Pomona Saturday Team Collins Review

Team Collins holding steady through Round 3

POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 14) – The professional Pro Stock drivers competing at this weekend’s 34th Annual Winston Finals were anxious about Saturday morning’s qualifying session. The expectations were that the cool morning air at Pomona Raceway would allow for superior performance on the track. Everyone in the pits predicted that the session would be the best of the weekend. Most assumed it was a make-it-or-break-it round. In the end, little changed for Team Collins.

Despite plenty of movement throughout the class, both men in the two-car Collins team remained in virtually the same positions they were in prior to the run. Here’s a quick recap of each driver’s Round 3 pass.

Richie “The Kid” Stevens, the driver of the Collins Racing Pro Stock Pontiac Firebird, posted a 6.970-second lap at 197.88 mph during the third round. Stevens’ best pass of the weekend remains his opening lap of 6.935 seconds at 198.54-mph, which was quick enough to put him in the top half of the field in sixth place.

“I think the headers cut into our speed,” Stevens said. “The pass was clean and straight and felt smooth all the way through. We should have been faster. These are new headers and they are just too inconsistent right now. We’re going to go back to the ones that got us here and we’ll see if that helps. We can still improve this afternoon.”

Shawn Collins, the driver of the Collins Racing Pro Stock Pontiac Firebird, recorded his best run of the weekend when he covered the strip in 6.982 seconds at 192.84 mph. Unfortunately, the improvement wasn’t substantial enough to place him into the field of 16 drivers who will compete on Sunday. He currently holds the 20th position with one qualifying round remaining.

“I can’t believe it but I actually shut it off early,” Collins said. “You can’t see the finish line out there. It’s not painted or anything and when the sun is glaring down on the track it’s hard to gauge where you’re at in relation to the finish line. I saw Arturo (Delgado) pull his chute so I thought we were done and I clicked it off. Maybe I’m a little skittish after watching Rickie (Smith) flip over yesterday. I think we would have been fast enough to get in if I hadn’t turned it off. Hopefully we’ll squeak in later today.”