EVENT RESULTS ASHER'S INSIDER TOP FUEL FUNNY CAR PRO STOCK CAR PRO STOCK BIKE PRO MODIFIED SPORTSMAN VIDEO NOTEBOOK			WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY

MONDAY - SNAVELY VICTORIOUS AT NHRA J&A SERVICE PRO MOD DRAG RACING SERIES EVENT AT INDY

Rick Snavely raced to his first career win Monday during the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the seventh of 10 events on the Pro Mod schedule. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis was presented by JEGS.

Snavely sprinted to victory by powering his Turbos Direct ’69 Camaro to a 5.890-second pass at 257.53 mph to better Mike Janis’ 5.945 pass at 242.50 in his Jan-Cen Racing Engines Camaro.

“There are no words to explain it,” Snavely said. “Everybody just worked their butts off constantly. All the parts and pieces just came together. I’m still excited that I even came here. I’m sure it’ll set in but it’s unbelievable.”

Snavely, competing in only his second career NHRA Pro Mod race, sped past Bill Glidden, Steve Matusek and reigning and two-time world champion Rickie Smith in the earlier rounds. He entered eliminations as the No. 3 qualifier.  

Janis, the current points leader, raced past Troy Coughlin, Michael Biehle II and No. 1 qualifier and 2011 Pro Mod world champion Khalid alBalooshi before meeting Snavely in the final.

Through seven events, the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series has featured seven different winners. Bob Rahaim won the season-opening race in Gainesville, Fla. in mid-March while Don Walsh raced to victory in the series’ second event in late April in Houston. Kenny Lang won the third Pro Mod event at Atlanta Dragway in early May and Glidden raced to his first career victory at the season’s fourth event in Englishtown, N.J. Veteran racer Smith won the series’ fifth event in Bristol, Tenn. while Janis won the most recent event in Norwalk, Ohio in early July.

The NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series will make its next stop in Charlotte, N.C., for the eighth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals, Sept. 18-20.

Final finish order (1-16) at the 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park at Indianapolis.  The seventh of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.

PRO MODIFIED:

1.  Rick Snavely; 2.  Mike Janis; 3.  Rickie Smith; 4.  Khalid alBalooshi; 5.  Steve Matusek; 6. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 7.  Jim Whiteley; 8.  Michael Biehle; 9.  Clint Satterfield; 10.  Danny Rowe; 11.  Bill Glidden; 12.  Sidnei Frigo; 13.  Troy Coughlin; 14.  Don Walsh; 15.  Steven Whiteley; 16. Richie Stevens.

Final round-by-round results from the 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park at Indianapolis, the seventh of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.

PRO MODIFIED:

ROUND ONE -- Troy Coughlin Jr., Chevy Corvette, 5.929, 252.24 def. Clint Satterfield, Pontiac Firebird, 5.928, 249.95; Michael Biehle, Ford Mustang, 5.934, 252.80 def. Danny Rowe, Corvette, 5.942, 245.36; Khalid alBalooshi, Chevy Camaro, 5.918, 244.78 def. Don Walsh, Camaro, foul; Rick Snavely, Camaro, 5.902, 257.53 def. Bill Glidden, Mustang, 5.951, 241.84; Jim Whiteley, Chevy Chevelle, 5.961, 243.99 def. Sidnei Frigo, Corvette, 5.979, 240.25; Mike Janis, Camaro, 5.945, 230.13 def. Troy Coughlin, Corvette, 6.062, 250.32; Steve Matusek, Camaro, 5.950, 246.80 def. Richie Stevens, Camaro, 9.582, 96.12; Rickie Smith, Camaro, 6.140, 244.87 def. Steven Whiteley, Cadillac CTS-V, 8.515, 110.21;

QUARTERFINALS -- alBalooshi, 5.914, 245.67 def. Coughlin Jr., 6.203, 247.66; Smith, 6.083, 244.65 def. J. Whiteley, 6.774, 171.93; Snavely, 5.907, 258.07 def. Matusek, 5.967, 247.61; Janis, 6.098, 233.56 def. Biehle, 7.872, 127.91;

SEMIFINALS -- Janis, 6.672, 162.94 def. alBalooshi, broke; Snavely, 5.924, 257.14 def. Smith, 6.206, 207.18;

FINAL -- Snavely, 5.890, 257.53 def. Janis, 5.945, 242.50.

Point standings (top 10) following the 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park at Indianapolis, the seventh of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.

Pro Modified

1.  Mike Janis, 485; 2.  Troy Coughlin, 433; 3.  Don Walsh, 422; 4.  Bob Rahaim, 413; 5.  Bill Glidden, 402; 6.  Rickie Smith, 399; 7.  Troy Coughlin Jr., 387; 8.  Danny Rowe, 296; 9.  Pete Farber, 275; 10.  Khalid alBalooshi, 263.

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK  - ROUND ONE IS IN THE BOOKS

WE ARE DOWN TO EIGHT - Khalid alBalooshi claimed the No. 1 qualifying position and followed it up with a first round victory Sunday during the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the seventh of 10 events on the Pro Mod schedule. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis is presented by JEGS.
 
alBalooshi pushed his Precision Turbo and Engine ‘69 Camaro to the No. 1 spot with a 5.845 second pass at 239.78 mph to earn his first top qualifier of the season and third of his career.
 
The 2011 Pro Mod world champion continued his weekend success with a first round win against Don Walsh Jr. and will race Troy Coughlin Jr. in the quarterfinals on Monday. alBalooshi is chasing his first win since 2011.
 
Sidnei Frigo, a Pro Mod newcomer, had a successful qualifying attempt to earn the No. 2 starting spot, but fell to Jim Whiteley in the first round. Whiteley will go up against Mike Janis in the quarterfinals. Janis, who won the most recent Pro Mod event in Norwalk in July, took the points lead from Gainesville winner Bob Rahaim after racing to victory over Troy Coughlin. Rahaim failed to qualify for Indianapolis.
 
“It’s great to get the points lead at Indy, but it just adds to the pressure,” said Janis. “I would rather come from behind at the end and get it, but it’s all right. We’ll take it round by round. It’s really tough competition out here, tougher than I think it’s been all year. Everyone is right on their game. It’s a hot race track but everyone’s going down, so it’s going to be a tough deal.”
 
Steve Matusek and Rick Snavely will also meet in the second round of eliminations. 
 
Atlanta winner Kenny Lang and Englishtown winner Billy Glidden also failed to qualify.
 
Pro Mod Series eliminations will continue at approximately 1 p.m. on Monday.

POINTS CHASE - Of the top ten points earners, only three remain in competition. Four lost in the first round and three failed to qualify. 
 
THE BOX SCORE - First round results from the 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park at Indianapolis, the seventh of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.
 
Troy Coughlin Jr., Chevy Corvette, 5.929, 252.24 def. Clint Satterfield, Pontiac Firebird, 5.928, 249.95; Michael Biehle, Ford Mustang, 5.934, 252.80 def. Danny Rowe, Corvette, 5.942, 245.36; Khalid alBalooshi, Chevy Camaro, 5.918, 244.78 def. Don Walsh, Camaro, foul; Rick Snavely, Camaro, 5.902, 257.53 def. Bill Glidden, Mustang, 5.951, 241.84; Jim Whiteley, Chevy Chevelle, 5.961, 243.99 def. Sidnei Frigo, Corvette, 5.979, 240.25; Mike Janis, Camaro, 5.945, 230.13 def. Troy Coughlin, Corvette, 6.062, 250.32; Steve Matusek, Camaro, 5.950, 246.80 def. Richie Stevens, Camaro, 9.582, 96.12; Rickie Smith, Camaro, 6.140, 244.87 def. Steven Whiteley, Cadillac CTS-V, 8.515, 110.21;
 
QUALIFYING - Final order after 4 rounds of qualifying in Pro Modified at the 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.  The seventh of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.
 
  1  327 Khalid alBalooshi, Doha QA, '69 Camaro         5.845  239.78  245.09
  2  288 Sidnei Frigo, Ball Ground GA, '15 Corvette     5.851  252.71  252.71
  3 708R Rick Snavely, Los Angeles CA, '69 Camaro       5.863  257.97  257.97
  4    2 Troy Coughlin, Delaware OH, '15 Corvette       5.869  251.30  252.19
  5  318 Michael Biehle, North Vernon IN, '13 Mustang   5.878  253.28  253.28
  6 4504 Richie Stevens, New Orleans LA, '68 Camaro     5.878  242.50  242.50
  7 5200 Steven Whiteley, Grand Junction CO, '14 CTS-V  5.882  247.66  247.66
  8  394 Troy Coughlin Jr., Delaware OH, 14 Corvette    5.886  252.57  252.57
  9  701 Clint Satterfield, Albuquerque NM, '68 Firebi  5.894  250.32  250.32
10    1 Rickie Smith, King NC, '15 Camaro              5.895  246.80  246.80
11    6 Steve Matusek, Olathe KS, '68 Camaro           5.905  247.25  247.25
12    5 Danny Rowe, Laguna Hills CA, '15 Corvette      5.913  246.48  246.48
13    4 Mike Janis, Lancaster NY, '13 Camaro           5.913  245.09  245.09
14  324 Bill Glidden, Whiteland IN, '10 Mustang        5.916  241.28  241.28
15 5087 Jim Whiteley, Grand Junction CO, '69 Chevelle  5.924  244.69  244.69
16 3382 Don Walsh, Wixom MI, '14 Camaro                5.940  250.74  250.74
 
       ------------ Not Qualified ------------
 
17 5011 Mike Knowles, Grand Junction CO, '67 Mustang   5.940  237.25  237.25
18    9 Mike Castellana, Muttontown NY, '15 Corvette   5.952  240.38  240.38
19    7 Kevin Fiscus, Jacksonville FL, '12 Mustang     5.962  245.27  246.44
20 2000 Billy Harper, Paducah KY, '00 Viper            5.968  241.45  241.45
21    8 Pete Farber, Baldwinville MA, '69 Daytona      5.971  244.87  244.87
22 6718 Shane Molinari, Battle Ground WA, '70 Camaro   5.975  249.58  249.58
23  213 Chip King, Semora NC, '70 Charger              5.988  226.47  238.81
24 4914 Jeff Naiser, Houston TX, '69 Camaro            5.990  239.74  240.51
25  377 Harold Martin, New Hudson MI, '15 Corvette     6.002  241.24  241.24
26  360 Bob Rahaim, Grosse Pointe MI, '15 Corvette     6.005  243.90  243.90
27  303 Dan Stevenson, Lisle IL, '13 Camaro            6.012  242.93  242.93
28 5012 Kenny Lang, Grande Pointe MB, '69 Camaro       6.024  243.24  243.24
29 2105 Doug Winters, Pleasant Garden NC, '69 Chevelle 6.028  240.12  240.12
30 1109 Gerry Capano, Greenville DE, '63 Corvette      6.064  235.97  235.97
31 308W Jimmy Widener, Batesville IN, '00 Cougar       6.077  233.76  233.76
32 6967 Jim Bell, Edmonton AB, '69 Camaro              6.110  240.08  240.08
33  210 Jay Payne, Claremont CA, '13 Camaro            6.126  238.09  238.09

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK – FIELD TIGHTENS UP MORE, alBALOOSHI PULLS DOUBLE DUTY TO THE TOP

MULTI-TASKING MASTER - Khalid alBalooshi has never raced a Top Fuel dragster and a Pro Modified at the same event. Judging by the success of his Pro Modified car at the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals, he might want to pull double duty more.

alBalooshi, driving a supercharged Camaro tuned by alcohol racing legend Frank Manzo, raced his way to the top of the Pro Modified qualifying list. The former NHRA champion stopped the clocks with a 5.845 elapsed time at 239.78 miles per hour.

"It wasn't that hard of a transition," alBalooshi said. "You just have to remain focused. All you do is take a few minutes, close your eyes and focus on what you have to do at the time."

alBalooshi led another Top Fuel driver, Brazillian Sidnei Frigo, who abandoned his dragster for a turbocharged Corvette.

Friday's top qualifier Rickie Smith remains the only nitrous car in the top half with a 5.895.

"We were here two weeks ago, and made a couple of good runs," said alBalooshi. "I've been excited about running here and have felt Frank [Manzo] has something for the car. This was a good run today."

NEW APPRECIATION FOR SAFETY - Michael Biehl's primary assignment at the drag races is to drive his turbocharged doorslammer in qualifying and eliminations.

Biehl, who is racing this weekend, entered uncharted territory during an NMCA event in Norwalk, Ohio. During a qualifying run, fellow racer Williard Kinzer's doorslammer suffered engine failure and a subsequent fire.

"I saw Willard pass me with a big 'ole ball of fire off the front end of his car," said Biehl. "I knew it was probably going to be a pretty bad only because it didn’t look like a backfire.  We just kept on going and I got mine stopped, I hopped out and went over there.  

"Dan Green with Team Green was over there with his boys and he came running over the wall out there and he was able to get Willard's door off and get him out of there. It was definitely a team effort."

Kinzer was uninjured in the fire thanks to quick thinking of Biehl and Green.

"It was just one of those things that I seen it and I wasn’t really even thinking about what I should do, I was just sort of reacting to it.  I just got out of mine as fast as I could and ran over there and started reacting to what was in front of me."

Biehl said he believed Kinzer was happy to see him.  

"There was a lot of smoke and a lot of fire, so it had to be hard to see around inside of the car," said Biehl. "He was able to get out, and that’s all that matters in the end."

Biehl said Kinzer was already unbuckled by the time he opened the door.

"There was a lot of smoke," said Biehl. "He was working towards getting out when I got there.  The fire happened really fast and grew really fast.  It wasn’t like it was a small fire that slowly got bigger and bigger. It was up in smoke really good, and it didn’t take very long."

Biehl said he's always believed those who work on the safety crews have a tough job, and this time he was able to walk a mile in their shoes.

"I appreciate every safety guy out there that’s for sure," said Biehl.  "I always have but that’s definitely something that I don’t personally want to have to experience again.  Given the situation, any racer would do it for anybody but it definitely opened my eyes to what we’re doing in these cars trying to up the safety. Moments like this make you more conscious about safety."

LET'S TAKE ANOTHER SPIN - J&A Service, a leader in oil and gas well-servicing exploration, has extended its series entitlement sponsorship for the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.  In 2016, the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series will compete at 10 NHRA national events.

As part of its series sponsorship, J&A Service will provide a $200,000 purse that pays the national champion $50,000 and the series runner-up $20,000. Each individual event winner will earn $10,000 and the event runners-up will claim $3,000 each.

“We were pleased with our first season as series sponsor and we look forward to continuing to help the NHRA Pro Mod Series grow for both fans and competitors,” said Jim and Annie Whiteley, owners of J&A Service.

MATUSEK'S MAGIC FOOT- Just ask Steve Matusek, which is more dangerous tennis or drag racing, and he's likely to say the racket and a yellow ball has its inherent risks.

Matusek playing a game of pick-up tennis in 2008 when he tore his Achilles tendon, just days before he was scheduled to compete in an NHRA Division 3 Lucas Oil Drag Racing event in Joliet, Ill.

"We were just hanging out having a good time, and I took off to go after a ball, it snapped, and that was it," Matusek said. "I think I’m still recovering.  It happened about seven years ago, and it has just never really come around."

Now what does this have to do with drag racing?

Matusek admits a slow recovery has impacted adversely his performance behind the wheel of the Camaro he drives for Danny Rowe.

"Typically with these cars is we run a lot of base and counterweight," explained Matusek. "We try to take as much ratio out of it so we can be quick on the tree and I found myself over the past years cheating the clutch pedal and trying to use my arch but when you use your arch you’re not as fast.  It’s a lot quicker if I use the ball of my foot.  

"I was really struggling with that because when you back the car up and you’re going to stage the car your calf and your ankle just get fatigued."

Matusek, earlier this season, got aggressive in trying to improve the way his foot interacted with the clutch pedal. However, he realized there was a worse issue than the elasticity in his injured foot.

"For whatever reason I developed an infection in my Achilles," said Matusek. "I ended up having to go to the ER and spent three days in a hospital getting IV fluids to get rid of the infection.  I had another guy come in and look at it and he indicated that he felt like when it was repaired initially they didn’t put enough tension back into the Achilles because mine completely ruptured so they had to sew it back together."

Matusek believes the original orthopedic surgeon didn't put enough tension in the repaired tendon and as a result, he was never really able to recover fully. The doctor made the suggestion he could have the issue corrected in surgery.

"I absolutely didn’t want to do that," said Matusek. "I mean it’s a very long recovery.  We’re also trying electronic stimulation for 20 minutes daily, a machine that literally puts electrical pulses into your calf and it fires those muscles to stimulate them."

Matusek can already see the difference.

"I noticed yesterday for the very first time that I had zero problems in staging the car, and my ankle didn’t get fatigued," said Matusek. "It showed up on my reaction time so we’re pretty excited about the fact that maybe now it’s starting to recover to the point that I can drive the car and be able to perform the way I need to."

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - THE FIRST DAY SETS THE STAGE FOR FAST WEEKEND

TRICKIE RICKY DELIVERS – Pro Modified, after one session, is led by the 5.901 elapsed time of defending series champion Rickie Smith. Smith is the only nitrous entry in the top eight ahead of five supercharged and two turbo entries.

Khalid alBalooshi, pulling double duty this weekend as a Pro Mod and Top Fuel driver, was second quickest with a 5.908 elapsed time.

Jeff Naiser is on the bubble with a 6.023.

SIX RACES, SIX WINNERS - Through the first six races, there have been six different winners. Bob Rahaim won the season-opening race in Gainesville, Fla. in mid-March while Don Walsh raced to victory in the series’ second event in late April at Royal Purple Raceway in Houston. Kenny Lang won the third Pro Mod event at Atlanta Dragway in early May and Bill Glidden raced to his first career victory at the season’s fourth event in Englishtown, N.J. Veteran racer Rickie Smith, a two-time and reigning world champion of the class, won the series’ fifth event in Bristol, Tenn. Mike Janis won the most recent event at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio in early July.

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL - Last year, the magic appeared for at least two round of NHRA Pro Modified Eliminations.

Underfunded, overworked and overly determined, Billy and Shannon Glidden reached the semifinals of the biggest drag race of the year - the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals.

Racing with less than a quarter of the budgets his counterparts have, Glidden had the breaks roll his way.

"Well, I mean we did ok, things fell our way," Glidden said. "We just made our good run first round against Donnie Walsh.  He really wasn’t tardy and I wasn’t exceptional - it was just a really close race."

If Indy seemed like a Cinderella story, Glidden returned earlier this season with a victory at the NHRA Summernationals to show the shoe fit perfectly with his first career victory in the series.

"When we came back to NHRA racing, I’ve been involved with a lot of those wins but we’ve obviously never had one," Glidden said.  "That was the goal, to somehow win on NHRA’s circuit, not to say that that’s the end of what we’re trying to accomplish but that was one of the biggest goals and accomplishments that we’ve probably ever set for ourselves."

The fight is real, and the fight is so overwhelming for the Gliddens that when the battle is over there is little energy left in the personal tank for celebration or emotional overload.

"By the end of the race with it being just the two of us we’re so spent that it’s hard to get real excited just because you don’t have anything left in the tank," said Glidden. "I guess coming from where I’ve come from, it lets us know that we can win, it’s just harder to do so. I guess it gives us the confidence that it can be accomplished."

Suppose the Gliddens got a comparable budget to their counterparts. Would it change the way they race?

The answer is yes. A new car is needed in a bad way considering the Mustang he's running has thousands of runs on the chassis, which was originally cloaked with a GXP body.

"That car is 10 years old; it’s a Pro Stock car ... a short wheelbase car, and it’s hard to get these big 'ole engines in and out," Glidden explained. "This car fits everything from a small block Ford to a 900-inch Pro Mod."

Of course an extra helping hand would go a long way.

"We’d be able to have a little bit of help but it’s not that way and I don’t foresee it happening like that so we’ll just do the best we can," Glidden said.

PRESENTED BY - JEGS is the presenting sponsor for the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series this weekend. The race is the seventh of 10 events for the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series in 2015.

“JEGS and JEGS.com couldn’t be more excited about returning as the title sponsor for the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series at the biggest and most prestigious NHRA national event there is, the 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals,” said Scott Woodruff, JEGS Director of Media & Motorsports. “This event is filled with historic moments in the sport of NHRA Drag Racing and JEGS is proud to be a supporter of this exciting event. The NHRA Pro Mod class has exciting side-by-side action and is a thrilling fan favorite, which is exciting for JEGS.”

TURN LEFT, TURN RIGHT - Sidnei Frigo said it was a friend who inspired his downsized horsepower output on the race track.

The Brazilian drag racer has stepped out of his Top Fuel dragster and into a turbocharged Corvette powered with Proline horsepower and built by Jerry Bickel Race Cars.

"I had been saying a long time that we need to get one of those cars," admitted Frigo, of his admiration of the Pro Modified cars. "It's not more excitement than Top Fuel - just different. It's definitely a different car to drive, a lot easier than Top Fuel."

It took only three runs in the Pro Modified car for Frigo to realize he was in a different world.

"You learn real quick the art of finesse," said Frigo. "You learn to take care and protect the car. You can move the wheel a little, and it goes a long way. You are not fighting the car as much as you would think. A straight line goes a long way with these cars."

Frigo said he is glad he waited until these cars settled down a bit instead of the early years when Pro Modifieds were all over the track. He said one of his biggest challenges is in staging.

"I guess I wasn't prepared for my crew guy to start yelling, 'go right, go left," Frigo said with a smile. "You can get in trouble real easy with these cars."

Frigo just wants to go straight.

GUESS WHO'S BACK? - Richie Stevens is back in familiar territory.

The Pro Stock driver is racing this weekend in the Pro Modified division in an electronic fuel injected, nitrous Pro Modified for Dave and Jeff Pierce.

"It’s been about 11 years since I’ve driven a Pro Mod car," said Stevens, who first raced the doorslammer class in 2004 while driving for Roy Hill. "It’s kind of cool to come back and run again.  The times have picked up since I last competed here.  I think a 6.19 is what I ran back then."

Stevens reset his personal best in pre-Indy testing at St. Louis with a 6.01 elapsed time.  

"We did a pretty soft set up just to get used to the car which is still quicker than I’ve ever been so it was pretty cool," said Stevens. "We go 238 at 6.01 so hopefully we can improve and get down in the 5’s.  That’s what we’ve gotta do to qualify and we’re more than capable of doing it."  

The last Pro Modified car Stevens drove was a supercharged entry. This weekend he's driving in uncharted territory outside of the test session where he made four passes.

"I’ve never raced a nitrous car before, just the blower cars," said Stevens. "This is a whole different kind of animal, but it’s fuel injected which makes it a lot easier to drive and to do burnouts for staging and things like that.  It’s really responsive and has a lot of power.  I told Jeff that it pulls more in high gear than anywhere else on the track, that I can kind of feel for myself."  

Stevens exhibited one of his talents since turning professional in 1996 during the test session - versatility.

"I was jumping from this car to a Pro Stock car, I was driving three cars in one day of testing," said Stevens. "It's kind of hard to get a rhythm, but I’ve made three runs with this car so I am comfortable."

Stevens was originally scheduled to drive a Pro Stock car for Allen Johnson, but at the last minute the deal fell through.