CHANDLER, Arizona — Two races into the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Racing Series season and Ron Capps is the hottest drag racer in the country. Capps won his second straight Funny Car title of the young campaign when he captured victory in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist Nationals at Firebird International Raceway.
Antron Brown won the Top Fuel category trophy and Jeg Coughlin won in Pro Stock.
The three victories gave Goodyear-shod drivers eight wins in NHRA national competition this season. No other tiremaker has a better record.
Capps, who also won the season opener at Pomona, Calif., beat Mike Neff in the final round when Neff was unable to return to the starting line after his burnout. It was the 27th win of Capps’ career.
“I’m living a dream right now,” Capps told reporters.
Brown’s victory in the final round, his first of the season, came at the expense of Brandon Bernstein. It was the second straight final round appearance for Brown and the win boosted him to the lead in the category’s standings.
Coughlin beat Kurt Johnson in the Pro Stock final by a narrow margin. Coughlin’s time was 6.643 seconds, while Johnson’s time was 6.647.
