Bazemore, Johnson Top Mopar Contingent
Team Mopar Mopar Mile-High Nationals Bandimere Speedway Friday Qualifying Notes Bazemore Makes Statement With Dodge Stratus Johnson & Alderman Lead Mopar Pro Stock Attack MORRISON, Colo. (July 18, 2003) Whit Bazemore unveiled his new Mopar ŒBling Bling¹ Dodge Stratus paint scheme yesterday. He then uncovered the power of Schumacher Racing today by nabbing the provisional second slot for Sunday¹s Mopar Mile-High Nationals at picturesque Bandimere Speedway. Bazemore¹s Dodge Stratus, which also wears the Matco Tools colors, logged a 5.061-second elapsed time at 300.00 mph. The Indianapolis resident commented on the group behind his efforts. ³Every amount of success we have had this year can be attributed to all the hard work put in by (aero-thermal engineer) Terry DeKoninck, the Dodge Motorsports Engineering staff and this Schumacher Racing team,² Bazemore said. ³They are all apart of this success. One of the keys to being successful up here in the thin air is having a lot of downforce. We have that with this Dodge Stratus. ³We¹re also battling a lot hotter conditions than we¹re used too,² Bazemore continued. ³At this altitude, the sun is also hotter on this race track. It was important to run well tonight. Tomorrow we¹re going to be working on our race day set up.² Gary Scelzi broke out the Dodge Dealers Dodge Stratus Funny Car in the second round of qualifying tonight. The California resident smoked the tires, but was still able to nab the 16th slot with a 5.906-second elapsed time. ³We tested at Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago to make the car not so sensitive,² Scelzi said. ³We know we have an animal on our hands. We know its fast, but it doesn¹t repeat, and we can¹t win races that way. We made some changes in our clutch department and we also tried some things with the track conditions in the 130-degree range. It was still too sensitive. ³Our first run was a nice, easy run,² Scelzi added. ³We came back and wanted to get after it tonight. The numbers we ran up to the 400-foot mark would have put us in the 4.90-second area. It just smoked the tires. We just got to the spot that the track wouldn¹t take it. Even with maximum downforce, it didn¹t save us. We¹re okay though. We run at three and around seven and the conditions should be good for us.² Johnson Collects Provisional 13th Slot; Alderman 14thŠ Allen Johnson and his Hemi-powered Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus topped the Mopar factory contingent following the first day of qualifying. Johnson collected the 13th slot after posting a 7.269-second elapsed time at 189.68 mph. The Tennessee native described his day. ³We went out in these conditions last week and went a 7.22 (elapsed time),² Johnson said. ³We¹re giving it up down low because we¹re spinning so bad. I don¹t know if the track is prepped differently or what, but we¹re sure chasing it. ³We have a quite a bit left,² Johnson added. ³We think we could have gone a 7.22 or a 7.23 (elapsed time) that last time. We¹re not very happy because we¹ve come out here to win the pole. The track should be a little warmer tomorrow, and not quite as good, but the air should be better, so it will be about the same. We can still jump up there.² Factory Mopar teammate Darrell Alderman, a three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion, grabbed the provisional 11th-qualifying slot with a 7.279-second elapsed time at 189.92 mph. The Morehead, Ky., resident talked about his first two runs in Colorado¹s thin air. ³I think I could have done a little bit better job that time,² said the 28-time NHRA national event winner. ³We feel we have a couple thousandths left in it. The temperatures should be a little cooler tomorrow and we feel that our 10:30 run tomorrow morning will make the conditions a lot better. We¹ll go out there tomorrow and get them.² Greg Stanfield pushed his DBP Enterprises Hemi-powered Dodge Neon to the 10th position. The former multi-time Sportsman category NHRA World Champion clicked off a 7.266-second elapsed time at 189.90 mph and took home the provisional 10th-qualified position. ³We didn¹t make very good runs out there,² Stanfield said. ³I¹m thrilled with where we are in the standings considering that. We need to work on the clutch a little bit and we¹ll see what we can do for tomorrow.² Larry Morgan barely missed making it into the provisional Pro Stock field. The Newark, Ohio resident, logged a 7.321-second pass at 188.46 mph. ³We¹ll be fine for tomorrow,² Morgan said. ³We¹re working on some shock stuff because the car jumps up off the line. We should be in good shape for tomorrow because the conditions should be a little better in the morning.² It wasn¹t the day 2002 NHRA Rookie of the Year Gene Wilson was looking for. After prematurely shutting off his Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus in the first round of eliminations, the automatic timers counted Wilson out in the second round. -Mopar.com- For more information, contact: David Harris, Cox Marketing Group Public Relations Manager Team Mopar NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series davidh@coxmarketinggroup.com (704) 799-2114 office (704) 756-9301 - mobile