Baze takes No. 3 after rain delay in Denver

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 13 of 23
MOPAR MILE-HIGH NHRA NATIONALS
Bandimere Speedway
Denver, Colorado
Race Date: July 18-20, 2003


DENVER, Colo. (July 19, 2003) - Whit Bazemore had to endure sitting in his
Matco Tools Iron Eagle-sponsored Mopar 'Bling-Bling' Dodge Stratus Funny Car
for nearly a half-hour before he was able to run the final qualifying
session today. Although the skies looked clear and sunny to the casual
observer, slight sprinkles delayed the completion of the final round for two
pairs of Funny Cars. Bazemore jumped out of the car for a short period of
time, then returned to face his fierce rival Tony Pedregon in a qualifying
match-up. 

Both cars were aiming for the No. 1 spot, and neither one accomplished that
feat. Bazemore fell to No. 3 from his No. 2 spot (based on his 5.061/300.00
run from last night), after Pedregon posted a 5.034/301.74 to move into
second. Tim Wilkerson, who earned the No. 1 position last night, held on as
low qualifier. 

"We are a little bit disappointed because the conditions were there to set
low e.t of the weekend," said the two-time U.S. Nationals champion who's
second in Funny Car point standings. "We were trying to do that. We were
just a little bit too aggressive with the Matco Tools Dodge Stratus - we
took some wing out of it - so we spun the tires down track a little bit.
But, I think we're in a great position for tomorrow. We ended up third and I
think Lee (Beard, crew chief) and the team have a pretty good handle on the
conditions here when the track gets hot, and I think it's certainly going to
be hot tomorrow again.

Having to wait for the rain to stop and the track to be cleaned was no big
deal, he said. "You're ready to go and you're ready to get it on and get the
job done and if you have to wait, that's part of it. It was definitely
raining a little bit. I feel like we could have run in those conditions, and
the team does, but if we'd smoked the tires, then we would have wished we
had waited."

Bazemore will face Terry Haddock in first round of final eliminations
tomorrow.