FUNNY CAR

In Funny Car, Ron Capps clinched the No. 1 spot heading to the Countdown in his NAPA Shocks Dodge Charger R/T but lost to DSR teammate Matt Hagan in the first round. Although Hagan advanced to the semifinals, his Mopar/Aaron's Dream Machine team fell seven points short of advancing to the Countdown where he would have had a chance to defend his NHRA Funny Car world championship.

Mike Neff (Ron Lewis photo)

For the fifth straight year and eighth time in eleven years John Force Racing reigned supreme in Funny Cars at the NHRA Mac Tools US Nationals. Mike Neff tuned and drove his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to the win for the second year in a row defeating fellow Ford Racing driver Tim Wilkerson, 4.079 to 4.152 in the final. This was the fourth consecutive win for the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang (Ashley Force Hood 2009-10, Neff, 2011-12) to get the win at the biggest race of the season.

“I was low first round and I got a single second round which is rare. You don’t see that very often,” Neff said. “We were quick every run. As the day went on I started feeling better. I felt like it was either going to be your day or it wasn’t. I was nervous the first round with all the cars smoking the tires in the left lane. I didn’t have lane choice. Then (Todd) Lesenko blew his body off and there was all that drama. There was a lot going on and I watched Force smoke the tires and then (Ron) Capps. It was just really stressful. Once that was over and I knew I was getting a single it just got better.”