NHRA: Jim Yates regaining championship form

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

May 23, 2001

TOPEKA, Kan. - With each passing day of the 2001 NHRA Winston Drag Racing season, Jim Yates leaves behind the dreadful memories of an uncharacteristic 2000 campaign.

Those woeful racing thoughts of last year are quickly becoming blurred recollections as Yates is coming off a big win in Atlanta and sits in third place in the Winston standings, 10 behind leader Warren Johnson.

Yates finished the 2000 season eighth in the standings, his worst Winston points finish since 1995. He also failed to win a race for the first time since 1993, going 0-2 in final round appearances. He had 13 first round losses and a disappointing DNQ (did not qualify) in St. Louis.

This season the driver of the Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Grand Am is looking more like the driver who posted back-to-back Winston championships in the mid-1990s as he's off to his best start in several years, posting one victory in three final rounds.

Yates hopes to keep the momentum going at the 13th annual Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, May 24-27, at Heartland Park Topeka, one of the fastest quarter-mile tracks on the NHRA circuit.

The Alexandria, Va. driver is a two-time winner of the $1.9 million race, the ninth of 24 events in the $50 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.

"That was a long, long, cold, dry spell," said the 47-year-old Yates, a 23-time winner in NHRA Pro Stock competition. "We've been to three finals in the last five races. Now we want to go out to the next race and have another good show. The problem is that the competition out there is so tough. It's like a crap shoot, you never know who is going to have a good light and the cars' performances are so close. With the kind of roll we are on right now, I'd rather be in our shoes than anyone else's. I think we've got a great shot this year (at the Winston championship)."

With the win in Georgia and runner-up finishes in Las Vegas and Bristol, Tenn., Yates has powered his Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Grand Am among the leaders of the NHRA Winston Pro Stock standings. Yates recently won the lucrative $50,000 Holley Pro Stock Dominator Duel which adds to his momentum.

"You can get the points lead but keeping it is something different," said Yates. "We won the championship back-to-back in 1996 and 97 and we know there are three things you need to win the championship. You have to be in the running, you have to have momentum and you have to have performance. Right now, our hot rod is pretty darn fast out there."

With two-thirds of the season remaining, Yates does not want to take anything for granted and lose focus on winning his third series crown. The remainder of the season will be highlighted by a close battle in what is arguably the most competitive category in the NHRA's professional ranks.

"The one thing this team is really good at right now is staying focused on our car and not trying to work on the other guys' cars because they never let you," said Yates. "I've been trying to calm down and drive my side of the tree and not get excited about what the other guy is doing over there. You have no control over it."

Text provided by Anthony Vestal

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