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CAPPS GOES TO THE BARBER
How do you prepare to compete in the 50th
anniversary edition of the U.S. Nationals?
Well, if you’re Ron Capps, you drive
an open wheel car at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course. The Funny Car veteran will drive an
R/T 2000 in the Skip Barber Formula Dodge Race
Series on Aug. 26-27.
The car, which looks like a small Indy car,
uses a Ricardo 5-speed sequential gearbox,
dual-element rear and single-element front
wings, and composite bodywork. It reaches a
top speed of 135 mph.
Capps has previously turned left behind the
wheel of an IROC car and in a midget car at
the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, OK.
“Driving these cars, you come to appreciate
the concentration it takes the F-1 and Indy
car drivers,” Capps said. “There’s
so much going on in the race car and I’m
really excited to compete against these open-wheel
drivers.”
Let’s just hope he can remember to keep
the tires straight the following week at Indy.
(Doug Harrison Photo) [8-25-2004]
JEG TRIES A TRIPLE AT INDY
 Three-time world champion Jeg Coughlin will
be going for a rare drag racing trifecta at
this year’s Indy extravaganza. The 45-time
national event winner will try to win the U.S.
Nationals in his Jeg’s Mail Order Pro
Stock car (shown) and the Super Stock Hemi
Challenge and Super Stock class championship
in Michael Ogburn’s West Coast Hemi Barracuda.
It will be an exhausting, but exciting weekend
of racing.
“Seven straight days of drag racing,” Coughlin
said. “It doesn’t get any better
then that.”
The Super Stock Hemi Challenge is a special
race within a race that will be contested Friday
between regular rounds of professional time
trails.
“The Hemi Challenge is huge,” the
34-year-old Coughlin said. “When you
combine the big corporate backing with the
culture of racers from across the country that
will be competing in this race, it makes it
every bit as prominent as a professional title.
“I’d say the same for the class
championship. When you’re a sportsman
racer, and sportsman racing runs deep in this
family, you know winning class at Indy is about
as big as it gets. Just like in the Pros, when
you win class at Indy it’s an honor that
can never be taken away from you. It’s
Indy, so it’s special no matter how you
slice it.” (Jeff
Burk photo) [8-25-2004]
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