JeremyM 
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Posts: 531
(8/19/02 9:19 pm)
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 Re: Shad Stevens article from KDH
eh, what the hell.....if anybody at the Herald reads this, I'll take it down if you want, but let everybody read it first because that link is gonna die tomorrow:
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: STEVENS LEADS MINI STOCK POINTS RACE AFTER TAKING MOM'S ADVICE
BY BRYAN READ
Herald Staff Writer
If it weren't for his mother, Mini Stock driver Shad Stevens of Waco would have stopped racing at Texas Thunder Speedway around midseason.
Stevens wasn't doing that well in points, despite winning four races, and just couldn't see driving all the way down to Killeen to race at Texas Thunder.
"I was going to quit coming down here and just go to other tracks around Texas," Stevens said. "If I wasn't in the points chase, I didn't want to keep making the trip."
But he stayed at her request, and on Aug. 5 had worked himself ahead of Ronnie Ellis into the points lead.
"I have to thank my mom (Linda) and dad (Rodney)," Stevens said. "If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be where I am in the points right now."
TTS isn't the only points race Stevens leads, either. Stevens also has the lead at Waco's Heart O' Texas Speedway, where he's won three championships (1998, 1999 and 2001).
He can do that because Heart O' Texas runs on Friday nights, as opposed to Texas Thunder's Saturday night events.
If you ask him, though, he'll tell you he likes racing at TTS more.
"I race for the competition," Stevens said. "Up at Waco they've got about five cars running consistently, and that ain't no fun. You pass a couple of cars and you're just riding around in the lead.
"I like racing where there's about a 20-car field and you're having to race your way to the front through traffic."
Racing at two different facilities can cause setup problems, but it doesn't for Stevens, who owns a couple different cars.
"I've got one setup and one car for each track, and that's what I go with," Stevens said. "I'm not technical like other people. I just check out each car at the beginning of the season and go from there."
Stevens began his career at 16 years of age, driving the car his father drove for one season. He has done pretty well for himself in his seven-year career, winning "about 30 races" in addition to the three HOT championships. He was also the rookie of the year in the Pro-Stock asphalt racing series in 2000.
At Texas Thunder, he's also a bit of a fan favorite thanks to the gifts — like framed pencil drawings of NASCAR stars — that his mother brings for the track announcer to give away.
As for the future, Stevens' plans include making a move to the IMCA Stock car class, occasionally driving a Mini Stock car. For now, though, he's focused on keeping his lead at both TTS and HOT.
"I'm running at two tracks and have two points leads," Stevens said. "I'm gonna try to keep them and to go out with a bang."
Saturday night, Stevens collected a second-place finish behind Round Rock's Rob Churchill, who won for the second straight week. Copperas Cove's Chris Perry was third.
Killeen's Eric Jones added his name to the TTS record books, winning two races back-to-back on the same race night.
First, he won the IMCA Stock car event over Harker Heights residents Allen Waltermire and Douglas Lorenz.
Then Jones, who re-took the Thunder Stock points lead, came right back out in his Thunder Stock car and trumped the field of the second of two Thunder Stock races, beating Heights' Rich Hartley and Round Rock's Bart Dixon.
Keith White of Academy won his seventh race of the season in the IMCA Modifieds class, topping Salado's G.W. Egbert and George Egbert.
Belton's Floyd Pruitt took the Street Stock race over points leader Tim Carman Jr. and Billy Lorenz, both of Killeen.
Florence's Jessie James Cox Jr. won the first Thunder Stock race over Walt Moore of Jonestown and Elgin's Stephen Wusterhausen, and Jonestown's Crystal Moore won the Thunder Stock Powder Puff race over Natalie Tindall of Granger and Austin's Chandra Allen.
Contact Bryan Read at bread@kdhnews.com.
JM
"Just a thin line drawn between, being a genius or insane" -- Iron Maiden
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