The two were dead even at 60 feet, after Capps launched first by one thousandth of a second, until Wilkerson edged out Capps by approximately six feet with a winning 4.221-second pass at 292.39 mph to Capps' 4.246/289.51.

On his way to his 63rd career final round, Capps defeated Paul Lee with a 4.098/303.57, setting low elapsed-time for the weekend, Ashley Force Hood with a 4.177/294.75, and his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman with a 4.245/289.94. He posted the quickest ET in every round, except for the final.

Jack Beckman

"The NAPA Dodge ran low ET pretty much every run today," said Capps. "And I really felt like we earned it. To be honest with you, I felt like my gut was ripped out when my win light didn't come on.

"We knew Tim would run just as good, he wasn't going to back down, and when I hit the gas the final round something in the car was vibrating. We'll talk with (crew chief John) Medlen and Ace (former crew chief Ed McCulloch) and track down what it was. But I really felt like we were going to run an .18 or .19. Whatever happened definitely slowed us down.

"When we sit back for a minute, we're going to start looking on the bright side of what went on this weekend. We moved up in the points a little bit and It's a crucial time right now. I feel so good about the confidence I'm gaining in the car, thanks to John Medlen and all the NAPA guys. It's neat to see the unselfishness of John and Ace and all the NAPA guys. They have really done well this weekend to work together. And it's a lot of fun racing with John right now, it really is. Now I know why Eric Medlen had the smile on his face all the time."
(Judy Stropus)

TOP FUEL

Cory McClenathan won his third NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel event of the year in five final rounds, the 34th of his career in 62 final rounds, and is hoping to begin a charge for his second Western Swing sweep. No other driver has ever swept the Western Swing twice, and "Cory Mac" is one-third of the way to making that happen for him and the FRAM Top Fuel dragster team. He also moved into second in the point standings.

McClenathan defeated his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Brown (who won the Western Swing in 2009) in a close final round, using a 3.887-second run at 311.70 mph to beat Brown's 3.909/308.92. Margin of victory: approximately 11 feet.

En route to the money round, McClenathan dismissed Mike Strasburg (with a 3.821/319.37), David Grubnic (with a 3.853/310.34), and Shawn Langdon (with a 4.134/225.63), enjoying lane choice throughout the day.

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