On Heels of Strong Joliet Test, Baze Heads to Brainerd

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
NO. 16 OF 23
BRAINERD (MINN.) INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
RACE DATE: AUG. 15-17

Contact: Judy Stropus 203-438-0501, cell 203-243-2438

BAZEMORE RUNS STRONG IN JOLIET TEST, HEADS TO BRAINERD

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 13, 2003) - On his way from his Indianapolis home to
Brainerd, Minn., for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals this weekend at Brainerd
International Raceway, the 16th of 23 events in the 2003 POWERade Drag
Racing Series schedule, Whit Bazemore stopped off at Route 66 Raceway in
Joliet, Ill., to test some changes to his Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge
Stratus. This is the track where he won one of his two Funny Car races this
season in team owner Don Schumacher's backyard.

"We made two half-track runs and one full pass and our two half-track runs
were very strong. Then we came back and ran a 4.75-second elapsed time at
326 mph," he said. 

This stellar pass was encouraging to Bazemore, the team and crew chief Lee
Beard, who were focused on improving the car's early numbers. "We worked on
our weak areas, which have been reaction time and the first 60 feet, and I
think we made good progress," said Bazemore. "Beard seems pretty happy. We
definitely saw an improvement, so what we did differently at the last couple
of races seemed to work. We already knew it would be good, so it seemed to
help. That's exciting."

Beard was looking ahead to the upcoming fall races. "We feel that we're
going to be getting into the time of the year when the temperatures cool
down and the track conditions become very good," said Beard, who has 48 NHRA
national event wins to his credit as a crew chief, "so it's going to be a
real hard-core performance that is going to win you the races in the fall.
Being able to outrun our competitors, mainly the two John Force cars, is our
No. 1 priority. The conditions at Joliet - the way the track was prepped,
the fact that it was a cool overcast day - are the type of conditions that
we hope to see in the fall.

"We ran a 4.75 at 326.79 mph at Joliet, and we're going to need that type of
performance if we're going to rise to the occasion and be able to outrun the
Force cars."

In a see-saw points-chasing season between Bazemore and his rival for the
crown Tony Pedregon, Baze finds himself sandwiched in between Pedregon and
John Force in the standings. He's just 44 points behind Pedregon and 155
points ahead of Force in probably one of the more hotly-contested battles
for a championship in NHRA history.

Bazemore has been close in the past while seeking his first Funny Car crown,
but he knows he needs to maintain consistency if he's to achieve that goal
in 2003. "I'm not even thinking about the championship," he claims. "I have
at times, but I honestly think the best approach is the same approach that
I've always had, whether we're caught in a points race or not, and that is
just focusing on each race and doing what we can to win each race. That's
the most important thing.

"I think that if you start looking at the championship, it's easy to get
caught up in the extra pressure that that brings. I don't think it's really
healthy. There's still a lot of time left, and as we've seen with our team
and with our competition, anything can happen and it will. It's important to
keep an eye on things that are right around the corner and the next
challenge, and try to control what is the closest to us and that's the next
run, the next race."

Brainerd International Raceway is one of those challenges, and it's a place
Bazemore enjoys visiting. "Brainerd is a fun race. It's a little bit off the
beaten path," he said. "I like going there. It's kind of a fun little town.
It's unique for the fans. There are so many fans that come from obviously
faraway places and they camp. The fans are kind of hard core, because they
travel to Brainerd, not only to see the race but to party. I imagine it's
kind of like the fans used to be at the Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Formula 1 race
back in the '60s and '70s, when it was a real party atmosphere."

As for racing conditions, "Brainerd is another thing. It can go either way,"
remarked Beard. "It's a brand-new race track surface-wise. It's probably not
going to have a lot of rubber on it, so it's going to take a few qualifying
rounds before it really comes around. But if it's cool and overcast here
you'll have to have to be able to run the big numbers."

Although Bazemore has never won here at Brainerd, he's been runner-up twice
(in 1999 and 2001), and was No. 1 qualifier two times, in 1997 and 2001.

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