Championship Drag Racing

Mopar Mile-High
NHRA Nationals
Denver
(July 18-20)

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Jim Yates SplitFire/Peak Pontiac Grand Am Pro Stocker

Reports: Sunday Saturday Pre-race

Denver, Sunday: Jim Yates accomplished two important things on his visit to the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. He turned around the performance of his SplitFire/Peak Pro Stock Pontiac in the altitude and moved into a tie for 10th place in NHRA POWERade Series points with 495.

"We used to be one of the fastest cars up on the mountain until last year when we didn't qualify here," Yates said.

After four days of testing and three days of racing, Yates proved his point. He consistently ran among the top four cars during Friday-Saturday qualifying, taking the No. 4 position (7.238 seconds at 190.08 mph) and advanced to the quarterfinals Sunday before losing to Mike Edwards.

Yates stopped the clocks with a 7.274 at 189.71 to Edwards' 7.295 at 189.39. The margin of victory came at the starting line, .015 to .066, a difference for which Yates to full responsibility.

"It was a great weekend," he said. "We knew Mike was a tough competitor and I just missed the tree (starting light). It was the first time since Indy (site of the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend) that I've had a light like that. We'll just get over it and go on from there."

Yates, his son/crew chief Jamie and the crew worked hard to prepare the car for this event and it showed in the performance. He opened eliminations with a .016 reaction time and a 7.257-second, 190.06-mph decision over Allen Johnson.

Jamie Yates and the crew made a number of changes, making it easier to tune the racecar. They plan to use some of the changes when they race at Seattle, Friday through Sunday. It's the second race of three in a row, with the third at Sonoma, Calif., Aug.1-3.

Denver, Saturday: Jim Yates successfully wiped out the memories of not qualifying at last year's Mile-High Nationals by running in the top four in all thre sessions and he starts this Mile-High Nationals from the No. 4 position.

Yates said his son/crew chief Jamie predicted "we would turn it around here this year. We used to be one of the fastest cars on the mountain until last year."

Yates finished with a best of 7.238 seconds at 190.08 mph in the mile-high atmosphere. He races No. 13 Allen Johnson (7.269 at 189.68 mph) in Sunday's opening round.

Yates also credited Jamie and engine builder Bob Ingles with the improved performances. "Jamie did a great job during testing," he said. "He changed the headers, redid the carburetors and changed the chassis and the car responded. Bob also made some headway with the motor program."

This was the fourth time Yates has been in the top eight in the 13 races this season.

Denver, pre-race: There were smiles, albeit tentative ones, when Jim Yates finished making test runs in his SplitFire/Peak Pro Stock Pontiac last week here at Bandimere Speedway.

Running in conditions that will likely mirror images of those expected at the same track during the Mopar Mile-High Nationals this weekend, Yates did something he hadn't done before. He ran his best elapsed time in the oxygen-deprived mile-high air, 7.22 seconds.

Sure, it was hot – temperatures were in the mid-80s – and it was only a test session, but Yates and his son/crew chief Jamie and the crew were pleased. At least they were on the right path to finding a useable combination on this tricky racing surface. The Pro Stock track record, incidentally, is 7.249 seconds, and it was set last year by Ron Krisher.

"It's all a matter of having the right combination to run well at this altitude," said Yates. "It looks like we came up with some pretty good engine pieces and we were using our backup motor on the 7.22 run."

Yates, a back-to-back winner here in 1996-97, the same years he won the series championships, has a score to settle with Bandimere Speedway. He was the series points leader a year ago when he came into this event, but he wasn't able get a good, quick run and didn't qualify. And a few races later, he dropped to second in the standings, and that's where he finished.

He'd like to be second this season, but right now he's concentrating on climbing into the top 10 and then moving up in the standings.

It hasn't been easy. He's had to fight a myriad of problems, including getting hit by one of NHRA's safety vehicles while he was on the track and not in his car. Although he didn't receive any serious injuries, he still wears a brace on his right wrist and index finger that is helping a severed tendon heal.

Throughout this season of performance turmoil, Yates has maintained his competitive desire and optimistic approach.

"We are pretty excited about the last half of the season," he said. "We have been qualifying a lot better. We've been in the top half of the starting field three times in the last six races. Denver is definitely going to be a turning point for us if we want to make a run to get back into the top five in points.

"We've had trouble at altitude tracks since we were here last year. We didn't run well in Denver; we didn't run well at Las Vegas; and we didn't run well at Bristol (Tenn.) this year. We've struggled, but we made some changes in the car and in the motors, and hopefully that will make up for it here. We are a little paranoid about going to Denver because we've run so badly at altitude tracks. If we can get qualified well up here we may be headed in the right direction to make that run to get into the top five."

Yates, of Alexandria, Va., did find a bright spot in the test results.

"We are very encouraged with how we tested," he said, "and we're looking forward to the three races in a row."

The Mile-High Nationals is the first of NHRA's tradition western swing – races in Denver, Seattle (July 25-27) and Sonoma, Calif. Aug. 1-3), in successive weekends.

There will be plenty of opportunities for Yates to climb into the top 10 in the remaining 11 events. He is currently 11th with 440 points but trails eighth-place Bruce Allen (505) by 65 points with a round win worth 20 points.