Motorsports Recap And Behind The Scenes Access

“Getting Off Track” Rocks On–Rollin’ With Ron Capps!

 

Dudes, something weird just happened.

This is crazy-go-nuts, freaky-bizarre, there’s-no-way-that-just-happened kinda stuff. Here goes:

Question: who was last week’s guest on Getting Off Track? Yup, Ron Capps. If you visited RPMHD.com last week, you read Part 1 of his GOT interview about everything music. And, you also remember that Ron gave us so much amazing material that it became obvious a Part 2 would be in store for the next installment.

So, what happened between last week and today’s column? Thunder Valley. And, who just happened to win the Funny Car category of that event? You got it. Ron Capps.

Soooo…do we dare say that after Ron talked to RPMHD, he “just happened” to snag the title at the very next NHRA event? Is it just a coincidence, or…could it be that those drivers who appear on GOT get some really good karma that…

Nah. Seriously? (Man, someone needs to give whoever writes this column a reality pill…and he needs to get over himself…) The truth? Ron’s just one heckuva driver that kills it every week at each NHRA event, and last weekend, Thunder Valley was his playground. Dude earned it on his own. He doesn’t need this goofy little column to help him out even in the very least! Still, it was fun thinking that maybe, just maybe…

Anyway…back to the real world! It’s time for Part 2 of our Capps interview, and like we promised in last week’s issue, Ron answers some challenging questions, including the toughest query that can ever be asked of any rock ‘n roll fan.

So let’s get started with….

Wait. Hang on for just a second here. We just had another kooky thought. OK, today we’ve got Capps, Part 2. Now, the NHRA is heading to Norwalk this weekend. What if…(And this is just an idea) what if Ron takes home another Wally following his trip to Ohio…after the second half of his visit has just appeared on RPM? Could it be that….maybe, just maybe…

Good gosh! Hey, writer guy….just give it up! If Capps brings home a brother for the Wally he won last week, it’s only because of one single, solitary fact: the dude can drive that Funny Car like a maniac. Is he talented? Yeah, in like, a totally and completely kind of way.

So, we’re off to the second half of the convo with a guy who brings a true rock ‘n roll spirit to racing, and if you saw his top end celebration following last week’s victory in Tennessee, you witnessed a guy who loves racing, and celebrates his victories like none other. Let’s get Trackin’!

 

Any new bands you’ve been listening to?

Well, I try to stay up on the new stuff. I hear it on Sirius XM, Octane, or I have friends that turn me on to stuff, but lately I’ve been going old school. I’m friends with the guys from Seether, and there’s not a bad song that comes out of that band. I love those guys, so I’ve been listening to them a lot. Ummm…Five Finger Death Punch…I like some tracks on their new album. Hmmm…good question.

The bands you talk about bring up one thing…energy. I mean…Five Finger…those guys are powerful.

Yeah. I took my assistant crew chief to see ‘em in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago the weekend of our race, and we had such a good time. Zoltan (Zoltan Bathory, the rhythm guitarist and songwriter for Five Finger Death Punch) stood us off to the side of the stage, and my assistant crew chief, who had never been to a show like this, was just blown away. He was standing right there and he was in awe. Then, the singer came over and gave him a fist bump right in the middle of the song. So, to take my assistant crew chief to a show like that after my team guys work as hard as they do was a good time for us.

Do you know any musician, that, with the right training, might be able to be turned into a pretty good driver?

Man, it’s funny. All the rock stars…they want to be race car drivers. Every one of those guys. They get some money from being a musician first, and then the first thing they do is go and buy a fast car. Ummm…Vince Neil (Vocalist for Motley Crue) tried to be an Indy car driver, and he did some road racing, and he’s come out to the drag races a few times in Vegas. Probably the guy who has the most talent is Zoltan from Five Finger Death Finger Punch. He jumps into a monster truck once in awhile. He doesn’t own it, I don’t think, but he…I think Five Finger helped sponsor it. But he’s a wingnut, man. He’s got his pilot’s license, he’s always flying obscure planes, and I bet he would be. It wouldn’t take a lot, because he’s…he’s into martial arts and he’s got that discipline. And, he loves fast cars. If you follow my Instagram and Twitter, all we talk about is racecars when we’re around each other, so I think he would probably be a guy that would pick it up the quickest.

Is there a band that you would love to tour with, and by that I mean that you would go on the road with, not as a musician, but…you’d even roadie for free for these guys, just to go out with them for awhile?

I’d have to say Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl and those guys.

Really?

Yeah, they seem like a lot of fun. I’ve tried to invite ‘em out to races. It hasn’t happened yet, but they seem like they would be a lot of fun. I mean, some of these musicians now, they ran so hard in the past. Now, they’ve stopped drinkin’, you know, stopped celebrating and partyin’ so much like they used to. And Dave Grohl….he just looks like he’d be a lot of fun to hang out with, and his band guys do too. You know…after a show, they’d be fun to have a few beers with and go down and play some pool or whatever.

Let’s say that a band offers you $10,000 and tells you, “Ron, we want you to come out and sing lead on one song, (Ron’s already laughing) and when you do, we’re giving you the cash. It’s your choice of band and your choice of song. First: would you do it?

(No hesitation) Oh, yeah. Heck yeah, I’d do it.

Then, what band, and what song would you choose?

(Silence) Oh, man…ummm…gosh, I’d have to go with Metallica and probably… “Seek and Destroy.” That would be the song. I could probably get through it OK, so…

Is there any music you listen to that might totally surprise us?

Ummm…hmm. I love keeping my mind opened up. I still love the B-52s. That might surprise people. In fact, they just played a small club near us, and I was blown away to be able to take a few of our friends and…they were so good. Yeah, I love listening to old Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, some of that super-old outlaw country stuff, you know, back in the day. I don’t like some of the new twangy stuff…I don’t know if that would surprise people…I’m like anybody else. I’ve got my moods, and I love to just kick back and hear some good Frank Sinatra old school stuff…you know, a mild kind of place. It’s all good.

Let’s pretend that you’re going to take a weekend trip. It’s you and three musicians of your choice. There’s only one catch: there’s no radio. So, the four of you will be doing a lot of talking on the trip. First question: who would you want to take?

Are these people who are alive now?

It can be anyone you want it to be.

From anytime in the past or just alive now?

Anytime.

Ummm. Wow. Gosh, that would be cool. Let’s see…Jimi Hendrix…umm…and I get three?

Yep.

Let’s see. Ummm…I would have to go….(Long pause) ummm…darn it. Another good question. (Another pause) Maybe John Bonham, (Former drummer for Led Zeppelin, now deceased) and ummm…hmmm…man, (Laughs) it’s really hard to narrow it down. I’d probably have to go with Steven Tyler, (Vocalist for Aerosmith) probably because he…and I don’t mean this in a bad way…he never shuts up. We’ll have no radio, and if you want a guy that’s gonna chat and hang out…it’s that dude.

Let’s pretend that you start a band. What instrument would you want to play?

Ummm, good question. I just…probably drums. I’d like to play all the instruments. It would be fun to know how to play guitar. Drums…it seems like they would…you know, you’re just back there by yourself and you get to watch everything that’s going on, and everyone’s going off to your beat. It just seems that it would be fun to be a really, really good drummer in a good rock ‘n roll band.

Now, the second part of the question. What would you want to name the band?

Oh, man. Ummm…(Big laugh) “Chaos.”

Alright, last section. This is our word association game. I’m going to name either some musicians or bands, and just tell me the first word that comes to your mind when I say the name.That’s it.

OK.

Michael Jackson.

Ummm…first word…talented.

Elvis.

Ground-breaking.

ZZ Top.

ZZ Top…classic.

8-tracks.

Memories.

Black Sabbath.

(Pause) Black Sabbath…timeless.

Zeppelin.

Bonham.

Metallica.

Ummm…(Long pause) Hmmm….one word…Metallica…hard to think of the right word…Metallica…Ironmen. Is that one word? Ironmen?

KISS.

KISS….(Long pause) Good show. That’s two words, but…

That’s alright. Aerosmith.

Hmmm…groovy.

Van Halen.

(Immediately) Party.

Vinyl albums.

Cracklin’. (Laughs)

And finally, the most difficult rock ‘n roll question ever posed. Here it is. Hang on…Beatles or Stones?

(No pause at all) Stones.

You answered that one pretty fast.

Yeah. I love the Beatles and they’re…for me, I just missed that boat a little bit.

Ron, you were the perfect guy to do this. Thank you very much.

Thanks. I appreciate that! Hey…man, I’ve just been lucky.

 

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