Richie Stevens and Allen Johnson fared much better in Friday’s Denver qualifying runs in their Stratus Pro Stock cars than they did at Thursday night’s “Rumble In The Rapids” inner tubes during sponsor Mopar’s Big Block party in nearby Golden, Colorado.
 
Stevens came out of frigid Clear Creek with a banged-up knee after Thursday evening’s rubber-raft race against  Don Schumacher Racing teammates Johnson, Jack Beckman, and Gary Scelzi. Crew member Mike Gott said Stevens was limping for awhile (not to mention shivering, because his pal with the towel was on the opposite bank from where he exited the water). But Gott said Stevens’ knee improved after a few beverages later that night: “That diminished the pain.” Richie Stevens and Allen Johnson fared much better in Friday’s Denver qualifying runs in their Stratus Pro Stock cars than they did at Thursday night’s “Rumble In The Rapids” inner tubes during sponsor Mopar’s Big Block party in nearby Golden, Colorado.
 
Stevens came out of frigid Clear Creek with a banged-up knee after Thursday evening’s rubber-raft race against  Don Schumacher Racing teammates Johnson, Jack Beckman, and Gary Scelzi. Crew member Mike Gott said Stevens was limping for awhile (not to mention shivering, because his pal with the towel was on the opposite bank from where he exited the water). But Gott said Stevens’ knee improved after a few beverages later that night: “That diminished the pain.”
 
Johnson already was smarting from a motorcross bike wipeout on his Greeneville, Tennessee, property just before last weekend’s race at Bristol. The track doctor at Bristol Dragway told him that his right wrist wasn’t broken but said it appeared Johnson had suffered some strained ligaments. He iced it but, Gott said, “he said it was pretty tender when he plugged [his Team Mopar Stratus] in fifth gear.” He took to shaking hands with his left one.
 
So as he paddled and madly tried to propel himself through the water Thursday and his raft bounced and bobbed through Clear Creek and a big whirlpool-like element near the end of the water sprint, Johnson aggravated his injury.
 
“He’s going to baby it along,” Gott said early Friday. “But one those guys get in their cars, their minds are on the cars. If your hand’s hurting, you think about it when you pull the parachutes and hope your win light’s flashing.”
 
What Stevens and Johnson saw on the board after their first qualifying attempt Friday -- and certainly what the teammates saw in the night session -- took their minds off their aches and pains at lest for a few minutes.
 
In the afternoon, Stevens posted a 7.076-second clocking, which held up as low elapsed time until Bristol winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. trumped him with a 7.071-second run at 195.34 mph for the early lead. Stevens and Coughlin were the only drivers quicker than 7.08.
 
Johnson was two positions back, in fourth place, with a 7.082-second, 195.28-mph salvo. He and Kurt Johnson had identical times, but Johnson settled in third place with a faster speed, 195.59 mph.
 
Stevens remained in second by the day’s end, but Johnson vaulted past him with a track-record 7.032-second pass at 195.73 mph to take the provisional No. 1 qualifier award. Johnson said he thought the number would hold up.
 
“It couldn’t be any better. It just worked out that way. We tested well here -- right before Chicago . . .  after St. Louis . . . It was a long time ago.” He said his father and crew chief, Roy Johnson, has more than recovered from his life-threatening heart emergency in February at Phoenix. “Now he has more energy, more creativity and more brainpower than he had before.”
 
However, his own wrist and hand don’t feel any better, Allen Johnson said. “I told them at the top end when I got out [following his class-leading pass] that I thought I was going to throw up, it hurt so bad.”