Bazemore Leads Way for Mopar Contingent
Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series 4th Annual Summitracing.com Nationals The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Eliminations Report Bazemore Pilots Dodge Stratus R/T to First NHRA Final Tough Day for the Mopar Pro Stockers LAS VEGAS (April 6, 2003) NHRA Funny Car driver Whit Bazemore took the Dodge Stratus R/T to it¹s first final-round appearance in today¹s fourth annual Summitracing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Bazemore piloted his Matco Tools ŒIron Eagle¹ Dodge Stratus R/T to the No. 1 qualifier position on Friday and backed up that effort with consistent runs to reach today¹s final round. Bazemore had lane choice for the Funny Car final and chose the left lane, which had been the dominant lane throughout the weekend. Unfortunately for the 12-time NHRA national event winner, the red light flickered leaving the staging lane and was not able to compete with category winner Tony Pedregon. This was Bazemore¹s first final-round appearance of the 2003 season. ³It¹s still a good day,² said a disappointed Bazemore. ³We just hate to give it away like that. We had other problems during the run, so hindsight being what it is, the chances of us winning were not good anyway. It¹s disappointing and it¹s something that we don¹t do very often and it¹s not acceptable. But, we did have a good day for Dodge and the Matco Tools team. The team is proving that we are championship caliber and we just have to tighten up in a few areas to beat those guys (Tony Pedregon) because they are obviously the team to beat. They look awfully strong, but so do we, so it¹s a long year and we¹ll bounce back and be strong from here on out.² The three Mopar Pro Stock contenders did not fare as well. Hemi drivers Allen Johnson, Darrell Alderman and Gene Wilson each went into the first round without lane choice. Unable to make up that disadvantage, they were not able to advance to the second round. Wilson brought the new Dodge Stratus R/T body to its first taste of Sunday competition since it debuted in February at the season-opening NHRA event at Pomona Raceway. Larry Morgan Racing will test Monday at The Strip in preparation for next week¹s event at Houston Raceway Park. Morgan and Wilson will continue to fine-tune the production-car based body. ³We had a good run, but unfortunately the race track had a few bald spots that were rather large at the starting line,² Wilson said. ³There were a few cars in front of me that had some trouble. There were some shut offs ahead of us that really hurt the track. We didn¹t have land choice going into the first round, so we just did the best we could. The Stratus is a great car and we¹re really gaining on it. Our motors are producing good horsepower and everyone is just putting 110 percent into this program from our team to the Mopar engineers.² The red-light bug also bit Mopar Neon R/T pilot Allen Johnson. The Greeneville, Tenn., resident fell to eventual runner-up Kurt Johnson. Allen Johnson qualified ninth. ³We just never had a good handle on the race track all weekend,² Johnson noted. ³We changed some things on the car this morning to try and correct it, but we just didn¹t go far enough. The race track was hot and there was a huge difference between the left (more favorable lane) and the right. We learned some things this weekend, so we¹ll go to Houston and keep charging. We plan to test the Stratus next week at Dallas to see where we are as a team with that car. We¹ll continue to run the Neons until we are comfortable with the Stratus and feel we are making competitive gains.² Darrell Alderman also struggled in round one, falling to long-time rival Warren Johnson in round one. ³The track is a lot slicker today, especially in the right lane,² Alderman said. ³The right (lane) here is traditionally a couple-hundreths-of-a-second slower than the left lane. We left (the line) earlier than Warren (Johnson), but once we got going the tires just shook loose. That¹s the frustrating part of this sport.² Johnson and Johnson Racing will test next week in Dallas as Alderman and Johnson prepare to switch from Dodge Neons to the Stratus R/T body. Las Vegas Wrap... Whit Bazemore, driver of the Matco Tools Dodge Stratus R/T (5.766 seconds/172.85 mph) Schumacher Racing Hometown: Atlanta, Ga. Age: 40 Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 4.788 seconds (Low ET of the event) Weekend Best Speed: 323.43 mph Weekend Qualifying Position: First Final-Round Results: Red Light against Tony Pedregon Allen Johnson, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T (7.081 seconds/199.49 mph) Johnson & Johnson Racing Hometown: Greeneville, Tenn. Age: 43 Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.916 seconds Weekend Best Speed: 200.86 mph Weekend Qualifying Position: Ninth First-Round Result: Red light against Barry Grant Darrell Alderman, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T (14.558 seconds/73.94 mph) Johnson & Johnson Racing Hometown: Morehead, Ky. Age: 53 Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.920 seconds Weekend Best Speed: 199.67 mph Weekend Qualifying Position: 13th First-Round Result: Lost, Warren Johnson Gene Wilson, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T (6.963 seconds/199.94 mph) Larry Morgan Racing Hometown: Canton, Ga. Age: 30 Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.925 seconds Weekend Best Speed: 199.17 mph Weekend Qualifying Position: 15th First-Round Result: Lost, Kurt Johnson -Mopar.com- For more information, contact: Mike Mooney, Cox Marketing Group Director of Business Services/Principal Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series mikem@coxmarketinggroup.com (704) 799-2114 office (704) 906-5818 mobile David Harris, Cox Marketing Group Public Relations Manager Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series davidh@coxmarketinggroup.com (704) 756-9301 - mobile