Richie Stevens red-lights in first round in Houston

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 4 of 23
O'REILLY NHRA SPRING NATIONALS
HOUSTON RACEWAY
Race Dates: April 8-10, 2005


BAYTOWN, Texas (April 10, 2005) - Qualifying 16th in a 16-car field
automatically pits you against the No. 1 qualifier in NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series competition, and that's where Richie Stevens Jr. found himself
today in the first round of Pro Stock eliminations at the O'Reilly NHRA
Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway.

After struggling during qualifying to finally end up in the field at all was
one accomplishment. The next came when Stevens faced Warren Johnson in the
first round in a car that was ready for the challenge, thanks to the hard
work of crew chief Bob Glidden and the Team Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus
crew, who found and fixed the gremlins that haunted the team during
qualifying.

Stevens has the reputation of being a "good leaver." Translation: he cuts
excellent reaction times at the starting light. He knew he had to pull out a
good one to beat WJ. Unfortunately, it was too good and Stevens red-lighted
with a minus-.024 light (.000 is perfect) to Johnson's less-than-stellar
.085. WJ was there for the taking, but won with a 6.706/205.16. Although he
was disqualified, Stevens posted a 6.753/204.35.

"I didn't even think I 'red-lit.' I didn't know I red-lit until they told me
on the radio," said the New Orleans native. "Until I went through to the
finish line and didn't see the win light come on, I thought I had been
either near perfect or really good at the light.

"I didn't see him (next to me), I didn't see him, and I thought we were
going to the next round, but I beat myself.

"I had to go for a light. He went a 6.69 (ET) yesterday and we hadn't made a
decent run all weekend. I didn't think I pushed it that hard, but I guess I
did. That's the way it goes.

"The Team Mopar Dodge ran good. The best pass it made all weekend was that
one. It went straight, there was no electrical miss in it.

"WJ was still beatable. If I had cut a .037 light or better I still could
have beat him."

Stevens now stands 12th in Pro Stock points, with 172. His teammate Jeg
Coughlin Jr., in the Jeg's Mail Order/Mopar Dodge Stratus, is eighth after
advancing to the second round today.

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