NHRA : Bazemore heads to Dallas, eyes championship

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 21 of 23
O'Reilly Fall Nationals
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
Race Dates: Oct. 10-12, 2003


BAZEMORE SAYS CHAMPIONSHIP IN SIGHT

ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 8, 2003) - Whit Bazemore had a bit of a reprieve last
weekend at Maple Grove Raceway when his rival for his first NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship Tony Pedregon went out in the
first round of eliminations. After Bazemore, who drives the Matco Tools Iron
Eagle Dodge Stratus, failed to qualify for the first time since Memphis in
September 2002, it looked like his championship chances were dashed.
Instead, he finds himself very much in the game and is just 94 points behind
Pedregon as he heads to the Texas Motorplex for the 21st round of 23, the
O'Reilly Fall Nationals.

"We definitely got lucky there at Reading on Sunday when our closest
competitors (including John Force, third in points) had trouble in the first
round, which kind of shows you how hard it is sometimes," he said.

"We have three races left, starting with Dallas this weekend. We have got to
try to win each one of them. It's critical that we have three good weekends
and we don't have any more bad luck or ill fortune, if we want to win the
championship. 

"It's definitely doable; it's within sight. We can do it," he added. "But we
certainly can't have a misstep. And the only m.o. at this point is to go out
there and be aggressive. We have nothing to lose. We definitely need to win
one or two out of the next three to cement the deal. That's what we've got
to do."

Bazemore has never won at the Texas Motorplex, yet he holds track records
here in both E.T. (4.753) and top speed (325.37 mph), established in 2001
when he was low qualifier. But this is a new season for the two-time U.S.
Nationals champion from Indianapolis. "You can't judge the future by looking
at the past unless you're trading stocks," he said. "It doesn't apply to
drag racing. Our Matco Tools Dodge and our team are working really well
right now, our car is running well right now. We're strong and we're in a
good position."

Following his win in Memphis, Bazemore moved into the points lead for the
first time in his NHRA career, then suffered setbacks at the next two races,
which dropped him back to second. "We had some unexpected things happen the
last two races. In Chicago we were just a little too aggressive," he said
about his first-round exit.

Only two qualifying sessions were held at the Reading event, three weeks
apart. "The problem in Reading was we just missed it on that one run on
Saturday at the re-scheduled event," he continued. "It was really just one
run to qualify at that race, because Friday qualifying was three weeks prior
to that, under totally different conditions. It's hard to come back three
weeks later. Anything we did that Friday night was irrelevant.

"We're just going to go to Dallas in a very aggressive frame of mind and be
ready to win the race."

Vying for one's first professional championship in a season-long heated
battle can be agonizing, but it has its rewards. "It is the closest we've
ever been by far," said Bazemore, who was second in the championship in
2001, and has finished in the top five five times and 10 times in the top 10
since 1992. 

"Other times people said we were close," he remarked. "I never felt we were
because we were within 130 points or so. It's been good this year. It's
exciting. This is what you work for. You work your entire career to be in
this position, so it's rewarding in a sense to be here  fighting and
contending for the NHRA POWERade championship. This is what it's all about
for me.

"I'm very happy. We've had a great year. We won three races. There are three
more left. Hopefully we can add those three to the tally."