First Funny Car To Run 315 MPH Set To Cross Auction Block

 (All photos credit Mecum Auctions)

Houston Raceway Park, 1997. NHRA drag racing legend Don “The Snake” Prudhomme was in his first year of sponsorship with US Tobacco and Copenhagen for his Chevy Camaro bodied Funny Car team. At the helm of that Funny Car was soon-to-be Rookie of the Year, Ron Capps.

Capps, who had gone from crewing on a Top Alcohol team to driving in Funny Car was having a very good season. He had already won two events in Snake’s Funny Car: one at Brainerd and one at Sonoma, and had qualified  number one at two events. Ultimately, the team finished the Funny Car season with twenty-four round wins and eighteen losses. 

On the particular cool November weekend in Houston we’re talking about here, Capps set the Funny Car record, the first to run 315 MPH in a Funny Car. 315.45 to be exact. This was a big deal as speeds were continuing to climb in both Top Fuel and Funny Car since Kenny Bernstein had broken the 300 MPH mark way back in March of 1992. 

The 1997 Camaro that Capps piloted has been kept in Prudhomme’s private collection ever since. The car still has it’s original chassis, composite body and 496 cubic inch Hemi engine. The car remains in running, order, although we’re not sure if running order means, take it down the drag strip this minute. Still as brutal as nitro classes can be on parts, it’s rare to see such a car survive for so long. So often cars such as this end up hacked up or picked clean of useful parts in order to get next season’s efforts going. 

Mecum will be auctioning off this piece of Funny Car history during their Anaheim event on Saturday November 17 at 4:30 PM. The car is sold on a bill of sale only (obviously). This would make a great museum or display piece for someone or someplace. We’re not thinking it should be put back on the track as safety has changed dramatically from what it was even fifteen years ago. It would be sad too to see such a piece of history lost if it were put back into service and damaged. 

Where will it go, who will buy it? Should Capps buy it as the ultimate memento of his Rookie of the Year season? Should it go in an NHRA-dedicated museum? What would you do with it?