Yahoo Autos Ron Capps Plans to Expand NHRA Team In 2026 With Female Dragster Driver
Capps has chosen not to reveal the name of his driver-to-be, but he drops plenty of hints.
An alliance with an NTT IndyCar Series entity is in the works, too, he says.
Capps, a former crew hand, says he’s not ready just yet for an expansion, but definitely wants to give a chance to a deserving young racer.
NHRA Funny Car NAPA Toyota Supra team owner/driver Ron Capps is moving closer to fulfilling his vow to promote the next generation of professional drag racers.
As he prepared for this weekend’s Toyota U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Capps told Autoweek he plans to add a woman to his Ron Capps Motorsports team in 2026 and that she will drive a Top Fuel dragster.
Then, hinting at a potentially even more remarkable development, he said he’s forging an alliance with an NTT IndyCar Series partner.
“We've got an exciting great partner from another series, IndyCar series, that’s been wanting to get into the sport for a long time. And they've got a lot going on their plate. We just had another meeting this week,” he said, again keeping his open-wheel-series contact private.
What Capps did say provided some clues.
He said outright that reigning Top Alcohol Dragster champion Julie Nataas isn’t who he has tapped, but his pick—like Nataas—is competing in the sportsman ranks.
“I don't want to say yet. I don't want her more distracted. She's going to try to win her first Indy, and she's doing a fantastic job. And I don't want to throw anything more on that plate at this point,” Capps said. “It’s somebody I grew up with their family. It's going to be very, very exciting to watch that transition.”
The mystery driver appears not be fellow California and third-generation racer Madison Payne, either, because she won the Top Alcohol Dragster trophy at the U.S. Nationals last September.
However, Maddi Gordon, 20, of Paso Robles, Calif., is a possibility. Gordon, daughter of recently retired three-time Top Alcohol Funny Car champion Doug Gordon who inherited his seat, became the 100th woman to win an NHRA national event when she defeated Brian Hough in the Seattle final in July.
Moreover, when Maddi Gordon completed her licensing passes in Top Alcohol Funny Car in August 2021, Capps—a San Luis Obispo, Calf., native—was on hand to observe and provide one of the necessary signatures for her official forms. At that time, NHRA.com reported that “three-time NHRA Funny Car champion Ron Capps, another California Central Coast native... is a longtime friend of the Gordon family.”
IndyCar Connection
As for Capps’ IndyCar connection, he has formed a friendship with Andretti Global/Andretti Autosport because of an introduction years ago to Mario and Michael Andretti from former boss and drag-racing legend Don Prudhomme. Then it deepened when former team associate Alexander Rossi carried the NAPA banner on his Andretti race car.
Michael Andretti, who certainly fits the description of “having a lot going on,” expressed interest in an NHRA property during the Formula E weekend in June at Portland, Ore.
“Michael has always been real excited and intrigued with drag racing,” Capps said. “Every time he's come out, he loves it. He's always really talked about wanting to be a part of it, but obviously [he has] a lot going on. They got the new shop here in Indy [at Fishers, Ind.], and every fan in the United States is on pins and needles, waiting for them to get into Formula 1, which would be exciting.
"So there's a lot going on, but it's been fun to revisit that with Michael from time to time and just keep him updated. And they watch what we're doing. We cheer for them and watch what they're doing. So we'll just see how it all plays out.”
Capps confirmed that his plan will evolve in the next couple of seasons.
“I can tell you it's not next year. It'll be 2026, for sure," Capps said. " I'm not ready, for sure. It's a whole another year, both because I need it and our team [does], and so do our future partners. That gives that [driver] another year under [her] belt to continue on at what [she’s] doing. And then we'll get 'em in a nitro car. It's going to be a dragster, for sure. We don't want to put another Funny Car out. And it's going to be exciting that we can put 'em in a car at the end of next year and focus on Rookie of the Year 2026.
“I've said a time and time again, our team is Guido's [crew chief Dean Antonelli’s] team, that is his team to run. And when we decide to bring this other car on, the crew chief would be picked by Guido,” Capps said. “I've been in multi-car teams a lot, with Don Prudhomme and Don Schumacher. I've seen the good and the bad side of multicar teams. We want to make sure that we grow within ourselves. I'm not ready at this point. I'm definitely not ready to add a car for ’25. So that'll give us time.”
Giving Another Driver a Shot
Capps started his career working on race cars and “was discovered” by Prudhomme. Capps said, “I came up in a unique way. I worked on these cars until I had a shot. I didn’t have big money, parents with sponsors. I didn’t have any of that. I knew I had to get a shot. I just needed a shot to get my license or get in a car. Luckily, [being] around the right people, my career took off, being in the right spots.
“I wanted to do the same thing Don Prudhomme did, which is put somebody in the car that deserves a chance and not necessarily somebody that would bring a large amount of money to a seat. Not to take anything away from anybody that brings money because a lot of 'em are talented, but I want to give somebody a chance that I think talent wise, on and off the racetrack. That’s what Don Prudhomme saw in me.”
