Bazemore gains points on Tony Pedregon at U.S.Nats, goes out in first round

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 17 of 23
U.S. NATIONALS
INDIANAPOLIS RACEWAY PARK
Rainout Race Date: Sept. 5-7, 2003
BAZEMORE OUT IN FIRST ROUND IN CLOSE MATCH AGAINST CRUZ PEDREGON; GAINS
POINTS ON TONY PEDREGON

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 7, 2003) - The disappointment in the Matco Tools Iron
Eagle Dodge Stratus pits was palpable. It was like a dusty black cloud was
hanging over the driver, crew chief and crew. If you didn't have to be
there, it was probably best to run out for an ice cream sundae rather than
taste the bitter sweetness of a loss in the Don Schumacher Racing Funny Car
compound. 

It wasn't just any loss. These NHRA Funny Car drivers lose all the time.
Well, maybe not all the time. But this was the U.S. Nationals, the biggest
race in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, and No. 3 qualifier Whit
Bazemore was aching to leave this place with the points lead in the Funny
Car championship. Not to mention a third U.S. Nationals victory. It coulda
happened. It wasn't that it necessarily shoulda happened, but it certainly
coulda and maybe woulda if Bazemore just had one thousandth of a second in
his pocket.

Bazemore faced Cruz Pedregon in the first round, against whom he's won all
four times they've met this season. Perhaps crew chief Lee Beard and
Bazemore underestimated the mystical strength of the Pedregon brotherhood.
After his brother Tony, who is in a battle royal with Bazemore for the Funny
Car championship, was eliminated in the first round by Dean Skuza, Bazemore
was in a perfect position to gain additional points on his way to a possible
third U.S. Nationals win and the lead in the standings.

It just seems that when anyone named Pedregon is in the next lane to
Bazemore, the adrenaline rushes harder, the prize is bigger, and the
competitiveness level is raised...in both lanes.

Bazemore launched at the lights with a .69 reaction time to Pedregon's
virtually identical .61. They were side by side in one of the more exciting
races of the season until the finish line. Barely an eyelash separated the
noses across the stripe, but it was Pedregon who turned on the win light,
snatching the victory from Bazemore by a margin of .0075 of a second.

It was a close holeshot win - a 4.886-second elapsed time to Baze's 4.887.
Bazemore's speed of 316.67 mph was not typical of one of his standard
320-plus runs. Cruz's was even slower at 313.88.

By outqualifying Tony Pedregon, Bazemore gained four points on his rival for
the championship and now trails by just 57. 'What might have been' is
shelved for the time being. There are six races left and claiming his first
Funny Car championship is still very real for Baze.

"It shows you how close this racing is when one thousandth of a second can
make a difference between winning and losing," said a dejected Bazemore.

"I was focused and ready to go; we just lost a close drag race. I had a .69
light which isn't bad. Cruz had a .61, just a little better. He did a better
job; that's all there is to it. That's how it goes.

"We were in a very positive frame of mind today and came ready to race," he
added. "When Tony went out it was a golden opportunity again and it just
didn't happen. We were ready to race. We just lost a close drag race. We
weren't necessarily late and that's how it goes. We won one like that
yesterday (one a holeshot in the first round of the Budweiser Shootout
against Tommy Johnson), and Tommy Johnson wasn't necessarily late. It's just
the nature of the business sometimes.

"It was a tough loss. I feel really bad for the team because we had a great
car all weekend. I think  everybody did an excellent job. I did the best I
could. It was decent. It's like that old cliche: it's why they don't race
these things on paper. We'll suck it up. We've got three more races in a
row, I'm excited to think about where we're going to be at the end of the
next three weeks."

Crew chief Lee Beard was especially affected by this loss. It was evident in
his demeanor after the team's early exit. "The door for opportunity was wide
open with Pedregon losing in the first round," he said, "and we certainly
did not want to make a mistake and give it away and smoke the tires and we
went just a little conservative. Cruz made a helluva guess on the tree. Hey,
it's America, the land of opportunity, and Cruz took advantage of it."

Next up is Round 18 of 23 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events, the Lucas
Oil NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa., Sept. 12-14.