Bazemore makes progress, roots for teammates as Funny Car season winds down

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
No. 21 of 23
ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nev.
Race Dates: Oct. 21-23, 2005


LAS VEGAS (Oct. 18, 2005) - Whit Bazemore and the Matco Tools Iron Eagle
Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car team are virtually out of the running for the
2005 POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship, which puts them in
a unique position to help root for their teammates Gary Scelzi and Ron
Capps, who are knee-deep in the title chase, coming into this weekend's
ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Two-time 2005 winner - including the first event at Las Vegas in April - and
early points leader Bazemore, who has been in several close championship
hunts of his own over the years, has come out of a mid-season slump this
season following four semifinal finishes in the last eight races.

With a 267-point deficit to points leader John Force and two races left,
Bazemore is still technically in the chase, in seventh, as a total of 138
points are available at each event (which includes qualifying No. 1, winning
the race and setting a national elapsed-time record).

The two-time U.S. Nationals champion, however, is realistic about his
chances of earning the maximum number of points at the last two events, as
well as the near impossibility of Force, Capps, Robert Hight, Eric Medlen
and Tommy Johnson Jr. in front of him not qualifying at these final races.

Instead, he's encouraged by the progress the team has made in a difficult
season, is aiming for a top-five finish, and will support his teammates to
the end while looking ahead to 2006.

"We've been in a position of increasing our competitiveness and
re-establishing our competitiveness, so to speak," said Bazemore. "Vegas is
one of our favorite tracks. We won here earlier this season, and we're
representing the City of Las Vegas with the Matco Tools/Las Vegas Centennial
2005 Dodge Stratus Funny Car we're running here to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the city. That's exciting.

"The other thing that is exciting is being in a position to watch my
teammates compete for a championship and hopefully be able to beat John
Force," he added. "I've been with Schumacher for five years now and this
year has been far an away the best opportunity we've ever had as a team to
win a championship.

"It's even better than in 2003 when we were runner-up to Pedregon," he said,
recalling the emotional loss he suffered against Pedregon at this event that
year, which ended his chances of taking that elusive first Funny Car crown.

"I'm really standing behind my two teammates. It's exciting to watch this
incredible battle and hopefully they'll have a good weekend and be able to
go to Pomona (Calif., the final race of the year) with a solid chance of
winning the championship."

Bazemore has a solid record at The Strip. He's won here once, been runner-up
four times, and No. 1 qualifier twice.

SCHEDULE: 
Pro qualifying sessions are scheduled for noon and 3:30 on Friday, Oct. 21
and Saturday, Oct. 22. Budweiser Shootout rounds are scheduled for 1:30,
3:15 and 4:50 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22. Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
on Sunday, Oct. 23.

TELEVISION:
ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise 30 minutes of Budweiser Shootout coverage at
10:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, Oct. 22. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD also will televise
three hours of qualifying of the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at 11 p.m.
(ET) on Oct. 22. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of final
eliminations coverage beginning at 8 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Oct. 23.

WHIT BAZEMORE QUICK FACTS:
* Two-time U.S. Nationals champion, 1997 and 2001
* Seventh in 2005 Funny Car point standings after 21 events, 134 points out
of fifth place
* Won two events this year (Gainesville, Las Vegas), No. 1 qualifier once
(Columbus)
* Qualified No. 4 at 2004 ACDelco Nationals, lost first round to Cruz
Pedregon
* Winner here in 2005's first event in April
* No. 1 qualifier here in 2001 (2), and low qualifier also in 2003 (1)
* Qualified in the top two in nine events in 2004, four times in No. 1
* No. 6 in 2004 Funny Car points, with two wins, five final rounds
* First Funny Car driver to break 325-mph barrier (U.S. Nationals 2001)
* Career quickest ET is 4.713 seconds, career fastest speed is 333.25 mph,
both set at Route 66 Raceway in 2004 in what was at the time the quickest
and fastest speed in Funny Car history
* Won three times in 2003, runner-up five times
* Has 19 career Funny Car event wins in 43 final rounds in 316 races
* Took the 2003 championship chase to penultimate race in Las Vegas in an
exciting final round against eventual champion Tony Pedregon
* Was second twice in the Funny Car championship in 2001 and 2003, third in
1997 and '99 and has finished in the top five six times and 12 times in the
top 10 since 1992
* Age 42, born in New York City, an avid cyclist, lives in Indianapolis with
wife Michelle, a competitive amateur cyclist, and son Dashiell Aidan, born
March 12, 2005 (same as Bazemore's birthday)
* 2005 is his fifth season with Don Schumacher Racing