Bazemore qualifies No. 11 in Memphis

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 17 of 23
O'REILLY NHRA MID-SOUTH NATIONALS
Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park
Race Date: Aug. 18-20, 2006

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 19, 2006) - Whit Bazemore drove the Matco Tools Iron
Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into No. 11 in qualifying for the O'Reilly
NHRA Mid-South Nationals, posting his quickest pass of the weekend in the
final round: 4.948 seconds at 300.66 mph.

In only three qualifying rounds held because of a three-hour rain delay on
Friday, Bazemore also clocked a tire-smoking 5.048/264.49 last night and
another less-than-perfect pass of 5.289/215.03 earlier today in 100-degree
temperatures.

"It was good," said Bazemore of that last pass in slightly cooler air. "We
would have liked to have been more aggressive tonight, but because we
struggled a little bit last night we had to go down the track tonight and
just try to move up. We couldn't risk overstepping the boundary.

"It's been a good weekend so far. We made good progress every run with the
Matco Tools Dodge and we had a few little things that weren't 100 percent.
The last run was good and I think tomorrow - especially in the first round
and probably the second - it's going to be whoever goes down the race track
is going to win," he said of the extreme heat that is expected again on
Sunday. "It puts more pressure on the drivers to be in a position to help
the car go down the race track, so those are the conditions that we
typically enjoy and some of the races we have won have been in those kinds
of conditions, so we like that.

"It's awfully hot, it's miserable here. It is what it is. It doesn't bother
me physically. I feel good. I've ridden (on his Seven Cycle) 40 miles every
morning from the track. I feel nice and relaxed all day. When you're
sweating, and it's 100 degrees and you're packing the parachute or driving
the car, you're just drenched all day. In that aspect, it's not a job on
Wall Street. The rest of the time it doesn't bother me at all."

Bazemore faces Tommy Johnson Jr. in first round of eliminations on Sunday.