ROCKINGHAM — Two NHRA drivers are coming to Rockingham Dragway this week as part of a press tour ahead of this fall’s event.
Ron Capps and Maddi Gordon will be at the Rock from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, with a fan meet-and-greet scheduled for the last half hour.
A 30-year veteran of the drag racing world, Capps is a three-time NHRA Funny Car champion (2016, 2021 and 2022) and ranks third on NHRA’s all-time round-win list with 939 as of the end of the 2025 season.
Capps, a California native, started off working as a crew member and got behind the wheel in 1995, clinching his first Top Fuel win, according to the biography on the Ron Caps Motorsports website.
He earned his first of 76 Funny Car wins in 1997 and was named NHRA Road to the Future Rookie of the Year, and is one of 19 NHRA drivers to earn wins in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories.
Earlier this year, Capps was named one of NHRA’s Top 75 drivers in recognition of the sanctioning body’s 75th anniversary.
Gordon, 21, also from California, is a third-generation driver who was recently brought on to Capps’ team to drive a Top Fuel car. Her grandfather, Mike Gordon, raced Top Alcohol Funny Cars for seven years, and her father, Doug Gordon, is a three-time NHRA TAFC champion.
Starting in the Junior Dragster division, Gordon secured two Division 7 championships. In 2021, she was named to Drag Illustrated’s 30 under 30 list. She earned her TAFC license in 2023 at the age of 19, and, the following year, became the 100th woman to win a NHRA national event.
NHRA Nationals at the Rock, announced in November, is scheduled for Sept. 25-27 and will be the second of six races in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
“It's been nearly four months since the NHRA announced its selection of Rockingham Dragway… and it's still mind blowing that it's happening,” track co-owner Dan VanHorn told the RO on Monday.
“Visits from professional drivers we have followed for decades to include this week's visit by Ron Capps is thrilling and captures the dedication the NHRA and its competitors have for this upcoming event,” VanHorn added. “Having Ron Capps joined by Maddi Gordon, fresh off her Top Fuel debut and semifinal performance in Gainesville brings a jolt of energy to Team Rockingham Dragway.
“We look forward to hosting Ron and Maddi at The Rock this week and September 25th through the 27th for the biggest race Rockingham Dragway has ever held.”
The Rock has a long history with the NHRA, hosting the all-star invitational from 1989-1998, and returning as a member track with the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Divisionals since 2015. However, this will be the first time the NHRA has held “a full-blown national event” at the track.
VanHorn is hoping to mirror the sold-out crowd this past weekend for the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
The dragway hosted Carolina NT for the Battle of the Slicks this past weekend. (See photos on the RO’s Facebook page and visitrichmondcounty.com.)
Although next weekend’s event has been moved and changed to a test and tune, there are still several events at the Rock this month:
21-22 - Billy Weeks Shamrock Challenge
27-28 - Dig or Die: Flashlight Fiesta 6
29 - Import Face-off
