Bazemore qualifies No. 6 on Friday in Sonoma

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 15 of 23
FRAM-AUTOLITE NHRA NATIONALS
INFINEON RACEWAY
SONOMA, Calif.
Race Dates: July 30-Aug. 1, 2004

SONOMA, Calif. (July 30, 2004) - Following two qualifying sessions today for
the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals, Whit Bazemore is No. 6 in the Funny Car
field with the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge, based on the 4.908-second
elapsed time at 315.12 mph he set in today's second round.

Because he posted a non-qualifying pass of 9.704/86.19 in the first session,
he was relegated to the second pair to qualify in the second round. The
track conditions were cool and Bazemore's pass was good for No. 1 at the
time. As the track conditions steadily improved, Bazemore was first bumped
by teammate Gary Scelzi for No. 1, then by Tony Pedregon, and eventually
John Force, ending up No. 6.

"Where you run in the night session is critical and because of our struggles
during the first run we were second pair," said Bazemore, the '99 winner
here and three-time No. 1 qualifier at Infineon Raceway. "That was really a
disadvantage because, No. 1, the track gets better as the session
progresses, and No. 2, you're kind of a guinea pig for the track.

"The Matco Tools team guys read the track perfectly. It was just critical
for us to go down the race track tonight and get qualified. They read it
perfectly. We were low at that time and it lasted until the last three or
four pair of the session. They did a great job and the team is working
perfectly.

"Tomorrow we'll work on our race-day tune-up. We're feeling good."

Two more qualifying rounds are scheduled for Saturday.

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