Denver: Richie Stevens Jr final summary

STEVENS IN OH-SO-CLOSE LOSS TO TEAMMATE COUGHLIN AT MOPAR MILE-HIGH NATIONALS

MORRISON, Colo. (July 17, 2005) - Richie Stevens Jr. suffered two misfortunes today at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals, driving the Team Mopar/Valspar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus Pro Stock for Don Schumacher Racing.

First, by qualifying fifth, he was forced to face his teammate Jeg Coughlin, who had qualified 12th, in first round of eliminations. Second, their 2005 win-loss record was tied 1-1 entering the opening stanza, so you could say the match-up was equal. And it was. The duo produced nearly matching elapsed times and speeds: 7.197/192.44 for Stevens, 7.196/192.22 for Coughlin. The seven-ft. margin of victory went to Coughlin by virtue of his .010 reaction time to Stevens' .032.

"It just wasn't my day, again," said Stevens, who has four career Pro Stock wins and is looking for his first this season. "It hasn't been my day for a while. We made a good run, we both made good runs. We just came up on the wrong end of it. He had a little better light than I did, but going off of how we ran in qualifying, we probably should have run a little better than we did, but that's how it goes."

"He got me this time. I didn't want it to happen at this Mopar-sponsored race, of all races. I would have liked to have gone some rounds for Mopar, Don (Schumacher, team owner), Valspar and the rest of the DSR sponsors, but, oh well."

"Yes, I was gunning for it. I tried my best, and had a .032, which was not a bad light. He had a .10 and he got the win. We ran a thousandth (of a second) apart. We should have run a little quicker."

"I guarantee he probably had the best light of the round (it was the second quickest). You can't get much better than that. When you get down to close to the double Os - not that you're guessing - a .010 is a pretty strong light. It's hard to beat. You can't get around it, especially when you run identical numbers."

Stevens holds on to sixth place in NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock point standings, with 630. Coughlin is seventh, with 622.

Next up is the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals on July 22-24, 2005.

-dsr-