NHRA News: Stevens up for defending SuperNationals title (5/15/2000)

Stevens up for defending SuperNationals title

by Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
5/15/2000

"I saw the little win light come on and my heart started pounding out of my chest. [It's] the best feeling you can have. It's impossible to describe."
-- Richie Stevens

Two times in his brief NHRA career, 21-year-old Valspar Refinish Pro Stock driver Richie "The Kid" Stevens has entered a national event as the defending champion. Such will be the case once again this weekend when the New Orleans native cruises into Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for the 31st annual Matco Tools Spring SuperNationals presented by Racing Champions.

What's strange is that for one reason or another, Stevens has yet to really let loose in the Winner's Circle of an NHRA event. But none of that seems to matter to Stevens. He is just happy to get the wins.

Off to a blazing start
Quite a lot has happened for the young pro in just a little over two years on the NHRA tour. He started as a highly touted graduate of the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League and was its first alumnus to enter the professional ranks. Then he pulled off a sensational top-10 rookie season that was capped with a win at the '98 Winston Finals.

At 19, Stevens was the youngest Pro Stock driver to ever win a national event. So young, in fact, that could he couldn't sip the obligatory bottle of champagne.

But none of that seemed to matter to Stevens. He was just happy to get the win.

"This is the most unbelievable feeling," Stevens said that cool November day in '98. "I never thought when we started this season with two new cars, two rookie drivers and no information on any track that we'd win an event. I had confidence in my driving but until you actually win, you sort of think in the back of your mind that you might not be able to do it."

In 1999, once again powered by a Finish Line Racing Engine from fellow driver Mike Thomas' stock, Stevens turned it up a notch. Together with his father, he bought his team outright and immediately started a streak of race day appearances that continues to this day. In all, Stevens has earned a spot in the last 27 races, which is second only to the legendary Warren Johnson, who hasn't drawn a DNQ in nearly a decade.

1999: An incredible season
Last season, Stevens also set the national elapsed time record, earned his first career pole, joined the Speed-Pro 200-mph Club, finished fifth in the Winston points, competed in the Holley Dominator Duel, and raced to four final rounds, one of which (the Englishtown event) ended with Victory No. 2.

Once again Stevens' victory celebration was missing something. The race had been delayed two days by torrential rain and when he finally took a miniscule holeshot win over New Jersey's native son Tom Martino, there were only a handful of people in the stands to cheer and one reporter recording the action.

But none of that seemed to matter to Stevens. He was just happy to get the win.

"We've been sitting around for two days and I've been trying my hardest not to get over-excited and just play it cool," Stevens said after the race. "Now I feel so happy. I'm on top of the world. It's an awesome, awesome feeling. The race was so close all the way down but I saw the little win light come on and my heart started pounding out of my chest. This is the best feeling you can have. It's impossible to describe."

A Hollywood script career
Stevens' career, which got an additional boost this season when five-time champion Johnson elected to lease the next-generation driver one of his award-winning powerplants, started eight years ago when a 13-year-old Stevens entered a homemade Jr. Dragster in a race at Houston Raceway Park.

As if following a Hollywood script, Stevens plowed through the field that day and left HRP with the championship trophy in hand. The racing bug, which already had a good hold on Stevens through years of following his sportsman racing father Richie Sr., was firmly entrenched for life.

The long day made for an even longer drive back to New Orleans as Stevens tried to sleep. After all, he had school the next day. But none of that seemed to matter to Stevens. He was just happy to get the win.

A few years later, with a brand-new Louisiana driver's license in his back pocket, Stevens enrolled in Roy Hill's Drag Racing School and quickly earned his official Pro Stock license. As soon as the course was completed, he and Hill entered the preseason Pro Stock Superbowl in two separate cars and, against many of the NHRA's brightest stars, raced through to the finals from opposite sides of the ladder. Stevens settled for runner-up that day but he was the happiest driver at the track.

Following the advice of Hill and crew chief Tommy Utt, who continues to head Stevens' Valspar Racing team, the young driver decided to swallow his urge to compete in the NHRA and instead opted for two years on the IHRA circuit.

The move worked as Stevens immediately grabbed the IHRA spotlight by capturing his first professional win at the Spring Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. That same season Stevens turned heads by setting both ends of the IHRA Pro Stock record with a mind-numbing pass of 6.711 seconds at 205.10 mph in Darlington, S.C.

He went on to win the 1996 Rookie of the Year honors while finishing seventh overall in the points. The following year would bring even greater success as Stevens captured another two wins and finished third in the series points standings.

It might have been the IHRA, but none of that seemed to matter to Stevens. He was just happy to get the wins.

Stevens' accomplishments in the IHRA garnered the attention of many people, one of which was Virginia businessman Shawn Collins. The ostrich rancher was in the process of building a new Pro Stock team and saw potential in the young Stevens. Collins decided to hire Stevens to pilot the second car of his two-car team that was scheduled to compete on the NHRA circuit in 1998.

Now, 25 months later and with a list of drag racing accomplishments that rival many 20-year veterans, Stevens enters the 31st annual Matco Tools Spring SuperNationals with a chance to defend his last win and add the title of this year's Holley Dominator Duel. Stevens, who is currently seventh in the points, has qualified for Saturday's special event with his steady performances over the last season.

He'll be running a new Valspar Refinish Pontiac Firebird at this event and faces the prospect of switching between his W.J. motor and a Mike Thomas piece -- which is part of the deal he has with Johnson. But none of that seems to matter to Stevens, he's just happy to be here, trying for the win.

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