CAPPS CREW GREMLIN SEARCHIN?
Written by Stan Creekmore Thursday, 14 October 2010 11:00
It's one thing to get beat, it's another to get beat by your own gremlins.
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There is something happening under the body of the NAPA Dodge which has, for all intents and purposes, taken Ron Capps and the NAPA crew led by Ed “Ace” McCulloch and John Medlen, out of the Funny Car championship battle.
Lined up against Jim Head in a first round matchup in the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, all bets were on Capps moving on to the second round. Sixty feet into the run, Capps was sputtering to the finish line where Head was celebrating a round win.
“It did it (as well) last night,” said Capps of the tire-smoking issue which basically ended his championship aspirations. “We thought we knew why. John Medlen looked (last night) and we thought it was a combination of a couple of very small things. But, we were also going for it (last night). You put that all together and we thought that is why it did it.
“We were shocked it did it twice in a row. That tells you there is something not right somewhere.”
Funny Cars are massive 8,000 horsepower steel beasts with hundreds of Achilles heels. All it takes is one small glitch to bring the horse to its knees. As of late, Capps horse has spent more time stumbling then it has galloping down the drag strip.
“There are so many things in these cars that people, I don't think, the fans wouldn't understand. Ten or fifteen years ago it was ignition timing and supercharger overdrive and compression and a few timers and things like that. It was just a handful of things the crew chief had to worry about. Now it's ignition maps and where do you advance it and retard it. There are so many variables I don't know how these crew chiefs sleep at night.”
With some many variables, tracking down a problem is truly like looking for a needle in a haystack. Only, with the needle you could use a magnet to help you. In the case of the beast of an engine in the Funny Car, its computer maps which can show you what is happening, but not necessarily why.
“It could be a combination of a couple of little small things, but to do it that early it's something drastically wrong,” says Capps of the timing of the tires losing all traction. “The guys are looking for it and we are going to stay and test tomorrow to try to figure it out.”
As the driver, Capps isn't the one looking over the computer readouts or turning the wrenches. He is, however, the one who must face the media and explain the situation. The bad comes with the good. Capps has learned from experience, you live and you die as a team. He does his job and the crew does their job.
“My job is to go up there and try to do everything the same,” says Capps. “Tony Schumacher has talked about being a machine in the car. That's what it is. The more important times to be a good driver is when the car is struggling. That is when you have to focus on being consistent. When you're doing well and it's winning; you’re doing the same stuff and if things are going right they're going right.”
Capps is confident McCulloch and Medlen will figure out whatever it is ails the race car. Until they do, Capps will continue to do his job, hopefully without mistake.
Roland Leong taught me a long time ago, early on, it's the ladder 'remember to stay humble when you are doing good because you are going to pass the same people on the way down as you passed on the up.' I always try to remember that because it's important in our sport. Whether I go up and red light, I'm late, the car smokes the tire or whatever it does, you win as a team, you lose as a team and there is no pointing fingers.
“For me as a driver, it's cliché to say, but you are such a small piece of the pie. You get all the glory. It's like the quarterback, you get to talk and do interviews and stuff when you are doing good; but really the guys who should get most of the credit are the rest of the guys on the team.”
Capps is confident those surrounding him at each race will figure out what is causing the issues with the car. In the meantime, he'll watch the Countdown to One with more than a little bit of interest; after all two of his teammates are in the thick of the hunt. Matt Hagan is leading the point standings for the first time in his short career and Jack Beckman is third, with John Force sandwiched in between them.
“I just told Tommy D and Matt Hagan, you can't count Force out. I know first-hand, you think you have a championship wrapped up and he finds ways to motivate. You have to stay focused.
“Nobody is safe. You can't start getting excited. Snake [Don Prudhomme] always said, 'Don't drink your own bath water,' and that is exactly it; you have to stay focused and finish the job or as Ace would say, ' finish the task at hand.”
Written by Stan Creekmore Thursday, 14 October 2010 11:00
It's one thing to get beat, it's another to get beat by your own gremlins.
There is something happening under the body of the NAPA Dodge which has, for all intents and purposes, taken Ron Capps and the NAPA crew led by Ed “Ace” McCulloch and John Medlen, out of the Funny Car championship battle.
Lined up against Jim Head in a first round matchup in the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, all bets were on Capps moving on to the second round. Sixty feet into the run, Capps was sputtering to the finish line where Head was celebrating a round win.
“It did it (as well) last night,” said Capps of the tire-smoking issue which basically ended his championship aspirations. “We thought we knew why. John Medlen looked (last night) and we thought it was a combination of a couple of very small things. But, we were also going for it (last night). You put that all together and we thought that is why it did it.
“We were shocked it did it twice in a row. That tells you there is something not right somewhere.”
Funny Cars are massive 8,000 horsepower steel beasts with hundreds of Achilles heels. All it takes is one small glitch to bring the horse to its knees. As of late, Capps horse has spent more time stumbling then it has galloping down the drag strip.
“There are so many things in these cars that people, I don't think, the fans wouldn't understand. Ten or fifteen years ago it was ignition timing and supercharger overdrive and compression and a few timers and things like that. It was just a handful of things the crew chief had to worry about. Now it's ignition maps and where do you advance it and retard it. There are so many variables I don't know how these crew chiefs sleep at night.”
With some many variables, tracking down a problem is truly like looking for a needle in a haystack. Only, with the needle you could use a magnet to help you. In the case of the beast of an engine in the Funny Car, its computer maps which can show you what is happening, but not necessarily why.
“It could be a combination of a couple of little small things, but to do it that early it's something drastically wrong,” says Capps of the timing of the tires losing all traction. “The guys are looking for it and we are going to stay and test tomorrow to try to figure it out.”
As the driver, Capps isn't the one looking over the computer readouts or turning the wrenches. He is, however, the one who must face the media and explain the situation. The bad comes with the good. Capps has learned from experience, you live and you die as a team. He does his job and the crew does their job.
“My job is to go up there and try to do everything the same,” says Capps. “Tony Schumacher has talked about being a machine in the car. That's what it is. The more important times to be a good driver is when the car is struggling. That is when you have to focus on being consistent. When you're doing well and it's winning; you’re doing the same stuff and if things are going right they're going right.”
Capps is confident McCulloch and Medlen will figure out whatever it is ails the race car. Until they do, Capps will continue to do his job, hopefully without mistake.
Roland Leong taught me a long time ago, early on, it's the ladder 'remember to stay humble when you are doing good because you are going to pass the same people on the way down as you passed on the up.' I always try to remember that because it's important in our sport. Whether I go up and red light, I'm late, the car smokes the tire or whatever it does, you win as a team, you lose as a team and there is no pointing fingers.
“For me as a driver, it's cliché to say, but you are such a small piece of the pie. You get all the glory. It's like the quarterback, you get to talk and do interviews and stuff when you are doing good; but really the guys who should get most of the credit are the rest of the guys on the team.”
Capps is confident those surrounding him at each race will figure out what is causing the issues with the car. In the meantime, he'll watch the Countdown to One with more than a little bit of interest; after all two of his teammates are in the thick of the hunt. Matt Hagan is leading the point standings for the first time in his short career and Jack Beckman is third, with John Force sandwiched in between them.
“I just told Tommy D and Matt Hagan, you can't count Force out. I know first-hand, you think you have a championship wrapped up and he finds ways to motivate. You have to stay focused.
“Nobody is safe. You can't start getting excited. Snake [Don Prudhomme] always said, 'Don't drink your own bath water,' and that is exactly it; you have to stay focused and finish the job or as Ace would say, ' finish the task at hand.”
