NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Ron Capps’ road to his first Funny Car championship was littered with potholes and detours, not the least of which included four second-place finishes. Here’s a look at that roadmap of runner-ups.

1998: Driving for legend Don Prudhomme with a tuning tandem of Roland Leong and Todd Okuhara, Capps arrived at the Auto Club NHRA Finals 91 points behind John Force, who clinched the championship when he won in the first round.
Season wins/runner-ups: 5/2. Win-loss record: 38-17.

2000: Entering the Finals, Capps, still driving for “the Snake” but tuned by his other hero, Ed McCulloch, was third in points and 397 points behind Force, who had clinched the championship at the previous race at Houston, but Capps moved past Jerry Toliver into second.
Season wins/runner-ups:1/6. Win-loss record: 41-22.

2005: Capps trailed Don Schumacher Racing teammate Gary Scelzi by just two points going into the season finale in Pomona, but his dream was dashed when his Ed McCulloch-tuned Brut Dodge lost to Cruz Pedregon in the quarterfinals and ultimately lost the title to Scelzi by eight points.
Season wins/runner-ups: 3/4. Win-loss record: 37-20.

2012: Capps arrived at the Finals trailing DSR teammate Jack Beckman by 23 points but cut the gap to two points after rallying on his last qualifying attempt to go from No. 15 to No. 1. To win the championship Capps had to last one round longer than Beckman on Sunday but both lost in the semifinals, with Capps falling to Courtney Force and Beckman to Cruz Pedregon.
Season wins/runner-ups: 5/3. Win-loss record: 46-17.

2016: Capps entered the season finale with an 86-point lead and claimed his first Funny Car world championship on Saturday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals by securing a 92-point lead over his closest competitor at the conclusion of qualifying. He needed to enter eliminations with an 81-point lead to clinch the title.
Season wins/runner-ups: 5/5. Win-loss record: 54-18.

"It was such a relief to win, have the season over, get that monkey off my back,” said Capps after clinching his title this year. “I can't wait to defend it. I can't wait to hear Alan Reinhart announce our cars, ‘Here is the defending world champion's car coming up next.’ Things like that haven't sunk in yet. It's not just winning now and enjoying it, it's representing the sport next year, wherever I go, being announced as the 2016 Mello Yello champion. Del Worsham said that made him so proud every time his name was mentioned this year as last year's champion. I'm looking forward to soaking all that up.”