Stevens goes to semis in Chicago, moves up in points

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 10 of 23
CARQUEST NHRA NATIONALS
Route 66 Raceway
Joliet, Ill.
Race Dates: June 10-12, 2005



JOLIET, Ill. (June 12, 2005) - Richie Stevens Jr. reached the semifinal
round at the CARQUEST NHRA Nationals for the second time this season in the
Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock. His first visit to the semis
in Bristol, Tenn., resulted in a runner-up finish; today's trip was cut
short when Stevens was defeated by Jason Line.

His strong finish today from ninth qualifying position moved him up to sixth
in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series point standings. On his way to the
semis, he dismissed Allen Johnson with a 6.781/203.61 lap in the opening
round while oiling down the track with rear-end fluid, then defeated Bruce
Allen with a 6.793/203.19 pass.

Line had the edge in the semifinal, launching at the starting light with an
.003 of a second margin over Stevens, and held it to the finish, winning
with a 6.781/203.16 pass to Stevens' 6.793/203.83.

"We did pretty well," said the New Orleans native in his first season with
Don Schumacher Racing. "We came from the bottom half of the field and went
some rounds, and gained some points.

"Lane choice didn't seem to matter today, both lanes were pretty equal.

"I wish it had been me," he said of his teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s reaching
the final round and losing a close one to Jason Line. "We came up a little
bit short (in the semis). We needed a little bit more. I needed to be a
little better on the tree, and maybe a little bit quicker on ET. But we had
a good day.

"I'm happy with everything. In my race with Allen Johnson I thought I left
on him a lot more than I did, but I was pulling on him a little bit at each
increment, so I knew we had that one.

"But we had a rear end go away on us. It leaked fluid all the way down the
track. It was kind of strange; it doesn't happen too often. I didn't even
know anything was wrong until I got down to the end and I smelled the oil.
It ended up just being the drain plug that came out of the rear end. We got
it fixed, nothing major. It could have been a bad deal, but luckily we got
through the run and got the win."

Against Bruce Allen: "He just disappeared really quickly. He told me he got
a little loose out there.

"I just thought it was our day. Everything was kind of falling the right way
and working in our favor, but we came up a little short. We move on to
Englishtown, N.J. this weekend. That's one of my good-luck places, so
hopefully we'll turn it around there."

Next up is the K&N Filters NHRA Supernationals in Englishtown, N.J. June
17-19.

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock point standings:
1. Greg Anderson, 787
2. Warren Johnson, 762
3. Jason Line, 738
4. Dave Connolly, 701
5. Kurt Johnson, 567
6. Richie Stevens, 506
7. Ron Krisher, 494
8. Jeg Coughlin, 486
9. Greg Stanfield, 479
10. Jim Yates, 443