NHRA
Phoenix Riche ''The Kid'' Stevens Qualifying Story
PHOENIX (Feb. 26) -- Showing a flair for the dramatic, Valspar Refinish driver Richie "The Kid" Stevens waited until his final qualifying pass of the weekend to earn a spot in the extremely competitive Pro Stock field. Adding an exclamation point to ...
Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
PHOENIX (Feb. 26) -- Showing a flair for the dramatic, Valspar Refinish driver Richie "The Kid" Stevens waited until his final qualifying pass of the weekend to earn a spot in the extremely competitive Pro Stock field. Adding an exclamation point to the process was the fact that Stevens' impressive Round 4 blast marked the biggest improvement of the day throughout the professional categories.
"That was the smoothest run of the year for us," said Stevens, who actually jumped from out of contention to the top half of the qualifying field. "We were all pretty nervous in the Valspar pit. I was nervous, [crew chief] Tommy [Utt] was nervous, my dad was nervous. What a great feeling to put down a lap like that."
The 21-year-old from New Orleans flew down Firebird International Raceway in 6.929 seconds at 197.51 mph to earn the No. 8 spot in the field of the 16th annual Checker-Schuck's-Kragen Nationals. By qualifying, Stevens extends his impressive streak of consecutive races to 22 events, second only to five-time champion Warren Johnson.
"We left the pit knowing we had done all the right things to make us run well, but you just don't know until you do it. I wanted to get in so bad I drove way past the finish line just to make sure I got everything out of this Valspar car.
"Warren [Johnson] gave us the horsepower we needed. It was there all weekend. We just had to get the car squared away and we didn't do that until Round 4."
Stevens' Round 3 lap of 6.965 seconds at 198.17 mph was a big improvement over his two Friday passes, the best of which was a 6.987-second, 197.28-mph run. Despite the improvement he slipped out of the field at that point by one spot and 0.005 of a second.
"The good news that lap was that we could see the changes we made to the suspension were working," Stevens said. "The Valspar car drove right through the middle part of the track, which is exactly what we needed to have happen. The problem was that the car went left when it launched and it just stayed out of the groove too long. We definitely gave up some time there."
Stevens will open Sunday's Race Day action with lane choice over Greg Anderson, who qualified ninth with a 6.939 at 198.88 mph. The two men have not met this year.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Contingency Program Tops 1 Million
Next article Doug Herbert, Team Learn More in Phoenix
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Warren Johnson
Ricky Carmichael, Tommy Kendall, and Mark Martin among Hall of Fame Inductees
IMSA Others
IMSA Others
Ricky Carmichael, Tommy Kendall, and Mark Martin among Hall of Fame Inductees
Andrew Hines wins bike battle at Sonoma
NHRA
NHRA
Sonoma
Andrew Hines wins bike battle at Sonoma
DeJoria, Enders-Stevens in prime position to make NHRA history in Atlanta
NHRA
NHRA
DeJoria, Enders-Stevens in prime position to make NHRA history in Atlanta
Latest news
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
34 min
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Mirko Bortolotti risked another disqualification: How Grasser saved second place
DTM
DTM DTM 2 h
Mirko Bortolotti risked another disqualification: How Grasser saved second place
FIA enforces new rule to close F1 cost cap loophole
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
FIA enforces new rule to close F1 cost cap loophole
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe