Richie Stevens Jr.: “We took out Kurt which we needed to do for Allen to help him out in the points”
Driving the Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T, Richie Stevens Jr. was the quintessential teammate today when he bumped out Kurt Johnson in the second round of Pro Stock eliminations at the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, assuring his Team Mopar partner Allen Johnson a slot in the Countdown to One playoffs.
Stevens first defeated Kenny Koretsky in the opening round, using a 6.654-second elapsed time at 206.86 mph to do so, then ousted K. J. with a. 030 reaction time (. 000 is perfect) and a 6.670/206.39 pass.
Dave Connolly in the semifinals showed him the door, however, after Stevens red-lighted to the points leader’s. 018 reaction time. Connolly earned the win with a 6.647/207.66 to Stevens’ disqualified 6.668/206.07.
The New Orleans native is ninth in the point standings, while A. J. locked in the valuable No. 4 spot.
“We had a good day, ” said Stevens. “I had to push it up there. Connolly had us covered a couple of hundredths (of a second) going into the semis and I had to go up there and kind of push it. I saw yellow, but it still went red. But we couldn’t have beaten him with a perfect light, anyway. He was. 018 on the tree. Even if we’d have been an. 000 it still would have come up short.
“Overall, a good weekend. We took out Kurt, which we needed to do for Allen to help him out in the points, qualified well (No. 3), and gained some ground on Jim Yates in the standings. We stayed ahead of V. Gaines, who went to the finals today and was runner-up to Connolly. It’s too bad he didn’t win; he deserves to win.
“We’ll head to Vegas on a high note and go out there and try to defend the title. “
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