Ron Capps has gone from one of Pacific Raceways' harshest critics to an ardent supporter. It's amazing what a few hundred feet of concrete and a No. 1 qualifier can do to a driver's attitude.
Capps, who caught heat last year for some tweets critical of the Seattle track, put the NAPA Dodge Charger in Funny Car's top on Saturday at the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals.
"I'm not sure there's one lane better than the other right now," Capps said. "The heat we've had this weekend will bring out the worst in any track, even the best track in the world.
"However the old Seattle, the track would have been like the return road or the staging lanes. With the changes they've made, the fans got a pretty good day of side-by-side racing."
Other No. 1 qualifiers on Saturday were Allen Johnson in Pro Stock and Spencer Massey in Top Fuel.
Temperatures in the Seattle climbed into the 90s for the first time this calendar year, which pretty much assured Friday's top qualifiers held their sports.
Capps' 4.119 second pass at 298.47 mph on Friday was more than enough to hang on to the top spot as Johnny Gray's 4.14 was the quickest any Funny Car could get down on Saturday.
"I've had some good mojo at this track in the past," Capps said. "I've even won here from the very bottom of the field once. It's a demanding track for drivers and crew chiefs and you have to be on your toes every round.
Capps draws Jeff Diehl in the first round of eliminations on Sunday. Deihl's best lap in his Chevy Monte Carlo was in 4.337 seconds at 271.35 mph.
Johnson and Mopar Dodge Avenger remained flawless and on course for a Western Swing sweep with his best pass 6.554 seconds at 211.66 mph held over.
"The car's consistent and we didn't really get after it," Johnson said. "We're trying to nail down our hot track tune up. We actually hurt another motor today and had to put in our third engine. That was a little bit trying, but it went out there in the last qualifying round and went down the track."
Johnson draws No. 16 qualifier Matt Hartford's American Ethanol Dodge Avenger, which had a best lap of 6.685 seconds at 207.69 mph.
Massey will be trying to prevent his teammate Antron Brown from making history on Sunday. Massey, who qualified No. 1 with a best pass of 3.837 seconds at 319.60 mph in the Fram dragster, will try and stand in the way of Brown's quest to become the first driver in NHRA history to sweep the Western Swing twice in a career.
"We don't want to beat ourselves tomorrow," Massey said. "The plan is to get down the track and keep my teammate Antron from getting that broom. First round could be a fast round, depending on how soon the sun comes out and heats the track up."
In that first round, Massey squares off against Ron Smith and the Foster Machine Services dragster. Smith qualified with a pass of 5.088 seconds at 176.63 mph.
Eliminations get under way at 11 a.m. PDT from Pacific Raceways.
SUNDAY'S PARINGS
Top Fuel -- 1. Spencer Massey, 3.837 seconds, 319.60 mph vs. 16. Ron Smith, 5.088, 235.35; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.837,318.02 vs. 15. Scott Palmer, 4.259, 214.79; 3. Steve Torrence, 3.838, 319.37 vs. 14. Steven Chrisman, 4.176, 281.30; 4. Shawn Langdon, 3.842, 316.23 vs. 13. Terry McMillen, 4.036, 299.20; 5.Antron Brown, 3.842, 316.23 vs. 12. Clay Millican, 3.912, 312.78; 6. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.857, 317.34 vs. 11. Bob Vandergriff, 3.906, 310.77; 7. Doug Kalitta, 3.859, 312.57 vs. 10. Brandon Bernstein, 3.893, 313.44; 8. Morgan Lucas, 3.864, 318.62 vs. 9. David Grubnic, 3.873, 312.42.
Funny Car -- 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.119, 298.47 vs. 16. Jeff Diehl, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.337, 271.35; 2. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.121, 302.82 vs. 15. Gary Densham, Charger, 4.324, 289.20; 3. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 4.125, 300.53 vs. 14. Courtney Force, Ford Mustang, 4.237, 262.44; 4. Johnny Gray, Charger, 4.147, 300.86 vs. 13. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.226, 292.27; 5. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.157, 296.89 vs. 12. Jeff Arend, Camry, 4.222, 295.85; 6. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.161, 297.16 vs. 11. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.213, 298.47; 7. Alexis DeJoria, Camry, 4.165,293.54 vs. 10. John Force, Mustang, 4.193, 291.57; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.174, 296.18 vs. 9. Tony Pedregon, Camry, 4.186, 284.75. Did Not Qualify: 17. Joshua Crawford, 4.398, 274.89; 18. Todd Lesenko, 4.416, 271.73.
Pro Stock -- 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.554, 211.66 vs. 16. Matt Hartford, Avenger, 6.685, 208.55; 2. VincentNobile, Avenger, 6.564, 210.87 vs. 15. Mark Wolfe, Ford Mustang,6.674, 207.62; 3. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.573, 210.97 vs. 14. JR Carr, Mustang, 6.637, 207.27; 4. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.573, 210.73 vs. 13. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.630, 209.56; 5. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.577, 210.97 vs. 12. Kurt Johnson, GXP, 6.629, 209.04; 6. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.587, 210.54 vs. 11. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.612, 210.05; 7. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.599, 210.70 vs. 10. Larry Morgan, Mustang, 6.606, 209.65; 8. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.599, 209.95 vs. 9. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.603, 210.01.
