Bazemore No. 1 qualifier after two sessions in Vegas

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 4 of 23
SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Friday, April 4, 2003

FOLLOWING TWO QUALIFYING SESSIONS

WHIT BAZEMORE, MATCO TOOLS IRON EAGLE DODGE STRATUS R/T FUNNY CAR, captured
the No. 1 qualifying position after two of four sessions tonight, with a
stellar 4.788-second pass at 323.43 mph.

"That was a good run, obviously. We're trying to run bigger speeds, but we
dropped a cylinder at the other end earlier this afternoon on the first run
and unfortunately tonight it did it again, so we only went a 323. It was a
good run. The car was in trouble early; it shook for quite a long time. I
almost pedaled it but then it drove through it, so that was good. That cost
us a little e.t. Then we were having a problem lifting the front end at half
track and we did that at Gainesville. We thought we took steps to fix it and
then it did it again the first run this morning, only not as bad. And we
took steps to fix it again, and it still tried to do it again tonight. We're
excited. We've had good performance all year, but we haven't been low
qualifier yet. I think tomorrow we can improve on that, and that's key."
SOME TEAMS SAY THEY DON'T WANT TO BE NUMBER ONE: "We're always shooting for
it, if conditions warrant it. If the opportunity is there then we're trying
to be low, unless were not in and we have to be conservative. If we're in,
we're always trying to be low e.t. All three of our cars are pretty strong
and Scotty's (Cannon) been consistent lately. He tested well at Gainesville
on Monday and they're making a lot of progress there. I think we have three
good cars, which is what you need to win races now. There's a good vibe in
our camp, and that's very important. It's a healthy place; it's a great
place to be. We've got a great team. You know what I like most about our
team is they listen and they respond. They never question your opinion."