FORCE-BAZEMORE MATCHUP IN 1ST ROUND AT CHICAGO

6/1/2002 Courtesy TEAM FORD RACING

Joliet, Ill. — Intense heat elevated track temperatures to record levels Saturday, precluding any improvement in qualifying performances at the fifth annual Chicagoland Dodge Dealers Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

Except for Top Fuel drivers Scott Weis, who bumped into the program in the No. 16 spot in Saturday’s first session, and Japanese national Yuichi Oyama, who moved up from No. 13 to No. 11 in the second, Friday’s qualifying order was the final qualifying order.

That means the John Force Racing Fords will start sixth, ninth and 13th in Sunday’s noon ET eliminations and, for the second straight weekend, the marquee matchup will pit Force’s Castrol GTX Mustang against the Pontiac driven by the man who chased him to the 2001 NHRA championship, Whit Bazemore.

Force beat Bazemore in the first round of last week’s O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park-Topeka, a decision that enabled teammate Tony Pedregon to move up to third place in the point standings, placing the Fords 1-2-3 for the first time ever.

This time, though, the 100-time tour winner won’t have the choice of lanes against the Pontiac driver, who qualified a solid fourth 4.833 seconds.

“Obviously, Bazemore is a serious contender,” acknowledged co-Crew Chief Bernie Fedderly. “They’ve run reasonably well with that car this weekend, so we just need to get our act together and see if we can put something together for the first round.

“We had a little confusion on the last (qualifying) run,” Fedderly said. “The tire wasn’t smooth. It rattled the tires pretty good, so we’re going to maybe try to correct that with an air pressure change, but we’re going to have to think about that because, unfortunately, conditions are going to be entirely different. It’s going to be a lot cooler. So we’re going to have to reach in the hat and see what we can pull out.”

Despite the problems encountered on the run, Force was the only driver to improve his performance on Saturday. He was clocked in 4.941 seconds at 309.84 miles per hour on his final run, bettering his earlier 4.958 at 309.49 mph.

Nevertheless, while it was an improvement, it didn’t change Force’s 13th qualifying position, the second time in three events that he has started from a position outside the quick eight, a position from which he has won only one time in his career – at the 1995 CSK Nationals at Phoenix, Ariz.

“We’re trying to determine how good the tires are,” Fedderly said of the new Goodyear rear slick made available to teams for the first time at this event. “We think the tire is better early in the racetrack, but the jury’s out whether it’s better in the middle in high heat like we had today and we don’t have a good backlog of information to turn to. The data base is pretty small on it. It’s more of a roll the dice deal right now.

“We’re still dealing with air pressure issues. We don’t really know what the correct air pressure is for different track temperatures, so we still have a lot to learn about this tire. The tires shook like ?&*%*$$ that last round and almost came loose.”

For Force and teammate and points leader Gary Densham, who also failed to crack the quick eight in his Automobile Club of Southern California Mustang, the good news is that Fedderly doesn’t think there’s a big difference in the lanes.

“It’s kind of gone back and forth,” Fedderly said. “It depends upon how thick (the rubber build-up) gets and the angle of the sun, (but) in the morning, I don’t think it will be a big factor. Still, you always like to have lane choice – and we don’t have it.”

While Force will go off against Bazemore for the fourth time this year and for the 39th time in his career, teammate Tony Pedregon, who for the third time in four races was the highest qualified Ford driver, will oppose Johnny Gray in round one and Densham gets Ron Capps.

The quickest car in the field Saturday was Scotty Cannon’s Oakley Pontiac, which covered the quarter mile in 4.886 seconds at 312.64 mph. However, a large number of Funny Cars posted representative times including Force and Bazemore (4.948, 307.72 mph on his last attempt).

After Cannon, the best effort Saturday was 4.930 by No. 1 qualifier Bruce Sarver and the White Cap Toyota Celica. The other Fords ran 5.042 seconds (Pedregon) and 4.992 seconds (Densham).

NOTES Although he qualified only ninth, his second poorest effort of the season, Gary Densham extended his lead in the race for the $400,000 Powerade Funny Car Championship from two points to three of his boss, teammate and benefactor. Densham got two points for his No. 9 qualifying run; Force just one for qualifying 13th. … Among the notable non-qualifiers was Cruz Pedregon, the 1992 NHRA Champion and older brother of Tony Pedregon.

PAIRINGS First round pairings for Sunday’s fifth annual Chicagoland Dodge Dealers Nationals at Route 66 Raceway:

FUNNY CAR First round – 1. Bruce Sarver, Bakersfield, Calif., Toyota Celica, 4.768, 316.23 mph, vs. 16. John Lawson, Joliet, Ill., Firebird, 5.025, 306.26 mph; 2. Scotty Cannon, Lyman, S.C., Pontiac Firebird, 4.800, 319.37 mph, vs. 15. Dale Creasy Jr., Lansing, Ill., Firebird, 4.984, 289.51 mph; 3. Dean Skuza, Brecksville, Ohio, Dodge Stratus, 4.832, 312.86 mph, vs. 14. Tim Wilkerson, Springfield, Ill., Firebird, 4.983, 306.40 mph; 4. Whit Bazemore, Indianapolis, Firebird, 4.833, 320.97 mph, vs. 13. John Force, Yorba Linda, Calif., Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 4.941, 309.84 mph; 5. Del Worsham, Chino Hills, Calif., Firebird, 4.847, 317.79 mph, vs. 12. Tommy Johnson Jr., Avon, Ind., Camaro, 4.933, 313.73 mph; 6. Tony Pedregon, Chino Hills, Calif., Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang, 4.848, 316.45 mph, vs. 11. Johnny Gray, Carlsbad, N.M., Firebird, 4.926, 308.21 mph; 7. Bob Gilbertson, Charlotte, N.C., Firebird, 4.853, 305.98 mph, vs. 10. Frank Pedregon, Phillips Ranch, Calif., Firebird, 4.905, 314.09 mph; 8. Ron Capps, Carlsbad, Calif., Chevrolet Camaro, 4.866, 311.99 mph, vs. 9. Gary Densham, Bellflower, Calif., Automobile Club of Southern California Ford Mustang, 4.877, 305.36 mph.

TOP FUEL First round – 1. Kenny Bernstein, Newport Beach, Calif., 4.562, 325.06 mph, vs. 16. Scott Weis, Ashland, Va., 4.935, 296.96 mph;2. Doug Kalitta, Ann Arbor, Mich., 4.575, 327.43 mph, vs. 15. Luigi Novelli, Crete, Ill., 4.931, 284.15 mph; 3. Darrell Russell, Hockley, Texas, 4.597, 324.83 mph, vs. 14. Ken Zeal, Reno, Nev., 4.911, 288.58 mph; 4. David Grubnic, Ennis, Mont., 4.608, 303.09 mph, vs. 13. Chris Karamesines, Chicago, Ill., 4.818, 308.85 mph; 5. Cory McClenathan, Anaheim, Calif., 4.612, 316.15 mph, vs. 12. John Smith, Williamston, S.C., 4.806, 293.15 mph; 6. Larry Dixon, Indianapolis, Ind., 4.624, 318.39 mph, vs. 11. Yuichi Oyama, Tokyo, Japan, 4.802, 304.74 mph; 7. Tony Schumacher, Long Grove, Ill., 4.627, 325.06 mph, vs. 10. Doug Herbert, Cherryville, N.C., 4.689, 316.01 mph; 8. Andrew Cowin, Davie, Fla., 4.666, 313.66 mph, vs. 9. Rhonda Hartman-Smith, Williamston, S.C., 4.678, 307.58 mph.

PRO STOCK First round – 1. Jim Yates, Alexandria, Va., Grand Am, 6.862, 200.65 mph, vs. 16. J.R. Carr, Pasco, Wash., Firebird, 6.903, 200.17 mph; 2. Tom Hammonds, Crestview, Fla., Cavalier, 6.870, 200.74 mph, vs. 15. Kurt Johnson, Lawrenceville, Ga., Cavalier, 6.896, 200.23 mph; 3. Mark Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Grand Am, 6.877, 200.29 mph, vs. 14. George Marnell, Las Vegas, Nev., Grand Am, 6.893, 199.52 mph; 4. Bruce Allen, Arlington, Texas, Grand Am, 6.877, 199.82 mph, vs. 13. Mark Pawuk, Akron, Ohio, Grand Am, 6.892, 199.64 mph; 5 Ron Krisher, Warren, Ohio, Cavalier, 6.878, 200.71 mph, vs. 12. Greg Anderson, Concord, N.C., Cavalier, 6.886, 200.17 mph; 6. Warren Johnson Johnson, Sugar Hill, Ga., Grand Am, 6.881, 201.31 mph, vs. 11. Allen Johnson, Greeneville, Tenn., Neon, 6.886, 200.92 mph; 7. Gene Wilson, Canton, Ga., Dodge Neon, 6.882, 200.56 mph, vs. 10. Mark Whisnant, Stockbridge, Ga., Cavalier, 6.885, 200.44 mph; 8. Vieri Gaines, Lakewood, Colo., Cavalier, 6.884, 199.49 mph, vs. 9. Mike Edwards, Broken Arrow, Okla., Cavalier, 6.884, 199.49 mph.