Defending NHRA Top Fuel champion Ron Capps is on a roll this season, having won at Houston, Charlotte and Atlanta. Next up is Topeka, KS, this weekend.

"I'm pretty pumped," said Capps, who has won three times (1998, 2006 and 2009) at Topeka in five final rounds. "We can run with anybody, especially in cool conditions and that's what we might see this weekend."

Capps goes into the Topeka race leading the Funny Car points, 94 points ahead of Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan.  (Ron Lewis photo) [05/18/17]

Back in 2014, when the building of the powerplant for Joe Hessling’s American Race Cars-built dragster was delayed, friend and fellow racer Rob Moser invited him to pilot his American Race Cars-built dragster. It was a match, as Hessling earned his first Wally trophy in Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series' Super Comp.

But when his own dragster was ready soon after that, he began laying down 6.30s in Top Dragster and achieved a runner-up finish at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in 2015 and a win at the 10th Annual Cavalcade of Stars in 2016, both at Summit Motorsports Park.

Now, Hessling, who lives in Toledo, Ohio and is an engine-builder at Advanced Product Design in Genoa, Ohio, is readying to roll into the 11th Annual Cavalcade of Stars presented by Budweiser, May 19-21, at Summit Motorsports Park, but instead of being in the cockpit of his dragster, he'll be in the cockpit of one of Rob Moser's other dragsters. It features an Advanced Product Design-built big-block Chevy engine with a ProCharger F-1X-12 and RaceDrive and rolls on a Moser M9 floater rear-end housing and Moser driveline components.

On board to help Hessling at this weekend's event are crew members Ray Connolly and Rocky Van Note.

"I consider Summit Motorsports Park my home track, and winning this event last year was one of the coolest things because of that," said Hessling. "I hope to be able to do it again."  (David Smith photo) [05/18/17]