Capps, Gordon Ready For Unique Four-Wide Challenges At zMax

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads into its most unique event of the season, and Ron Capps is arriving at zMAX Dragway with everything a team wants, momentum, performance, and experience in the four-wide format.

Capps enters the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals tied for the Funny Car points lead after a strong opening stretch that includes a win in Phoenix, a No. 1 qualifying effort in Gainesville, and a runner-up finish at the most recent event in Pomona. That level of consistency has positioned the NAPA Auto Care Dodge team as an early championship contender heading into one of the most unpredictable races on the calendar.

While four-wide racing introduces a completely different dynamic compared to traditional side-by-side competition, Capps has already proven he knows how to win in the format.

The two-time Funny Car world champion has a pair of four-wide victories on his résumé, including the 2017 Charlotte event and the 2022 Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals, his first win under the Ron Capps Motorsports banner.

That experience becomes a valuable asset when navigating a format where reaction time, situational awareness, and adaptability can make or break a run.

“There seems to be a lot of buzz heading into the 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte this weekend. Obviously, everyone always hears me brag about our NAPA Auto Care team, and what we’ve shown throughout these first three races of the season, with the performance, the consistency, and all the teamwork, has brought us great success. We had a No. 1 qualifier to kick the year off in Gainesville, and then, of course, a win in Phoenix in adverse conditions, and a runner-up finish in Pomona at our most recent race. So, we’re pumped to get to Charlotte and to the 4-Wides.

“Looking at the weather this weekend, it’s going to be fantastic; warm weather with a chance of clouds, and it could produce some of the quickest times we’ve seen all season. We’re lucky because we get to share our car with a lot of great NAPA partners, and anytime you have a sponsor like NAPA Auto Parts that allows you to represent one of the great vendors from the NAPA system, like NAPA Premium Brake Boosters, it’s a sense of pride. And then of course, we also have Okuma on both cars, so we really want to put it in the winner’s circle this weekend. It all starts on Friday with qualifying under the lights later that night, and we’re looking forward to it.”

While Capps brings experience, rising Funny Car driver Maddi Gordon will be making her professional four-wide debut at Charlotte, but she’s no stranger to the format.

Gordon captured the 2025 Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals title in Top Alcohol Funny Car, giving her valuable insight into the unique demands of the race.

“I’m always really excited to go racing no matter where we’re going, but the 4-Wide Nationals in particular is really exciting, especially with this being the only one of the year, and I personally love a four-wide race. I think it’s super exciting for the racers, super exciting for the fans, and what’s better than 48,000 horsepower taking off at the same time. It’s just a really cool format. As a driver, it definitely changes up your staging procedure and how you approach a run in a way, because if you’re going down the track and you have to pedal it, you can’t give up because you don’t know what the other two cars across the way are doing. So, it really pushes you to be the best driver you can be; especially if you make it to the final quad because you have to beat three people to win the race. And this is the only time we’ll race four across this year, so everyone’s going to be gunning hard for that one 4-Wide diamond Wally trophy; it really raises the stakes.

“We’ve got a lot of folks from Carlyle and NAPA coming out, some of them first-timers, some folks from Monster, too, so we’re really looking to show up and show out for them. We’ve got some good momentum with my family too. My dad won in Pomona, my sister won in Vegas, and they got their first diamond Wallys, so hopefully we can keep the Gordon win streak going this weekend. Our Carlyle Tools guys have been working really hard and doing a great job, and we’re just trying to push harder and harder with every race, and hopefully, we’ll see our first 340 this weekend.”

With proven performance, strong team chemistry, and experience on his side, Ron Capps enters Charlotte ready to capitalize on his early-season success. Meanwhile, Maddi Gordon brings enthusiasm, momentum, and a proven ability to adapt to the four-wide format.