{"id":31126,"date":"2026-03-02T16:21:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/competitionplus.com\/?p=31126"},"modified":"2026-03-02T16:23:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:23:01","slug":"capps-carries-eight-round-streak-into-bakersfield-shrugs-off-target-on-his-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/competitionplus.com\/capps-carries-eight-round-streak-into-bakersfield-shrugs-off-target-on-his-back\/","title":{"rendered":"CAPPS CARRIES EIGHT-ROUND STREAK INTO BAKERSFIELD, SHRUGS OFF TARGET ON HIS BACK"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Jon Capps didn\u2019t flinch when asked about the weight he\u2019s carrying into this weekend\u2019s Bakersfield March Meet at Famoso Dragstrip. He knew exactly what the question meant.<\/p>

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Capps said with a laugh before answering it himself. \u201cOh, the target on my back?\u201d<\/p>

Capps returns to Bakersfield riding an eight-round winning streak at Famoso, having swept the prestigious March Meet and the California Hot Rod Reunion in his nitro campaign. The run has made him the man to beat in one of drag racing\u2019s most tradition-rich venues.<\/p>

\u201cYou know what? I haven’t had that problem before,\u201d Capps said of being the hunted instead of the hunter.<\/p>

The streak is rare in any nitro category, particularly at a facility where veterans such as Bucky Austin and other established names routinely contend. Capps understands the magnitude, even if he refuses to dwell on it.<\/p>

\u201cYeah. Yeah. I mean it’s not like… Well, I mean… Shoot. Yeah, I don’t care who it is. It’s impressive,\u201d Capps said.<\/p>

He insists the bigger story is how close the team came to not completing the sweep last fall. Mechanical attrition nearly ended the run before it began.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\u201cAfter we won the March Meet, everybody was so kind, and everybody that I’d known for so long and worked with, or driven with or for, were really, really complimentary about what we were able to do,\u201d Capps said. \u201cAnd coming back into the Hot Rod Heritage race, end of the year, I didn’t expect us to go out there and run as well as we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The car had shown consistency all season, but eliminations at the Reunion tested the team\u2019s depth. \u201cBut after the first round of eliminations, we’d hurt the engine, had to replace the block,\u201d Capps said. \u201cAnd we were down to our last set of cylinder heads.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team skipped a qualifying session and entered eliminations with limited data and even fewer spare parts. That reality heightened the tension inside the cockpit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I tell you what? You’ve talked about nervous, I heard every noise in that car,\u201d Capps said. \u201cI had to get out of the throttle and hopefully save the engine for another run if we were so lucky to make it past that round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Round by round, the car improved. By the time eliminations reached their later stages, Capps found himself part of a record-setting performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cRound after round, it just kept getting… The car getting better in eliminations and broke the national record,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, are you kidding me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Capps said even he didn\u2019t grasp how strong the run was until the time slip was delivered. \u201c[The announcer] kept me strung along a whole little second,\u201d Capps said of the interviewer at the top end. \u201cIt seemed like it was 30 minutes, but it was more like three seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I didn’t know it was that good of a run,\u201d he added. \u201cThat’s one of the crazy things about a nitro car sometimes is the best runs feel like it was nothing really special.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Success, however, carries its own consequences. Capps said the atmosphere in the pits shifts as round wins accumulate.<\/p>

\u201cIt’s been away for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cEven when we were in go-karts, my brother and I both, everybody was more than willing to help us out when we first got there.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAnd then as we started to efficiently kick their ass more and more, they got less and less likely to want to help us out,\u201d he added.<\/p>

He said the current dynamic is similar. \u201cEverybody’s really nice in the pits for the most part,\u201d Capps said. \u201cBut like you’re saying, everybody’s not going to be as quick to lend a helping hand.\u201d<\/p>

The tone is not bitterness but realism. In a competitive field, information and assistance become guarded once rivals sense a team has found its rhythm.<\/p>

\u201cI think now they’ve figured out that we got it figured out,\u201d Capps said.<\/p>

The question now is how to manage expectations heading into another March Meet. Capps said the mental approach is no different than when results were harder to come by.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\u201cWell, a little self-deprecating humor I guess,\u201d Capps said. \u201cSo I would think that it would be no different from sucking for the last few years and showing up.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIf you go into a race and you haven’t won anything in a while, you show up and you still try and smile,\u201d he added. \u201cEven though you know teams get close or whatever it is the reason why you haven’t won, you still haven’t won, right?\u201d<\/p>

Capps said he has consciously tried to push recent success out of his mind. \u201cThe last few days I’ve actually started thinking more and more about the success we’ve had and I’m trying to push that away, and just go about business, and don’t change anything,\u201d he said.<\/p>

Part of that approach involves racing strategically rather than aggressively. \u201cMan, let’s step it down a bit,\u201d Capps recalled telling his team last season. \u201cWe don’t have to go for the throttle every run, you know?\u201d<\/p>

He said he lifted early in multiple rounds at the March Meet to preserve parts. \u201cJust try and save parts,\u201d Capps said. \u201cBecause the car runs so well early in mid-track and we don’t need that last little bit.\u201d<\/p>

His philosophy is simple. \u201cI just try and race smart and do the best I can and see,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd hopefully I don’t let the guy down.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Superstition also plays a role in a driver\u2019s routine, even in nitro racing. Capps admits he has his own rituals.<\/p>

\u201cWhere does it stop?\u201d he said. \u201cThere are certain things… certain colored underwear on certain race days, always put your right sock on first. Right shoe on first.\u201d<\/p>

He laughed when asked about whether his eight-round-win underwear had been washed. \u201cThey’re still standing up waiting for me,\u201d Capps said.<\/p>

Beneath the humor is attention to safety. \u201cI do make sure, that’s one thing I’m pretty particular about is, is rotating through my Nomex because… A lot of guys don’t think about it, but sweat could be a problem if there’s a fire,\u201d he said.<\/p>

The perspective reflects years in high-horsepower machinery. Capps and his brother grew up immersed in racing, and the opportunity to compete at marquee events remains meaningful.<\/p>

\u201cIt’s been amazing,\u201d Capps said. \u201cEverybody on this team has real jobs, and they have to take time off to go to these races.\u201d<\/p>

He acknowledged the financial and logistical limitations that prevent a full championship pursuit. \u201cWe don’t have the ability to take the time, or mainly the money to have the time to go after a championship, unfortunately,\u201d Capps said.<\/p>

Still, the competitive fire remains. \u201cI’m still working on trying to get some stuff to go race at the big show,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s a matter trying to make schedules work, trying to make the money work.\u201d<\/p>

For now, Capps heads back to Famoso with a streak intact and expectations rising. He declined the idea of posing with a broom to commemorate last year\u2019s sweep, viewing it as bad mojo.<\/p>

\u201cYeah. It definitely is because that always comes back and bites you in the ass,\u201d Capps said of tempting fate. \u201cI try to stay the same person, positive or negative.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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