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NHRA: Yates ready for return to sea level, winning performances

1 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

SONOMA, Calif. - Jim Yates can't wait to get out of the mountains. The two-time NHRA Winston Pro Stock champion is in the mood for some lowland racing. After consecutive weeks of performing at high-altitude tracks in Tennessee and Colorado, the Alexandria, Va. resident is eager to put a couple of early round losses behind and start focusing on winning some races.

And that's for good reason. Yates hasn't claimed a victory in quite a while.

In fact, it was one year ago when Yates drove his Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Firebird to his last career win -- at Sears Point Raceway, just north of the picturesque San Pablo Bay.

Yates hopes a return to coastal conditions puts his racing program back in contention. Based on past results alone, he'll definitely be a top contender at the 13th annual FRAM Autolite Nationals, Aug. 4-6, at Sears Point Raceway. Yates is a three-time winner of the $1.8 million race, the 15th of 23 events in the $45 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.

"I'm ready to get back to sea level conditions," said Yates, who has posted two runner-up finishes this season. "We made some major changes on the car and I think a lot of things that we've done to the chassis will apply."

Both of Yates' strong runs this season have come at sea level venues. At Houston he was the event's quick qualifier before losing a close final to Jeg Coughlin. At Richmond, Va., Yates also lost a final round decision to Coughlin in a thrilling side-by-side affair.

"Compared to the rest of the field, our engines definitely perform better at sea level than they do at any kind of altitude above 3,000 feet," Yates said. "We seem to have a combination that doesn't react well in thin air situations."

Yates earned his 22nd career victory last year at Sears Point Raceway by taking out some of the category's best drivers - Darrell Alderman, Coughlin, Mike Edwards and Kurt Johnson in the final. If he's to repeat that success, he'll have to deal with several of those drivers and others, including two-time winner Ron Krisher, Winston Showdown champ Troy Coughlin and a resurgent Mark Pawuk, who recently ended a five-year drought with a win in Columbus, Ohio.

As far as performance goes, Yates knows his team is close to running the number. Five-time NHRA Winston Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson, although trailing in the Winston points chase behind leader Jeg Coughlin and Krisher, posted one of the lowest elapsed times of the season, a 6.833 second effort in Richmond, Va.

"In conditions like we're going to have at some of the tracks coming up I think we should be able to run with the fastest cars in the pack," Yates said.

MOPAR COMEBACK: The final 16-car Pro Stock qualifying order at Denver included four Dodge Avengers, and for the first time since Allen Johnson's memorable win last season at Virginia Motorsports Park, an Avenger advanced to the final round.

Is this the start of something for the Mopar Pro Stock contingent, which has been virtually silent in a Pro Stock world that has been dominated by Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro victories in recent seasons? With a new engine program, spirits are high among two Mopar teams.

"We're really on the right track with the new Hemi engine," said Larry Morgan, who qualified third at Denver before losing to Brad Jeter on a holeshot in the second round.

Said Darrell Alderman, who posted his first final round appearance since winning at Englishtown, N.J. in 1997: "It's hard to beat the Hemi engine when the combination is right."

Surprisingly, the driver most excited about a return to competitive racing for Team Mopar's Pro Stock unit is the competition - five-time NHRA Winston champion Warren Johnson.

"I'm curious to see if the Mopar cars are going to run as good at other races as they did at their own sponsored event," said Johnson, who lost to Alderman in the second round at Denver. "If they continue to perform well that means they've stepped up their program. That's good, because we need more cars out here. We don't need all Pontiacs and Chevrolets. We need some Fords and some Dodges -- as many nameplates as we can get. If we can get a good mix at every race, it makes it more interesting for the fans."

W.J. LOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY: With one victory in four final round appearances, Warren Johnson's 2000 season hasn't unfolded like the Buford, Ga. driver first envisioned.

During one stretch of races, Johnson posted three consecutive first round losses, a trend that's almost unheard of in his GM Goodwrench racing stable. A few races later, Johnson posted his fourth first round loss of the year, a disappointing early round match with points challenger Jeg Coughlin. After earning his fourth and fifth Winston championships, respectively, during the last two seasons, Johnson is currently in third place overall in 2000, trailing points leader Coughlin by 285. After making several significant changes to his Pontiac Firebird in recent weeks, Johnson hopes to mount a late season charge and get back into contention for race victories each week.

"Performance-wise I think we're back on the right track," Johnson said. "It's something I've been trying to get back to since the beginning of the season. I'm not saying our team is 100-percent back, but at least we're able to be competitive and that's what we're looking at."

SCHEDULE: Pro qualifying is scheduled for 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 4 and continues at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Aug. 5. Final professional eliminations start at 11 a.m. on Aug. 6.

TICKETS: Tickets are available for the 13th annual FRAM Autolite Nationals. Call Sears Point Raceway at (800) 870-RACE, or Ticketmaster, for ticket information.

ON TV: ESPN2 will televise two hours of eliminations coverage of the FRAM Autolite Nationals on Aug. 6 at 9:30 p.m. (ET). ESPN2 also will televise two hours of qualifying highlights on Aug. 5 at 10 p.m. (ET). In addition, ESPN2 will televise NHRA Heat, NHRA's 30-minute preview show, on Aug. 3 at 6:30 p.m. (ET).

Text provided by Anthony Vestal

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