CLERMONT, Ind — Ron Capps came to Indianapolis last year answering the same old question – When are you going to win the U.S. Nationals? For 25 years, Capps has been trying. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. It’s just that the Indianapolis Raceway Park, the site of NHRA’s Super Bowl, just like the big track just east of here, picks it’s winner.

Capps’ name just wasn’t picked.

It was becoming sort of the Dale Earnhardt stat of Drag Racing. Capps had won almost everything he needed to win. He even won a specialty event here in 2020 when NHRA struggled to put a schedule together just to race.

But it wasn’t on Labor Day weekend.

Capps then started his own team for the 2022 season. It was the first year of coming to Indy as a driver-owner. Maybe that’s all that he had to do.

Capps won the Funny Car Call Out in 2022. Later in the day, he clinched the No. 1 qualifier for the Monday eliminations.

2022 would be the year.

25 years of trying, 25 years of defeat, Capps would be defeated no more. In year 26, Capps finally won the Big Go. It was his 71st career win, but first in the U.S. Nationals.

This weekend, he came back in a new role – defending champion of this prestigious event. The pressure was off. So, on Friday, he debuted a new look. The car would be yellow and white, the same colors as his role model Don “the Snake” Prudhomme ran in this event 50 years ago.

See, Prudhomme gave Capps the nudge to really make a name for himself. After just one career win in Top Fuel, Prudhomme convinced Capps to come race a Funny Car.

I’d say it paid off.

Capps’ weekend though was vastly different than last year’s. Instead of the No. 1 qualifier, he was the No. 5. Instead of winning the Call Out, he was knocked out in the first round.

But, Capps never wavered in his approach.

With Prudhomme looking on every step of the way, Capps defeated Dale Creasy Jr. in the first round. In Round 2, it was a battle against Matt Hagan. Capps won again setting up a massive matchup with No. 1 qualifier Robert Hight in the semifinals.

Hight was a perfect 7-0 in this round in the U.S. Nationals. He had just called out Capps in Sunday’s Call Out and backed it up by beating him.

However, Capps delivered a massive round win to advance to his 146th final round appearance of his career. He’d face off against Indiana native J.R. Todd for the Wally.

Capps never left any doubt as he stormed to his 76th career win on Monday, 75 of which in Funny Car, and gave an emotional moment for he and Prudhomme.

“You can’t dream this big,” Capps said. “I mean, you could hope and you can put all this stuff together and we did it to have some fun to do something cool for Indy. This just doesn’t happen. You just put this together and hope that it’s going to have some success and you end up winning.”

Capps said he’s been wanting to do this throwback for a while and couldn’t thank NAPA enough for allowing him to do it.

“Thankfully the people that make decisions at NAPA Auto Parts for the motorsports teams understood the legacy and understood how cool this thing was and they stepped off the car and made sure that we did it the right way, and with Toyota, the same thing,” he continued. “They wanted to be a part of it and then I called ‘Snake,’ and sent him the picture and have just been talking on the phone and how cool he thought it was.”

After being 0-for-25, Capps is now 2-for-2. Only in Indy.