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. ”
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