Bazemore scores semifinal finish at U.S. Nationals

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
U.S. NATIONALS
INDIANAPOLIS RACEWAY PARK
ROUND 18 OF 23
Race Dates: Sept. 2-5, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

BAZEMORE SCORES SEMIFINAL FINISH AT U.S. NATIONALS

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 5, 2005) - Whit Bazemore and the Matco Tools Iron Eagle
Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car continue to make strides in performance, scoring
a semfinal finish in todayıs prestigious U.S. Nationals, the crown jewel of
the POWERade Drag Racing Series and an event Bazemore has won twice.

Bazemore nipped his teammate Ron Capps in the first round of eliminations,
winning on a holeshot advantage with a 4.924/315.64 to Cappsı quicker yet
losing 4.905/310.48. Reaction times: .048 for Bazemore, .083 for Capps.

The No. 8 qualifier then disposed of Phil Burkart Jr. with a 4.892/316.38,
but met his match in the semifinal round against the Skoal Showdown winner
Del Worsham. Without lane choice, Bazemore was first relegated to the left
lane, but after an oildown in that lane in the Gary Scelzi/Frank Pedregon
match-up, Worsham swapped lanes at the last minute.

Bazemore launched with a .096 reaction time, Worsham with a .082, but soon
after Bazemore was up in smoke and out of contention, as Worsham claimed the
win with a 4.893/314.09 to Bazemoreıs 7.068/126.65.

³Weıll be very optimistic tomorrow,² said a disappointed Bazemore. ³Right
now weıre kind of shattered, because itıs Indy.

³Yesterday we ran well the first qualifying run in the heat and we were on a
good lap in the second round - quite possibly the low ET of the round - and
we had a small, freak mechanical thing happen that happens on occasion and
right then I felt like we could win this race.

³And this race is what marks your season. This is it. When you lose a race,
normally you think, Well, thereıs the next race, but when itıs Indy thereıs
no next race, itıs next year. So, itıs very, very frustrating to lose here.

³There was a problem with the race track,² he said of the semifinal round.
³They did their best to clean it up. Our car was plenty safe as far as
wheelspeed, so itıs all conjecture at this point as to what really happened.
Iım sure if we were going to make that run again right now with no oildown
in front of us weıd run the car the same way and Iım sure that (co-crew
chiefs) Dan (Olson) and Todd (Okuhara) would agree that the Matco Tools
Dodge would go right down the race track.²

On his first-round win against Capps: ³That was good. The first round at
Indy is the hardest round of the whole year because itıs Indy. The last
couple of races weıve raced Capps heıs possibly had a slight advantage on
the starting line, so I really dug deep.

³Itıs the first round of Indy, you absolutely have to be at your very best
and the light went our way. We were both pretty deep, but we knew we would
have lane choice (in the next round) if our car went down the race track
given what our second-round match-up would be (Phil Burkart Jr.ıs
4.983-second ET in his first-round win).

³Itıs hard having teammates like this because theyıre so good and the teams
are even and weıre all working together as a team.  While thatıs good in
most cases, when you have to race them itıs not very good because it can
kind of mess with your head a little bit. Because you know what they have.
We almost know what theyıre going to do and they know what weıre going to
do, almost. It puts a lot more pressure on the drivers, I think.²

Bazemore is seventh in Funny Car points, 148 out of fifth place.

Next up is the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Reading, Pa., Sept. 16-18, 2005.

NHRA FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Gary Scelzi, 1172
2. Robert Hight, 1171
3. Ron Capps, 1136
4. John Force, 1125
5. Eric Medlen, 1117
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 1024
7. Whit Bazemore, 969
8. Del Worsham, 946 (winner today)
9. Cruz Pedregon, 873
10. Tony Pedregon, 843

***