Bazemore on a Mission to Win in Seattle

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
CARQUEST AUTO PARTS NHRA NATIONALS
Round 14 of 23
Pacific Raceways
Kent, Wash.
Race Date: July 25-27, 2003

KENT, Wash. (July 24, 2003) - Second-place Whit Bazemore carved 19 points
from Funny Car points leader Tony Pedregon's advantage at Bandimere Speedway
in Denver last week, but he still has to make up 124 points to take over the
lead. Winning the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship
is, of course, Bazemore's goal this year, and time is running out. The
driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus is on a mission for the
title and Pacific Raceways just might be the site that can produce a third
season win for the Indianapolis resident.

With the exception of 1998 and last year, Bazemore has notched at least one
strong result since 1997 at the track just outside of Seattle, beginning
with an event win that year, a runner-up finish in 1999, a No. 1 qualifying
position in 2000 and another victory in 2001.

"Seattle is a race where we've done well in the past," he says. "We're at a
point this season where it's very important for us to do well again this
year. You can't really put too much into your history at a particular place
because each year, each season and each race can be so different from
anything else."

The weather and air conditions at Pacific Raceways have the potential of
producing record speeds and low elapsed times, but the track surface remains
a challenge. "Lee (Beard, crew chief) and I and the Matco Tools team have
won here," adds Bazemore. "Hopefully we'll have kind of cooler conditions
this weekend. The Seattle track's first half is really good. On the second
half the bumps make it very tough to run the car at its maximum. I think we
have a handle on that sort of thing and the tune-up downtrack. We should be
strong here."

Bazemore is still stinging from his second-round loss to John Force at
Bandimere and is now even more determined to win. "Denver was a slap in the
face, so we're very motivated," he says. "We've just got to do the best we
can all the time.

"We've got a great team, we're contending and we made up 19 points on Tony
thanks to my teammate Scotty Cannon taking him out in the first round. From
here on out it's very important that we not slip up. It's crucial. The
pressure is on us to go out and win this championship."

An avid cyclist, Bazemore has been following the progress of the Tour de
France, which will be completed this weekend. "Because of our affiliation
with Oakley we have been fortunate enough to have met Lance (Armstrong),
Floyd Landis and several of the riders on the U.S. Postal team," says
Bazemore, who met his wife Michelle, a competitive cyclist, while cycling in
Indianapolis. "And by chance I met up with George Hincapie on the Blue Ridge
Parkway this spring in North Carolina and I got to ride a couple of hours
with him. So, being big fans of professional cycling, Michelle and I have
been watching the Tour religiously. It's been a great tour.

"I'm excited that Lance has been in the yellow jersey for most of the Tour.
At this point it's looking good, but there are still a couple of days to
go."