Team Mopar Pro Stock Race Report - U.S. Nationals

TEAM MOPAR PRO STOCK QUALIFYING REPORT - U.S. NATIONALS
2007 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 18 of 23
Countdown to Four
U.S. NATIONALS
O'Reilly Raceway Park
Clermont, Ind.
Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net
Darren Jacobs, J.R. Thompson, 248-553-4566; djacobs@jrthompson.com

RICHIE STEVENS JR., TEAM MOPAR/VALSPAR DODGE STRATUS R/T:

STEVENS HAS ROUGH DAY AT U.S. NATIONALS
Richie Stevens Jr. endured flu-like symptoms and lack of lane choice in Pro
Stock eliminations today for the U.S. Nationals, falling to Justin Humphreys
in the opening round.

Relegated to the less-desirable right lane after struggling to qualify No.
11, Stevens' 6.721-second lap at 205.66 mph was no match for Humphrey's
winning 6.692/205.76, and Stevens' day ended.

"It was one of those weekends," said the New Orleans native. "We didn't
start off on the greatest foot. We didn't get the job done early. We made
really one good run down the track in qualifying, and that's all we really
had to go off of. The other four runs weren't all that great. And we got
stuck in a bad lane. We didn't have lane choice and we just didn't make a
good run.

"The left lane was definitely worth at least two hundredths (of a second),
I'd say. And we just didn't have a good shot at it. I've also been sick the
last two days, and it's caught up with me, and today I feel the worst I've
felt in the two days. And that didn't help either, getting in the car. So, a
whole bunch of negatives were pointing towards the first round.

"Yes, we were lucky to get into the field," he continued. "It was a tough
field to get a hold of. There were 33 cars that were here, and there were 17
going home yesterday afternoon. So, we were lucky to be here and get one of
those spots.

"But we'll just go the next race and hopefully I'll be better and the car
will be better."

ALLEN JOHNSON, MOPAR/J&J RACING DODGE STRATUS R/T:

A.J. EXITS IN SECOND ROUND AT U.S. NATIONALS
Allen Johnson was hoping to continue to keep lane choice in Pro Stock
eliminations for the U.S. Nationals after qualifying No. 4 and defeating
Craig Hankinson in the opening round. But it wasn't to be, as his
6.702/206.67 victory over Hankinson did not earn him that privilege in the
second round against Kurt Johnson, who had won his first round with a
6.698/205.63.

A.J. launched with a stellar .022 reaction time (.000 is perfect) to K.J.'s
.051, but tire spin at the start slowed A. Johnson to a 6.814-second pass at
205.63, while K.J. ran him down to win with a 6.748/205.26.

"We lost lane choice and that got us right in the hind end," said A.J. "We
gave it our best and it was a fairly close race, probably closer than it
should have been. But we'll leave here in third place in the Countdown to
Four points.

"Didn't do exactly what we wanted to do, but came within just a few feet of
it. We've got three more races to go (to determine the top four who will
then vie for the championship at the final two season events). As long as we
stay up there, maybe we can do some good.

"Everything is running well. We'll go to Memphis and hopefully we'll go get
them down there."

Next up is the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., Sept.
14-16.

COUNTDOWN TO FOUR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Dave Connolly, 2176 (winner today)
2. Greg Anderson, 2162 (runner-up today)
3. Allen Johnson, 2095
4. Kurt Johnson, 2094
5. Jeg Coughlin, 2083
6. Jason Line, 2061
7. Larry Morgan, 2033
8. Warren Johnson, 2020

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