Vegas always a favorite for Richie Stevens

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 5 of 23
NHRA SUMMITRACING.COM NATIONALS
THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS
Race Dates: April 15-17, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

VEGAS ALWAYS A FAVORITE FOR RICHIE STEVENS

LAS VEGAS (April 14, 2005) - Richie Stevens Jr. is having an "eclectic" kind
of season driving the Team Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock
for Don Schumacher Racing. He set career-best numbers in the first three
races, sat on the pole at the second event in Phoenix, barely qualified for
the fourth race in Houston while experiencing mechanical gremlins, then
fouled out in the first round of eliminations there.

The good news is, of course, that he qualified for each event so far - not
an easy task in one of the toughest classes of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series - especially for a driver who hasn't competed regularly in the class
since 2002. The 26-year-old New Orleans native was a young star on the rise
back then until he cut short his Pro Stock career to take care of the family
business while his dad Richie Sr. underwent successful heart surgery.

He's back full-time and eager to take to the quarter-mile this weekend at
the NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and find the
winning groove again, in a car tuned by 10-time Pro Stock champion Bob
Glidden.

"Vegas has always been one of my favorite races," he says. "I love going to
the city for one, and the track is always excellent. It's not one of the
quickest races in Pro Stock, but it's definitely one of the most
interesting. 

"We're coming off a tough weekend. Houston was one of those weekends where
nothing seemed to go right. We had a miss in the car, we hurt one engine and
had a red-light on Sunday. Not really the typical weekend that we would hope
for. Hopefully it will turn around in Vegas and maybe we'll have a little
luck, in the casino and on the race track.

"Every season is going to have its ups and downs and hopefully we've got one
of the downs out of the way," he says of the last race in Texas.
"Unfortunately it was Houston, which was my home race (closest national
event to New Orleans), and I hated it to be there. If we can get our bad
luck out of the way sooner than later, it's definitely better."

Through the first three races, Stevens had maintained a spot in the top-10
in points and has since slipped to 12th. "I dropped out of the top 10 which
I really didn't want to do, but we can change that in one race. All we can
do is go out there, qualify good in Vegas, go a couple of rounds on Sunday,
and that should put us right back into the top 10.

"That's our plan: to go out and have a positive weekend rather than a
negative one, turn it around, get back on the road, get some wins, go some
rounds and gain some points."

SCHEDULE
On Friday, April 15, professional qualifying sessions are scheduled for 3
and 6 p.m. On Saturday, April 16, pro qualifying sessions are at 12 p.m. and
3 p.m., and on Sunday, April 17, final eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION
On Saturday, April 16, ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying
highlights at 10 p.m. (ET). On Sunday April 17, ESPN2 will broadcast NHRA
2Day, a 30-minute weekly news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET). Also on
Sunday, April 17, ESPN2 will televise two hours of final eliminations at 7
p.m. (ET). 

RICHIE STEVENS JR. QUICK FACTS:
* With dad Richie Stevens Sr. owns Stevens Collision Center in New Orleans
* His career-best ET and speed so far: 6.696 ET at 207.08 mph in
Gainesville, Fla.
* Has longtime relationship with associate sponsor Valspar
* Capped off rookie season in 1998 with a victory in his first final-round
appearance (Pomona 2)
* Is youngest Pro Stock driver to win a national event, at 20-one month, in
1998
* Has four wins in seven final rounds, two No. 1 qualifiers to his credit
* In 1999 he became the eighth member of the Speed Pro 200-mph Pro Stock
Club with a 200.08 mph run in Richmond, Va.
* Competed in Roy Hill's Pro Mod car in 2004, with a semifinal finish at the
U.S. Nationals his best result

***