NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

In his long and distinguished career, current NHRA 4-Wide Nationals low qualifier Ron Capps has enjoyed the tuning expertise of hall of famers like Roland Leong, Ed McCulloch, and Rahn Tobler, all of whom guided him to race wins, but it’s his current crew chief, Dean “Guido” Antonelli, who brings the easy smile to his face.

“The Hawaiian” passed away a few years ago, “Ace” is retired, and Tobler only races part-time now, tuning for friends like Jason Rupert and T.J. Zizzo, but Capps won’t pick a favorite between those who twirled the iron for him since his 1995 pro debut, but it’s clear that he and Antonelli not only have enjoyed success, but enjoyed one another’s company, which makes the hard times — last the recent rash of blower explosions and guardwall shunts over the past trio of seasons — and the good times — like race wins and championships— taste better than expected.

The dynamic duo, who together have enjoyed a dozen race wins and two championships, have known each other for three decades, back to when Capps was just starting out, driving in Top Fuel for Roger Primm in 1995, and Antonelli was a crewmember on John Force’s Funny Car under the tutelage of the great Austin Coil.

“They took me under their wing in between races in Dallas,” he reminisced. “They taught me where to take our laundry and where to service the car. Here I was, a rookie in Top Fuel for a no-sponsor team, and we're servicing the car with John Force’s guys. It was pretty cool, and we have been friends since then."

Antonelli first tuned for Capps in the 2021 season, sharing duties with the great John Melden when Capps was still driving for Don Schumacher Racing, and when Capps struck out on his own the next year, he asked Antonelli to come along. They won five races that year and their second world championship, establishing themselves as one of the class power duos alongside the tandems of Robert Hight and Jimmy Prock and Matt Hagan and Dickie Venables.

This year began with No. 1 qualifying effort at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals and then a monumental win at the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals, where the team thrashed hard to recover from a second-round blowup, then won the race.

“Obviously, we saw what he did in Phoenix; that was as tough as it gets. It was super hot, and then we had the explosion,” bragged Capps. “And going No. 1 in Gainesville, No. 2 in Pomona. When the conditions fall to Disneyland, he can throw down with the best of them, so cool to have a crew chief that can adapt back and forth and be good at all. It’s very rare. Usually, you have one who’s really good at tricky conditions or really good at Disneyland conditions, and he can do both, so it’s fun.

“Before we went No. 1 here, we started hearing the good numbers being run ahead of us, and I could hear ‘Guido’ on the radio ask T-Buck [assistant crew chief Tom Buckingham] what Jordan [Vandergriff] ran and he said, ‘3.89,’ and ‘Guido’ went right back to the [clutch timer] box and I knew he was getting after it.”

Beyond all the wins and the pit thrashes and the extra work that becoming a team owner has thrust upon Capps, it’s Antonelli who keeps him balanced.

“The coolest thing about being a Funny Car driver is you get to watch everything in front of you when you’re strapped in and getting ready to run and all your guys are like, ready to go to battle, and ‘Guido’ is the funniest because we'll be waiting to run and they'll be playing some music over the PA and he’ll start moving around, so eclectically bad. I watch his feet. They’re playing some disco song, like Donna Summer, and I’m watching him move his feet — he doesn't realize he's doing it — and I'm cracking up to myself because it’s so funny to watch him.

“The other thing is that he’s a complete knock-off of Austin Coil. He does Austin Coil things all the time. He quotes him. He talks about him and he says, ‘Austin did this. This is what he would have done, so I learned this.’ When he yells at a crew guy about something he did that was dumb, he'll pull him aside and tell him that he got yelled at for the same thing in 1987 by Austin Coil. He's so much fun.

“I love him. I want to race with him forever.”