Championship Drag Racing

Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals
Gainesville, Fla.
(March 18-21)

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Jim Yates Sea Ray Boats Pro Stocker

Reports: Sunday Saturday Pre-race

Gainesville, Sunday: Jim Yates drove into the semifinals of the Mac Tools Gatornationals and the Pro Stock top 10 standings Sunday at Gainesville Raceway. Yates used two quicker starting-line reaction times to knock off favored drivers, based on their better qualifying times, Larry Morgan and Kurt Johnson with slower elapsed times than the losers.

His string came to an end in the semifinals against eventual runner-up Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Yates' Sea Ray Boats/ B&W Pontiac Grand Am had a qualifying best of 6.812 seconds on a track that became slippery and tricky during the hot weekend. Knowing he had to be ready for the green light in eliminations, he timed it right against Morgan, the No. 2 qualifier, .051 to .101, winning with a 6.835 to a 6.797. In the match versus Johnson, Yates was up for the task again, jumping ahead with a .058 light to a .084, and that's where the Occoquan, Va., driver stayed. His time was 6.844 to Johnson's 6.838.

Coughlin won the semi with a 6.793 to Yates' 6.845.

Yates almost switched motors after Saturday qualifying, but didn't, opting instead to change the rear-end gear ratio and fine-tune the combination.

He's now ninth in points with 132 points, and 24 behind No. 6 Dave Connolly.

"We've been trying to work on the motor tune-up but we are pleased with the way the chassis has been responding to the changes we made. It was nice winning the second round and getting into the top 10 for the first time this year. It took us 15 races to do that last year.

"We ran a Jerry Bickle chassis for four years and now we have a Rick Jones chassis this and we're getting it figured out. The car is going down the track no matter what the conditions. We got what the car gave us in eliminations."

Gainesville, Saturday: Consistency was a key to Jim Yates' Pro Stock qualifying runs at the Mac Tools Gatornationals Friday and Saturday and, while he was pleased with it, he would've preferred something a little bit better.

"The car was working well and we seem to have a handle on it," Yates said of his Sea Ray Boats/B&W Pontiac Grand Am, "but we can't seem to tune the motor. Maybe we're going in thte wrong direction."

Yates clicked off times of 6.815, 6.824, 6.812 and 6.823 seconds, and the 6.812 -- at 202.74 mph -- held for the 15th starting berth for Sunday's eliminations. He will square off against No. 2 Larry Morgan, 6.764 at 204.03 mph.

"The motor didn't respond, so maybe we're going in the wrong direction," added Yates. "We may put in our regular race motor, which we just got back from Bob (Ingles, the engine builder), for the first round."

Gainesville, pre-race: It's been said you can't win the Kentucky Derby with a plow horse. Thus far, that's been true.

In drag racing's ultra-competitive Pro Stock category, it takes a lot of horses to compete for race wins and, ultimately, the NHRA POWERade championship. Those horses translate to horsepower, and power is one vital component. For a winning combination, throw in a good chassis and clutch setup.

Jim Yates is hoping to meld those components into that winning combination this weekend in the Mac Tools Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. He has workable chassis and clutch combinations and now he's added more horsepower to the mix with the belief it will provide the boost needed to run with the top four or five Pro Stock drivers.

To make sure, Yates and his Sea Ray Boats/B&W Pontiac Grand Am team had a Wednesday test session before driving to Gainesville and Friday's first day of qualifying.

"We need to make the car softer leaving the starting line so it won't shake the tires," said Yates. "We just got our race motor from Bob (Ingles, the team's engine builder) and we're looking forward to testing the chassis and the motor. This motor is a lot peppier than the ones we used in the first two races.

"The good thing is we'll be able to find a combination that works and go right to Gainesville and run it. That will make a big difference. We always look forward to racing there," added the driver from Occoquan, Va.

Yates won Gatornationals titles in 1996-97, the same years he captured the series championship. He was the race runner-up in 1998.

He's currently 14th in Pro Stock with 61 points, seven behind 10th place, with 21 of 23 races remaining.