Bazemore Hopes to Change his St. Louis Luck (NHRA)

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 12 OF 23
SEARS CRAFTSMAN NHRA NATIONALS
GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
MADISON, ILL.
RACE DATE: JUNE 27-29, 2003

Bazemore Hopes to Change His St. Louis Luck

MADISON, Ill. (June 24, 2003) - Whit Bazemore's favorite memory of his NHRA
Funny Car career at Gateway International Raceway is from 1998 when he beat
John Force on a holeshot advantage in the first round (.479 R/T for Baze,
.529 for Force. Bazemore's winning numbers were 5.254/280.19 to Force's
5.252/278.37). 

The rest of Bazemore's results at the track whose address is Madison, Ill.,
but is in fact just over the bridge from St. Louis, Mo., is somewhat of a
blur to the driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus R/T Funny
Car. He did, however, advance to the semifinal round that year - his highest
finish at this track - where he lost to Chuck Etchells.

Another positive nugget gleaned from the Gateway International Raceway
archives is that Bazemore is one of only eight NHRA drivers (the others are
John Force, Tony Pedregon, Kenny Bernstein, Doug Herbert, Matt Hines,
Angelle Savoie and Steve Johnson) who have qualified for all six races to
date.

The Indianapolis resident is enjoying his best NHRA season of his 16-year
career in the first half of 2003, having reached the semifinal round in nine
of the 11 races so far, as well as five finals resulting in two wins, and
he's second in the POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings. So
the two-time U.S. Nationals champion is eager to turn his Gateway luck
around at the Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals this weekend by collecting
another win and carving away as many of those 101 points as he can from Tony
Pedregon's lead for the Funny Car championship.

"Some tracks you have better records at than at other tracks," says
Bazemore, who has qualified in the top half of the field in each race this
season. "St. Louis is one where we've just never really had stellar results.
It's one of those places where we've struggled some and that happens. It's
just kind of coincidental. In the last couple of years we've struggled in
the heat with the race car and this is one of the hottest races and hottest
tracks that we race on. I feel a lot more confident this year going in there
because I know we have tune-up more suited to the conditions that we'll
experience."

Bazemore's Matco Tools team, led by crew chief Lee Beard, is working hard to
chip away at Tony Pedregon's points lead for Bazemore to earn his first
driver's championship. The team's strongpoint has been its consistency this
year, and Beard and the crew expect their momentum to continue. "We have a
good car," Bazemore affirms. "We have the second or third quickest car right
now consistently, so that's where we are. We're very competitive, but we
have to work on our car. Lee and Dan (Olson, co-crew chief on Bazemore's and
Gary Scelzi's cars) are addressing some of our weak spots on the race track.
We need to qualify, go rounds and win races."

This Sunday's final eliminations will be held in the evening, with first
round scheduled for 4:30 p.m. "It will still be somewhat in the heat of the
day in the summertime in St. Louis, so I don't see the advantage of that,
really. It'll still be hot on Sunday," Bazemore adds.

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