Drivers Trade Funny Cars for Go-Karts In Charity Event

He hears it all the time: "I'm gonna beat you."

That's just part of the sport for a professional drag racer like Ron Capps. It's a little more interesting, however, coming from a kid half his age at the starting line.

Capps proudly wears his crown as "King of the Track" as the defending NHRA Funny Car champion at Infineon Raceway's dragstrip. He also happens to be the defending champion on the facility's karting track.

Capps and fellow Funny Car driver "Fast Jack" Beckman will be the guests of honor at this year's Tour de Charity karting event, March 26. The annual karting event has generated more than $84,000 for needy youth groups in Sonoma County since it started in 2003.

"It's a fun time. That's one of best parts of the whole thing. I soon found out the fans get to race with us and then we all take our helmets off and talk about what we did, what the day was like," Capps said. "We can just talk and I'm not worried about being interrupted or called away. We can just hang out with the fans. It's almost like they're racers as well for that day. … It's turned out to be that kind of event where everyone's relaxed and having fun."

The charity event is open to the first 50 fans who register. The $325 fee includes a full day of karting with Capps and Beckman, autographs, lunch and a shot at the grand prize in a 10-lap timed qualifying race. It also includes two tickets to the FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals (July 29-31).

"In our jobs, we're like rock stars. We get paid to do what we want to do," Beckman said, "but I came up from 20 years of sportsman racing where I paid to go racing. Still, we do this because we have fun. … This is a great opportunity for us to be ourselves and just be there to have fun."

California natives Beckman and Capps both think of Sonoma as a "home away from home." Beckman spent a lot of his early career racing at Infineon. Capps met his wife in  the Bay Area, so coming back to the North Bay is always "like a homecoming."

Capps has come away with the title every year he's joined the event (2003, 2005-07, 2010). "Every year I get a little nervous when I get up there because I've done so well in the past," Capps said. "Sometimes I'll get e-mails from fans who are really excited to be racing. Then some say 'I'm gonna beat you.'"

This will be Beckman's first go-round in the Tour de Charity.

"This is a chance to do something for charity," Beckman said. "We, as drivers, like to do a lot of things for charities. I support charities that are raising money for a cure for cancer and other childhood ailments. With something like this, the fans are really the ones who support the charities. This is a chance to dig in deep for a good cause."

For information on the Tour de Charity, call (707) 933-3950 or e-mail dsilver@infineonraceway.com.