STEVENS, JR. -- INDIANAPOLIS PREVIEW
(http://www.moparspeed.com/) (http://www.moparspeed.com/) RICHIE STEVENS, JR. DON SCHUMACHER RACING TEAM MOPAR/VALSPAR DODGE STRATUS R/T _WWW.RICHIESTEVENSJR.COM_ (http://www.richiestevensjr.com/) _WWW.SHOERACING.COM_ (http://www.shoeracing.com/) (http://www.moparspeed.com/) TRACK STATS… 52ND ANNUAL MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS /O’REILLY RACEWAY PARK * Finished 2nd at O’Reilly Raceway Park in 2005, was defeated by Greg Anderson in the final round. (Stevens defeated Larry Morgan in the 1st Round, Kurt Johnson in the quarterfinals and Mark Pawuk in the semifinals.) * Enters this weekend’s event ranked 11th in the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Series points race. PRE-EVENT QUOTES… "I'd like to change the outcome of last year's U.S. Nationals when we lost in the final. We can't go back in time, but we could do the next best thing and win this year." "I just barely got there in time for the race last year because of Hurricane Katrina, and we ended up doing really well. It'd be nice to get there (the final) again this year, not under those circumstances, but to still do well and enjoy it a little more." "We've been doing a lot of testing, and we've been learning a lot about these Stratus'." "I know we've got the power, we've got the team, and we have the faces behind the scenes. We just have to get it all to gel together. It starts with qualifying, and we struggled a little bit in Memphis, but we'll get that turned around and get a stronger starting spot in the field." "We are going to hope for the best, and do the best we can. Everyone is going to be fighting to get one of those 16 starting spots, and then it's going to be a fight to go rounds and get the win." 2006 STAT TRACKS… * Has made two semi-final round appearances in 2006. * Has made six quarterfinal and eight first round appearances. * Earned No. 1 qualifier honors at Route 66 Raceway in June. * Won/Loss Record for 2006 stands at 10/16. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS… * Has earned four career victories in NHRA POWERade Pro Stock competition. * Has made 12 semi-finals, 38 quarterfinal and 49 first round appearances to date. * Stevens, Jr., Has earned three No. 1 qualifier positions in his career. * Won/Loss record stands at 93/104 entering the Indianapolis event. TV SCHEDULE… ESPN2 Schedule Sept. 2 11:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. Qualifying Sept. 3 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Qualifying Sept. 3 11:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. Qualifying Sept. 4 12:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Eliminations Sept. 4 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Eliminations Sept. 7 3:00 a.m.-5:00 a.m. Repeat Eliminations POST-EVENT RECAP… * Post event information can be found at _www.moparspeed.com_ (http://www.moparspeed.com/) after each event. The weekly e-zine is updated each Monday with all the latest news about Team Mopar and Richie Stevens, Jr. MEDIA CONTACT… Misha Geisert J.R. Thompson Company/Mopar 317-432-4110 Cellular _MoparPR@aol.com_ (mailto:MoparPR@aol.com) AT-TRACK CONTACT… Will Truitt Don Schumacher Racing 317-340-8866 Cellular _willtruitt@earthlink.net_ (mailto:willtruitt@earthlink.net) PHOTO REQUESTS… Darren Jacobs J.R. Thompson Company/Mopar 248-553-4566 Phone _djacobs@jrthompson.com_ (mailto:djacobs@jrthompson.com)