This weekend we're in Indianapolis for what everybody calls the "prestigious" U.S. Nationals. This is NHRA's Daytona 500 or Indy 500, and it's the 53rd running of this event.It's also the beginning of the Countdown to Four. After we all fought to get into the top eight for the first 17 races, it's now down to four events, which will determine the top four. Then, in the final two events of the season, those four will battle it out for the championship. Also this weekend is the $100,000 bonus event, the Skoal Showdown. That's determined in the last 23 events, including those at the end of last year, and the top 8 will compete in that this weekend during the qualifying rounds. So, based on the excitement that seems to have been stirred up by the Countdown, and with the Showdown as well, I would say Indy is back to what Indy was at one time. I think it's got its special aura back.I've never won the U.S. Nationals, although I have won the Showdown three times. I've been asked so many times what it would mean for me to win Indy, and how important it is, and so on. And, honestly, I don't know how to answer those questions.Indy is the biggest race we have. I've never won it, so I can't tell you what it's going to be like if I do win it. I think it's going to be one of those things where, when I finally win it, I'm not going to realize it until a couple of days after the race. It's that special of a race.Up until this year I didn't really think it was that big of a race in the last decade. It just didn't seem to really carry the importance and allure it used to carry.But it's back now. To me, I can honestly tell you I am very excited about the U.S. Nationals this year. I think the Countdown brought a lot of that back, and of course the Showdown. With everything that is going on with the NHRA right now, including this new Countdown playoff system, plus the news about the HD Partners purchasing some of the assets and taking the sport to another level, it's really exciting and it's just a really good time right now.I'm a historian. I love the sport, and it really made me sad to show up at Indy in the past and still have it not be one of the best tracks we go to. But they have made some changes and they built some better grandstands, so it has improved dramatically.As for the Showdown, it's strange when you have a race set up like this so far ahead that you already know who you're going to race in the first round and you already know you have lane choice. And, really, right up to the race in Maple Grove, the points were so bunched up from second down to seventh that anybody could've moved around. At one point it looked like we were going to have John Force in the first round. Lo and behold, when it was all done, we have my teammate Gary Scelzi in the opening round. I hate that part.When you look at the Showdown itself, it's eight cars, it's three rounds, and it comes quick. It's in the middle of the day during regular qualifying, so it's a very strange day Sunday, because you are still qualifying.And the key is to hopefully get our Brut Revolution Dodge Charger already qualified well. I've been in a position in the past, along with a lot of drivers going into Sunday with two qualifying runs left and being part of the Showdown and not being solidly qualified. It's difficult, because you're trying to win that $100,000 and yet you need to get qualified, and it's in the heat of the day.So, if you're not in the show by the time Sunday rolls around, you could be in a heap of a trouble. Talk about pressure. I've talked time and time again about the approach that a veteran racer like my crew chief Ed McCulloch has. Not just counting how many times he's won Indy (five times in Funny Car, once in Top Fuel), but let's talk about his intensity and how he approaches race days. It's so much fun to go to battle with him at every drag race. I really can't tell you how much I enjoy racing with him and learning from him. And I really try to take that with me when I go to the starting line at big races like this and coming down to the championship. I so badly don't want to let him or the crew members down. He's been through so many high-pressure situations in the past as a driver and now as a crew chief, I want the best for not just the whole team but for Ace. You may not see it from the outside, but inside the ropes it's very, very good right now at Don Schumacher Racing. We have Alan Johnson (Tony Schumacher's crew chief) talking with Ed McCulloch and we have Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, who work closely together trying to make Scelzi's and Jack Beckman's cars the same. Todd and Phil also work with Ace, and after every run you get the crew chiefs in each other's computer rooms talking about which changes each other made. And even if we have to run that car, like I'm going to run Scelzi in the first round of the Showdown, Todd and Ed would be in there talking about what they're going to do with each car and telling each other exactly what they're doing. And that communication is making the whole team better.It's going to be a very hard weekend. Like I said, the key is always for us to make our runs early and get in the show and be able to try a few things before race day. And there's not a better time for us to get into the show in Indianapolis than on Friday night.Wish us luck.Ron Capps drives the Brut Revolution Dodge Funny Car in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series and is providing a diary for ESPN.com during the 2007 season.
