Meet the Race Team

Rich Bailey: Driver, Team Owner
In 1997, Rich Bailey began his racing career with $12,000 and a dream. He purchased a seldom driven “slingshot” dragster and got his feet wet learning how to drive the car and how to maintain it from the car’s previous owner, Doug Donkell. Besides racing, Bailey is also a motorsports artist and has worked for many of the top professional teams in drag racing. Until buying his first dragster, Bailey had done about all there was to do within the sport but drive a race car.

By the start of his first full season of competition, Bailey was sponsored by local radio station, KSLM and by luck picked up Royal Purple as a product sponsor after designing the paint job on Cristen Powell’s Royal Purple Top Fuel Dragster. “Royal Purple was going to pay me but I asked if I could get some oil instead of money and that was one of the best choices I ever made as Royal Purple has saved us thousands of dollars in potential engine damage” Said Bailey, who has kept the sponsorship ever since.

The following season, Bailey “outgrew” his front engine car and moved to a rear engine dragster with continued backing from KSLM's sister station 1430 KYKN. For the next two years Bailey raced in the Super Comp class before signing a one year deal with Capitol Auto Group, an auto dealership headquartered in Salem, Oregon. Like Royal Purple, that one year sponsorship deal with Capitol has been extended every year since and Bailey is now celebrating 11 years with the company.

Bailey credits his dedication and emphasis on marketing as the reason for his long term success with sponsors. “On the track your fate weighs on every part in the engine and transmission working together and not failing. It’s the same in marketing, you have to work together with the sponsor to keep moving ahead and do everything possible to give them as much exposure as you possibly can. You have to keep looking for any opportunity possible to make them look good. For me, it’s always been marketing first and everything else comes second” said Bailey.

After a couple of year is Super Comp, Bailey moved to Top Comp where he finished ninth in the NHRA Northwest Division which wasn’t too bad since there was over 80 cars that competed that year. Bailey then went blown alcohol racing and raced in the Top Dragster class before finding a home in the Pacific ProComp series. Last year, Bailey finished 5th in points and his best time with the car so far is a 6.76 at 199 MPH.

Success has never been easy for Bailey but he never gives up. “We race a very quick car on a limited budget and we do the best we can with the resources that we have. A lot of people don't realize what it takes to stay out there year after year. There are times where we got behind the eight ball but some how it all works out in the end thanks to our marketing partners, my crew chief Brent Sanford, our team members and our engine builder Art Mendoza. We would have been out of business a long time ago had it not been for Art" said Bailey.

Besides racing, Bailey cofounded both the Winter Rod and Speed Show and the Night of Fire show which has raised thousands of dollars for local family’s stricken with cancer or other severe diseases. “The shows are challenging at times but very rewarding and they are a blast to do” said Bailey.

Bailey lives in Salem, Oregon and is a graduate from Oregon State University. He is married to wife Susan and together they have two children.

Career Highlights include:

Top Ten NHRA Top Comp finish in 2000

Won the Oregon Top Comp Championships at Madras in 2000

Qualified on the pole at both the Fall Classic in Woodburn and the Halloween Classic in Boise Idaho in 2006. Qualified 4th for a Top Alcohol show in Spokane the same year.

Top five finish in the Top Eliminator West Series in 2010
Runner up finish at the 2010 Top Eliminator West Race in Medford

Rich is a recipient of President Bush's Volunteer Service Award in 2004 and 2006 for his work with the Race Against Drugs Program.

Best ET of 6.76 @ 199 MPH at the 2008 Governor's Cup at Sacramento.

Rick Klampe: Capitol Racing Crew Chief
This is Rick Klampe's first year with the team and already he has made a noticable impact. Faced with challanges that are common with a small budget blown alcohol team Klampe is a true professional that can get it done. Klampe, is related to Nyles Klampe a two time NHRA comp eliminator champion and is the owner of a comp car himself but had to park it this year due to a weak economy. Klampe can do it all from briliant fabricating work to professional engine work.

Rick Lytle: Crew Member
Richard Lytle has been one of the biggest surprises on the Captiol team this year. Richard is a jack of all trades when it comes to working on the race car and even enjoys doing static displays which is a rare trait for any trait for any crew member.

Mark Asburry: Crew Member
Nicked named "Professor Gadget" Mark Asburry is a multi-talented and very valuable member of the Capitol team. Mark, excels in electronics, fabrication and even video.

Art Mendoza: Engine Builder
The biggest reason for the team's increase in performance is our engine builder, Art Mendoza. Art became a partner in the car by initially loaning Rich Bailey his engines. Since then, Art's business demanded that he take a step back from supplying the engines and working on the car at each race. However, he continues to rebuild the engine over the winter and when ever necessary during the race season.

Transmission Builder: Jeff Marsh
Jeff Marsh began rebuilding our transmission towards the end of the 2007 season after a parade of on going problems. Ever since then, the problems the team was regularly experiencing went away. Last year the team enjoyed a trouble free season. Jeff owns Canby Transmission and races a drag bike.

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