRA season didn’t go all that well for any of the three Dodge Charger drivers in the top three spots, but Capps did well enough to win the championship while teammate Matt Hagan settled for the second spot in the title chase.

Championship Math

Coming into the NHRA Auto Club Finals, Ron Capps had a lead of 155 points over J.R. Todd. While that is a huge gap, the final event awards extra points, so the Toyota driver did have a chance to steal the title in the final race. Todd would need to be the quickest funny car in every round of qualifying, then from the top spot on the ladder, he would have to win the event. At the same time, he needed Capps, Hagan and Pedregon to all be the slowest cars in qualifying, settling for the 14 through 16 spots and they would all need to lose in the first round.

Capps Wins the Title

Fortunately for Mopar racing fans, none of that happened. Todd qualified in the 8 spot, so he didn’t get the qualifying bonus points for the top spot. Capps qualified in the 2 spot while Hagan started in the 6 spot, so they both got more qualifying round bonus points than Todd. Realistically, we think that Todd was mathematically eliminated from the title after qualifying, but both Capps and Hagan pulled out of reach of the Toyota driver when they both won their first round matchup while Todd lost his first round race to Bob Tasca III, ending his championship run.

Tasca would go on to win the event, beating Alexis DeJoria in a battle between a Ford Mustang and a Toyota Camry. Hagan beat Capps in the second round of eliminations as he looked to take his shot at the title, but that effort was halted when he lost to DeJoria in the semifinals. As a result, Hagan ended the season 37 points back of his teammate – 2021 Funny Car Champion Ron Capps.

This is Ron Capps’ second NHRA Funny Car Championship title, having won his first back in 2016 – also with Don Schumacher Racing. Capps won two races this season, which was less wins than John Force and Bob Tasca III, but Capps consistently got into later rounds, allowing him to win the championship title.

Photos: NHRA

Join the Dodge Forums now!

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

Facebook   Twitter