Vegas record holder Bazemore wants more at The Strip

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 4 of 23
SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
April 4-6, 2003

LAS VEGAS (April 1, 2003) -- Whit Bazemore, driver of the Matco Tools Iron
Eagle Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing, holds both the
elapsed time and top speed records at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
His 4.748-second e.t. and 325.85 mph records were set in the October races
(e.t. in 2001, top speed in 2002). But it's at this weekend's
SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals where Bazemore won't settle for anything
less than a win.

"I'm looking forward to Vegas for a number of reasons," said Bazemore, the
first Funny Car driver to break the 325-mph barrier at any track. "Number
one, because we're in a position to do real well here. We were runner-up at
this race in 2001. We've run strongly. It's a track we like. We're in a
position to go rounds and win rounds and win a race. That's what we're
aiming for. Anything less than that will be a disappointment."

Bazemore and his Matco Tools team, headed by crew chief Lee Beard, have
already demonstrated their ability to make their Dodge Stratus R/T perform
well, establishing a track record of 324.32 mph at the last race in
Gainesville, Fla., and posting top speed for the meet of 325.69 mph at the
season opener in Pomona, Calif. "Baze" is also fourth in points going into
Las Vegas.

The Indianapolis resident made it to the semifinals in Gainesville and was
looking towards his first final round of the season, until a clutch disc
failed, dashing his chances to move up in the standings. "We tested after
Gainesville," he said, "and we know why we lost. We wanted to try a couple
of new components that might help us and they worked pretty well. Every race
we seem to be getting stronger and stronger. And we were pretty strong to
begin with. We're fourth in points, two rounds out of the lead and we've had
bad luck."

Vegas is a place where everyone looks for good luck, and 12-time Funny Car
event winner and two-time U.S. Nationals champion Bazemore is no different.
"Once we have good luck it's going to be something," he added. "We're doing
really well without having that much good luck. We're working hard to make
our luck change and be stronger and better and it's happening."

Having two hot shoes on his team nipping at his heels doesn't hurt, either,
he says. "Having good competition from Gary Scelzi and Scotty Cannon is
important. It can definitely be a motivating factor. When you have good
strong teammates you know that they push you to be 110 percent and hopefully
I push them. That just makes the team stronger and better and I think it's
the same with the crew chiefs. There's no question that Lee is going to try
to outdo Mike (Neff, Scelzi's crew chief), and Mike's trying to outdo Lee,
and that's all healthy. As long as we all work together and can have a beer
or two afterwards, which we can, it's all good."

Nitro Qualifying at The Strip begins on Friday, April 4, at 3:30 p.m. and
again at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, April 5, qualifying is at noon and 3 p.m.,
with final eliminations beginning at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 6.