Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis, Ind.
(Sept. 1-6)
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Jim Yates Pontiac Grand Am Pro Stocker |
Reports: Sunday Pre-race |
Indianapolis, Sunday: Jim Yates has always said Pro Stock racing is decided by just thousandths of a second.
It happened again Sunday when Yates and the Sea Ray Boats/B&W Pontiac Grand Am came within two-thousandths of a second of making Monday's U.S. Nationals starting line-up.
Yates pushed his way into the field on Sunday's final qualifying run with a 6.842-second time at 201.22 mph. He held the 16th and final berth for just a few minutes before Steve Schmidt ran 6.840 at 201.19.
Yates was unhappy with himself, saying the car was running well when he shifted into fifth gear. "But it drifted to the right and got out of the groove and we came up a little short. That's really disappointing. If we'd had that run during one of the (two) night qualifying sessions we would've run quick enough to make the field."
Indianapolis, pre-race: The results have not been as gratifying as Jim Yates preferred, but the optimistic driver of the Sea Ray Boats/B&W Pro Stock Pontiac Grand Am hasn't wavered in his determination to win rounds and races.
He and Jamie Yates, his son and crew chief, and the crew meticulously go through numerous parts and pieces, myriad chassis set-ups and combinations while seeking solutions to what is, for them, a disappointing POWERade Series season thus far.
The approaching 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park provides them with another opportunity to take four round wins and claim the top trophy in NHRA's most prestigious event.
This will be Yates' 15th trip to Indy since joining the Pro Stock ranks in 1990, and he's still looking for his first win. He does have 24 victories and two series championships (1996-97) in his career totals. He was runner-up here in 2002.
"We are enthused," said the Occoquan, Va. competitor. "Indy is always an exciting race. The race track is good and there are a lot of Pro Stock cars entered."
When Jim and Jamie Yates look for improvement, the talk is in mere fractions of a second – as little as one-thousandth of a second determines winners and losers in the ultra-competitive Pro Stock ranks.
"It will be interesting to see how well qualifying goes," Yates said. "We have one qualifying session Friday night that could be the best (in terms of conditions) of the weekend. This is one of those races where one-thousandth of a second makes the difference, all the way from qualifying through eliminations.
"In the last couple of races we've managed to hang on in qualifying, but we hope to move up toward the front this weekend so we don't have to worry about getting into the show on our last run. We're working hard all the time. Jamie has been doing a good job adjusting the chassis to the track conditions."
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