Connolly Pro Stock SuperBowl Houston summary

Connolly captures crown of Pontiac Pro Stock SuperBowl in Houston

HOUSTON (Feb. 5) -- Dave Connolly won the 13th annual Pontiac Pro Stock SuperBowl Saturday night at Houston Raceway Park, beating Richie Stevens in an off-pace final with a 7.87-second pass at 122.83 mph ahead of Stevens' resigned 13.20-second run at 65.17 mph.

The final wasn't indicative of previous action on the track as several drivers made solid passes during eliminations. Connolly and Stevens were the most reliable, with Connolly posting a pair of 6.69s in his Bullet Motorsports Chevrolet Cavalier en route to the money round, and Stevens, the event's low qualifier, notching a 6.696 at 205.94 in the semis to earn lane choice for his Mopar ride in the final.

"I'm undefeated in 2005," Connolly said. "I was glad to get this win. It's a nice way to finish off our testing and to give us a good feeling heading into the Winternationals. The track had been great all day but it was gone in the final. It just reached that point where the air temperature and the track temperature were the same and it got slick.

"I was really glad to get the win for General Motors because this is their race. Especially since Richie is driving the other brand now. We're good friends and I gave it to him at the other end when we got out of our cars. I'm glad he's back racing. It's going to be a fun year."

As the top qualifier, Stevens had a much easier trip to the trophy round, taking out final qualifier Greg Stanfield in Round 1 with a 6.709 at 205.98 mph to Stanfield's 6.731 at 204.88 mph. The run was Stanfield's best of the day in his PiranaZ machine, as he lost traction right off the starting line in his previous two qualifying attempts. Stevens then blazed by Tony Rizzo by a 6.73 to 6.80 margin, before accepting a semifinal bye into the final.

Connolly opened competition by beating Tom Huggins by five-tenths of a second, 6.69 to 7.09. He then took out two-time series champion Jim Yates in the quarterfinals, 6.70 to 6.78, and Bruce Allen in the semis with another 6.69 to earn a chance at the victory.

Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin both lost in the first round, much to the dismay of their fans in the stands, but they both returned for additional testing and managed to post low 6.7-second passes.

-gs-