Friday, Jan. 28, 2005 | 10:08 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
A new team and a new racecar was all it took to have NHRA veteran Ron Capps feeling like a rookie during his first test session in the Don Schumacher Racing Brut-sponsored Funny Car.
After spending eight seasons driving a Funny Car for team owner Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, Capps abruptly resigned this past winter and joined Schumacher's ever-expanding multicar team.
"I felt like a rookie coming in here," Capps said during last weekend's three-day test at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "I told the guys on the team I was as nervous as I've been in a lot of years before (the first couple of) runs."
But it didn't take long for Capps to adjust to his new surroundings. Despite moving from a Chevrolet Monte Carlo to a Dodge Stratus, Capps turned in a respectable 4.78-second run in his first full-track pass in the car and eventually posted a 4.759 pass before the test was done.
"The Mopar is a completely different car and I love it," Capps said. "The car handles like a dream, but I've always really focused on the sound of an engine to really feel it out and hear when it does something different and know when to shut it off and all of that and the sound of this car is different.
"I'm used to one car I've been in for (eight) years and all of a sudden I'm in a different sounding car, a different feeling car ... that's why this test session was huge for me. Usually, I'd show up and one run and you're kind of back in the swing of things and then it's back to usual ... but this (test) was huge for me to get acclimated to the Mopar."
The session also allowed Capps to get familiar with a new set of teammates. Capps joined a team that already featured seven NHRA Pro drivers in Whit Bazemore and Gary Scelzi (Funny Car), Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Richie Stevens (Pro Stock), and Angelle Sampey (formerly Savoie) and Antron Brown (Pro Stock Bike).
Capps, who will be reunited with tuner Ed "Ace" McCulloch this season, said he was looking forward to being one of three Funny Car drivers in Don Schumacher's stable and the spirited rivalry that should ensue.
"There's got to be some competition (from) within -- if not, then you start to wonder," Capps said. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm probably more afraid of my teammates and the competition within the team and racing them because I know how ... the operation runs.
"It's the same way with the crew chiefs: I'm sure that they're all sharing stuff, but then when we've got to run one of those guys, it's going to raise their level, which is even better for the team."
Capps, who twice has finished second in the NHRA Funny Car standings, said he has one clear goal this season -- to win the championship.
"You can't lie and say we just want to finish top five," he said. "I've finished second before ... and once you've been there in that situation, to come here to the second race in Vegas and you're still fighting for the championship with a couple of races left, there's no feeling like that. That's our goal and we're real capable of it.
"I'm not getting any younger, Ace isn't getting any younger and we want the championship, Don Schumacher wants the championship and we'd love to give everybody a championship. But you've got to break all that down; you got to win races, you want to qualify because Funny Car is the toughest it's ever been; just to qualify is a big deal nowadays."
HEAD START: Prior to testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Monday and Tuesday, NASCAR Nextel Cup Series regulars Kevin Harvick and Ken Schrader will be competing in Sunday's NASCAR Grand National, West Series season-opening race at Phoenix International Raceway.
DRIVER APPEARANCES: Nextel Cup drivers Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle will take part in separate autograph sessions Monday while they are in town for testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Busch, the reigning Nextel Cup champion, will sign autographs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at Sam's Town while Biffle will be signing from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Stardust.
Both autograph sessions will be open to the public, free of charge.
SCHMIDT ADDS THIRD CAR: Henderson's Sam Schmidt has hired Brazilian Jaime Camara to drive a third entry this season in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series.
Camara, 24, will team with American drivers Chris Festa and Travis Gregg in the Indy Racing League's developmental series.
"We are very pleased to have Jaime joining our team this season," Schmidt said. "With the addition of Jaime, we are confident we have a driver lineup that should be competing for the championship from the beginning."
Sam Schmidt Motorsports won the 2004 Infiniti Pro Series championship with driver Thiago Medeiros.
CARMICHAEL ON ROLL: Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael won his second consecutive THQ AMA Supercross main last weekend in Anaheim and will go for his third victory in a row Saturday night at San Francisco's SBC Park.
Carmichael holds a three-point lead over Honda's Kevin Windham after three of 16 events.
EVENT CANCELED: The Super Class World Series Championships, scheduled for Feb. 18-20 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has been canceled because the event fell short of the minimum entry guidelines, according to officials from National Bracket Racing Productions and LVMS.
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