Stevens Jr. qualifies 11th in Hot Topeka

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 9 of 23
O'REILLY NHRA SUMMER NATIONALS
Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.)
Race Date: May 26-28, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

STEVENS JR. QUALIFIES 11TH IN HOT TOPEKA

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 27, 2006) - Richie Stevens Jr. faced the hottest
conditions of the season this weekend at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals
at Heartland Park Topeka, qualifying the Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus
R/T No. 11 in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock class.

With temperatures in the 90s and track temperatures nearing 120 degrees
during the day, especially during today's two passes, Stevens posted his
quickest elapsed time in the first qualifying session on Friday, a
6.840-second ET at 201.01 mph. The laps that followed included a
6.851/200.86, a 6.866/200.47 and finally, in the last round, a 6.906/200.05.

"The track is hot, the temperature is hot," said Stevens. "That's going to
affect us tremendously, unlike the fuel cars. I don't know. In this (last)
run it didn't feel good. I don't know if we hurt something or not. We're
going look at it and hopefully get a tune-up for tomorrow.

"I know the conditions today are worse than they were yesterday. We're
missing something somewhere.

"The weather is just magnifying it. The conditions are making it just that
much more apparent that we're missing something. We'll just have to pull
something out for tomorrow. Hopefully we can get some luck on our side and
go some rounds, but it's going to be tough."

Stevens faces Rickie Smith in final eliminations on Sunday.

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