RacingNation.com
Home / Drag Racing / NHRA / New Year, New Strategy?

New Year, New Strategy?

Anderson, Capps off to different starts to 2008

Throughout the Countdown’s first regular season in 2007, Ron Capps cut through the Funny Car class like a hot knife through butter.

Ditto Greg Anderson in Pro Stock.

But each stumbled down the stretch and had to watch as others hoisted the POWERade Series trophy. Each driver said he’d learned a lesson.

What lesson?

Safely in the Countdown playoffs, Capps and Anderson went into what they said was “test-mode” and they never fully got the edge back.

Anderson said he “learned a valuable lesson” and he had “no one to blame but himself.”

So far in 2008, Anderson blistered the field at Pomona, he has qualified No. 1 and 2, and he stands on top of the Pro Stock standings. The question will be whether he indeed keeps the throttle down and avoids the temptation to start testing.

As for Capps, it’s been a totally different story.

Driving now for NAPA Auto Parts, Capps DNQ’d at Pomona and at Phoenix he was just beat by Cruz Pedregon, who ran a 4.859 with a 0.011 reaction time to Capps’ 4.867 (0.105).

It’s hardly time to panic
– Capps is in 15th place,
18 points behind Bob Bode
– but you can be sure
there’s no one more anxious
to get to Gainesville.

Capps has won there two
years in a row and in each
of those years it propelled
him into a stretch of three
straight final rounds.

Gainesville will also
mark the 2008 debut of the Pro Stock Motorcycles.

The Staging Lane
What’s next: ACDelco
NHRA Gatornationals
When: March 13-16
Where: Gainesville Raceway

ON TV: ESPN2HD, Qualifying
1-3 a.m. ET on Sunday;
Race 6-9 p.m. ET on
Sunday.

Notable: This race marks
the annual return of the
Pro Stock Motorcycle
class, which will be competing
at 18 of 24 events in
2008 Ron Capps will be
looking for his third straight
Gatornationals win Gary
Scelzi will be looking for
his first career Gatornationals
win – Gainesville
is one of just four tracks
that has kept the four-time
champ out of the winner’s
circle (Englishtown, Norwalk
and Charlotte)

Share Button