Capps admits ‘I don’t know how I’m going to handle’ splitting NHRA weekend focus with Gordon addition

Ron Capps has no idea what is coming or how he’s going to handle it.

The three-time NHRA Funny Car champion is two weeks away from seeing a car he owns, but that he’s not driving, competing as the drag racing season opens in Gainesville. Ron Capps Motorsports has expanded this season, with Capps no longer the only one in the stable, given that Maddi Gordon will drive the team’s new Top Fuel dragster.

It means that Capps is now responsible for someone other than himself and his race team.

“I don’t know how I would do it without the people we’ve had around us,” said Capps of the expansion. “There have been times in the race car that I’ve made the mistake of thinking about the business side while in the car staging. That’s cost me several bad judgment calls in the race car. So, I’m trying to fix that part.

“You always hear John Force or Cruz [Pedregon] or these team owners talk about that; it is much more difficult than I thought.”

Ron Capps Motorsports has been on track since 2022, a season in which Capps won his third world championship. A year later, he won the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis for the first time. The move into team ownership has fulfilled a lifelong dream for Capps, who branched out from under the learning tree of Don Schumacher

“I don’t sleep much anymore,” Capps said. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘I’d rather just go back to being a paid driver,’ right? But I love every bit of it. The business side has been fun, but every day is new.”

Capps will be mentoring Maddi Gordon in her first season of Top Fuel. Photo courtesy of Ron Capps Motorsports

Capps is not only a former champion but is going into his 32nd year of racing, putting him at the opposite end of the experience spectrum from the driver he’s now going to be mentoring, who's going into her rookie season. Gordon, a third-generation racer, moves into the Top Fuel division after competing for her family in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

The idea of splitting his focus and responsibilities at the racetrack this season with someone under his wing is something Capps is still figuring out.

“I don’t know how I’m going to handle that,” he admitted. “I get nervous when I watch my younger brother race, and I don’t know how it’s going to feel. I was thinking the other day how cool it’s going to be the first time we ever win a race, first of all, but how about doubling up, which will be something crazy. I can’t even dream that much right now.

“But I think it’s going to happen this year.”

CLICK HERE to listen to the full conversation with Capps and Gordon, or look for The Racing Writer’s Podcast on any major podcast platform.