Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Jim Yates gets a gorilla off his back

Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002 | 9:59 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Jim Yates accomplished a lot more than taking over the NHRA Pro Stock points lead with his win Monday at the rain-delayed Lucas Oil Nationals in Reading, Pa.

The victory was Yates' first since he captured the NHRA Southern Nationals in May 2001 at Atlanta Dragway -- a span of 34 races.

"We didn't just get a monkey off our backs, it was more like a huge gorilla," Yates said of his first victory of 2002. "I'll tell you, the longer you wait to win a race, the sweeter it is when it finally happens.

"Believe me, we're thrilled to be up by three rounds in the points lead, but we really just want to not worry about that for a day or two and just savor the feeling of winning an NHRA national event. It's an awesome feat and it's plenty hard to do because in this class, anybody that qualifies can win it all."

Yates gave credit for the win to his son, Jamie, who late last month elected to give up his driving career to concentrate on his duties as his father's crew chief.

"My son, Jamie, did a splendid job," the elder Yates said. "He made the decision to get out of his own car to concentrate on tuning mine and that was a sacrifice for him, but it has worked."

Yates took a 59-point lead over Greg Anderson in the Pro Stock standings and has a 74-point lead over Jeg Coughlin Jr. with five races remaining.

Dixon, who won seven of the first 11 Top Fuel events this season, has not won since June 16 at National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio. In an effort to change his luck, Dixon will revive the Elvis Presley paint scheme he carried on his Miller Lite dragster during his win at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in April.

The Elvis paint scheme commemorates the 25th anniversary of Presley's death.

Dixon, who held a 259-point advantage over Kenny Bernstein in mid-June, leads Bernstein by only 65 points with five national events remaining.

Club Nitro is a hospitality package that includes catered food and beverage, private bar, private restrooms and exclusive driver appearances. Passes are $25 on Friday, Oct. 25, $70 on Saturday, Oct. 26, and $70 on Sunday, Oct. 27. A three-day pass is $124. Call LVMS at 644-4444 for details.