NHRA wraps up Arizona’s motorsport-filled month with victories from Ron Capps, Shawn Langdon

CHANDLER, Ariz. — The greater Phoenix area’s three-week run as a motorsports capital of the world concluded Sunday when the NHRA Arizona Nationals ended with victories from Shawn Langdon and Ron Capps in the nitro classes.

Capps’ victory looked unlikely after Round 2 as his car had a blow-up and he softly hit the wall. Last season, he had a crash at Firebird Motorsports Park, too, but this year’s accident was much less violent. He even won his round despite the melee, and his team repaired the car so he could continue onto the semis and finals.

“I feel like I won a championship right now in that one round,” Capps said after his incident.

Capps defeated top qualifier Spencer Hyde to get his 77th career Funny Car win.

Langdon, now a winner of three consecutive Arizona Nationals events, was the top qualifier in the Top Fuel category and beat Leah Pruett to accomplish the feat.

It was abnormally hot at the Phoenix-area venue throughout the weekend, for this time of the year. The drivers praised the fans for the plentiful grandstand turnout despite the 100-degree temperatures. For the racers, preparation for competition doesn’t change all that much, but teams and engineers get put to the challenge of getting the most out of the car on a 150-degree track surface.

“There is obviously a lot you have to do to adapt to these track temperatures — motor, power level, clutch, tires,” Langdon said. “Everything is really important where you are on the track, where you’re lined up, how you do your burnout because rubber doesn’t like the heat, so you’ve got to be really cautious. I just drink more water. I don’t really do a lot. There are some things I do inside the car when it’s hotter out, but the majority comes from the tune-up in relation to the crew chief and how they put the car together.”

Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta alluded to the excessive heat but said that the Phoenix area is among the top markets around the country when it comes to motorsports.

“Phoenix is always a good draw for fans,” he said. “Back in the day, we used to test here, and it was always one of the places we kind of used to run a lot. We got some sprint car racing here, just an hour away this weekend. I’m sure there are fans leaning back and forth between that, too.

“It’s a racing town. Back in the day, when they had Manzanita, that was always fun to run out there. And the Copper World track, which is kind of what I did back in the day. Obviously, the NASCAR guys got that place looking real good, and there is always good racing there. Phoenix is full of good racing, and I’m just glad everybody is out here supporting the NHRA.”

NHRA and High Limit Racing, the Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson co-owned sprint car racing series, were both in the desert state over the weekend. Drivers from both series had meet-up events in the days leading up to the weekend.

Rico Abreu, the highly successful sprint car racer, won the first night of the Cactus Classic at Central Arizona Speedway in Casa Grande on Thursday. He was at the drag strip on Sunday to watch the NHRA races.

Last weekend, Red Bull had a motorsports event in Downtown Phoenix along Jefferson Street, where Chase Field and Mortgage Matchup Center reside. The energy drink company brought a Formula 1 car and rally car, among other vehicles, to the city to do burnouts and brief runs up and down the closed-off street area. Former Red Bull NASCAR and F1 athlete Scott Speed was one of the drivers doing the demonstration with a 2011 Red Bull F1 car.

Two weeks ago, NASCAR and the IndyCar Series shared Phoenix Raceway in Avondale for a duel weekend, coined the “Desert Double.” Team Penske swept the IndyCar and Cup Series races, with Josef Newgarden and Ryan Blaney winning, respectively.

It was a span of two weeks that Phoenix saw NASCAR stock cars, Indy cars, Formula 1 and rally cars, sprint cars, and dragsters drawing in fans. Cities such as Daytona Beach, Charlotte, or Indianapolis are most famously associated with American motorsports, but when it comes to the western side of the country, Phoenix has made itself one of the top destinations.

“We have to be here,” Capps said. “It was heartbreaking to hear that we weren’t going to be here a few years back. I think we need two races here, honestly. Have one at the beginning of the year like we have, and have one in the fall, like there used to be.

Firbird Motorsports Park had an iffy future several years ago, but it has had recent sellouts for the NHRA weekend. Although this year’s turnout didn’t result in a sold-out grandstand, the bleachers were well-packed.

“I talked to people at the track, and they were like, ‘Yeah, sales were down; it’s going to be 104 degrees,’” Capps said. “Then every morning, we come out of the trailer, and it was packed with people everywhere.”