Words by Pete Wickham
Photos by Auto Imagery
2/8/05
By now, Dave Connolly is certainly no illusion.
Richie Stevens is no longer a memory. And the
two young veterans insist the 2005 NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series Pro Stock championship won’t
be just another Greg Anderson/Jason Line afterthought.
Both picked up right where they
left off Feb. 5 at Houston Raceway Park. Connolly,
whose Bullet Racing Chevrolet team hit its stride
in the second half of 2004, roared to the finals,
then limped to a victory on a damp, slick track
in the 13th annual Pontiac Pro Stock SuperBowl.
“I think this gives the team a morale
boost going into Pomona, knowing we could run
quickest among all the cars and beat some big
names, that gets respect,” said Connolly,
an Elyria, Ohio native who just turned 23 on
New Year’s Day. “Every time you make
a good pass at this time of year, it gets you
a bit more excited.”
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Connolly, who won three races (Brainerd, Dallas,
Chicago) and was a runner up three times (Seattle,
Sonoma, Memphis) in the second half of last season,
was in bracket-race mode on his way to the final,
dispatching Tom Huggins with a 6.69, two-time
NHRA champion Jim Yates with a 6.70 and Texas
legend Bruce Allen with a 6.69 to reach the finals.
“The Jenkins motors continue to produce
consistent horsepower, and with Terry (Adams,
crew chief) this team is solidly established
now,” said Connolly, who rode the late-season
charge to a third-place finish behind Greg Anderson
and Jason Line.
Stevens, the first product of the Junior Dragster
ranks, won an event a year from 1997 through
2001, then disappeared from the circuit. “I
had to go home (to New Orleans) to help run the
business when Dad got sick,” he said. “That
happens, and you fall off the radar, you wonder
if you’ll ever get a chance to come back.
It’s never guaranteed.”
 Stevens’ prayers
were answered in the off-season when Don Schumacher
jumped into the Pro Stock business in a big
way, bringing in two-time NHRA champion Jeg
Coughlin to drive one of his Dodges, and then
hiring Stevens for the second Stratus – with
10-time champion Bob Glidden.
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