Stevens takes No. 8 in Bristol

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 6 of 23
O'REILLY THUNDER VALLEY NHRA NATIONALS
BRISTOL (Tenn.) DRAGWAY
Race Dates: April 29-May 1, 2005

RICHIE STEVENS QUALIFIES EIGHTH IN BRISTOL

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 30, 2005) - Only one round of qualifying was held for
the O'Reilly Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals the last two days, because of
rain, and Richie Stevens qualified No. 8 in that one run. Stevens drove the
new Jerry Haas-built Team Mopar/Valspar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus down a
slightly bumpy left lane to a 6.847-second pass at 200.53 mph.

"I got in the field; we made a pretty decent run," smiled Stevens. "The left
lane was pretty bumpy, but we got down it and ran an .84. It puts us in the
top half, which we saw only once this year, when I was No. 1 in Phoenix."

For the third time in six races, Stevens faces reigning two-time Pro Stock
champion Greg Anderson in the first round. "We're looking good," he said.
"Hopefully we can make a good run tomorrow. We'll have lane choice. We'll
put Greg in the left lane, we'll take the right lane; hopefully we can go
some rounds.

"We did well testing here last week and it should hold up for us. The right
lane is the lane we tested in last week. We got plenty of data off of it and
hopefully it will work out the best for us."

Eliminations begin at noon on Sunday.