Near-perfect light doesn't get Stevens the win in Vegas

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



LAS VEGAS (April 17, 2005) - Richie Stevens Jr. cut a near-perfect reaction
time in the Team Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus against reigning champion
Greg Anderson in the first round of Pro Stock eliminations today at The
Strip at Las Vegas. The .001 light (.000 is perfect) didn't get him the win,
however, as Anderson claimed the victory with a 6.889/200.92 pass to
Stevens' 6.940/200.92 (.030 R/T).

"It's one of those deals, I guess," said Stevens, whose teammate Jeg
Coughlin Jr. registered a perfect .000 in his first-round win against Jim
Yates. "I don't know. Looking at the computer (after that run), it looks
like I pulled it out of low gear early. I didn't think I did, but I guess I
did.

"That must have killed it some. That's the way it goes. When you pull it out
of gear kind of early it just hurts the ET and the momentum of the car and
pulls it down. That's part of the reason why it didn't run as good number
like it has been. That hurt us.

"I tried. I gave it all I could. It couldn't be any better than that, but we
still came up on the wrong side. At least we qualified both cars this
weekend for the fifth straight race (12th for Stevens, fourth for Coughlin);
we did good."

Today's first-round loss was Stevens' third of the season, and his second
against Anderson. He lost in the second round in the other two races of the
year. "It was not a bad weekend. Qualifying is always a positive. I just
wish we can go some rounds. We just keep having bad luck on Sunday. I've
never been known to have good luck on any Sunday, anyway. I've always had to
work for any kind of win I got. I never seem to get red-lights or shut-offs
from my opponents. It never seems to work out to my advantage.

"We just neeed some luck. We're running good. We're getting both cars into
the field. I just can't catch a break on Sunday to save our lives. I just
need a little bit of luck. I thought here in Vegas I would get some.
Evidently not.

"We'll go to Bristol and hope for the best there, I guess," said Stevens.

Stevens is now 13th in NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series points, just 26
points out of 10th place.

Next up is the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Britol, Tenn.,
April 29-May 1. 

Note: Jef Coughlin lost to Greg Anderson in the second round.