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Richmond Richie Stevens Finals Report

Stevens advances to finals RICHMOND, Va. (May 3) - Pro Stock driver Richie "The Kid" Stevens has driven his Valspar Refinish Pontiac Firebird into the final round of the Fifth Annual Pennzoil Nationals presented by Trak Auto at ...

Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM

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Stevens advances to finals

RICHMOND, Va. (May 3) - Pro Stock driver Richie "The Kid" Stevens has driven his Valspar Refinish Pontiac Firebird into the final round of the Fifth Annual Pennzoil Nationals presented by Trak Auto at Virginia Motorsports Park. The 20-year-old has beaten Greg Anderson, Mike Edwards and John Nobile to reach a championship showdown with Allen Johnson. The race's elimination action started Sunday when one round was completed but was eventually moved to an 11 a.m. start this morning due to rainy weather.

"The first two wins were both as ugly as could be but they both got us through to the next round," Stevens said. "That's all you can do - win them one race at a time. The good part was that we were able to get some good data on the car and the track so we could tune the car right. It seems like its getting closer to perfect every time we go down the track. We're really getting excited over here in the Valspar pit.

"In yesterday's opener and in today's quarterfinal round, the car was basically shaking from the time I launched until the time I shut it off. Fortunately, both Greg and Mike were shaking too. I just had better luck.

"In the last race against John the car handled much better. I left on him by a little bit and I never did see him. Although at the finish line he said he was right off our rear quarterpanel all the way down. It was a close one but the Valspar machine came out on top."

Stevens' winning times from Round 1 to the semifinals have been very consistent. He posted a 6.912-second lap against Anderson, a 6.926-second pass versus Edwards and a 6.917-second run against Nobile.

"We have one more round to go," Stevens said. "If I do what I need to do, I know the car will be there. We definitely have the capability to win. Now we have to go out there and do it."

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