Bazemore No. 2 after two qualifying rounds in Pomona

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2003 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 23 of 23
Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals
Pomona (Calif.) Raceway
Race Dates: Nov. 6-9, 2003

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

BAZEMORE STAYS NO. 2 THROUGH TWO QUALIFYING SESSIONS IN POMONA

POMONA, Calif. - (Nov. 7, 2003) - Whit Bazemore's Matco Tools Dodge Stratus
Funny Car wiggled a little bit down the quarter mile in Thursday's first
qualifying session of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA
Finals, and nearly crossed the centerline in the second session today. The
good news, however, is that he still produced two strong runs to place him
No. 2 in the field with two qualifying sessions remaining. Yesterday's
4.802-second elapsed time at 320.58 mph placed him solidly in the field, and
today's 4.827/318.02 pass was the quickest and fastest of that round.

"Yesterday was good. And today was really good," he said. "We were low E.T.
of the day today and that's all you can ask for. (Crew chief Lee) Beard and
the guys read the track and the conditions perfectly and they got the Matco
Tools Dodge to shoot right down the track.

"We did have a problem. We had to run tonight on the inside of our lane, the
right lane, which means we were way over to the left to begin with. I kind
of fought it. It's hard to see here in the afternoon with the sun and the
clutch dust. There's a lot of glare in the car; you can't see the groove at
all. We were just a little inside of where we thought we were. At the finish
line it just shot over left and we got close to the cones. We were able to
fight it back and not cross the center line so it's all good. No big deal.
Low E.T. of the day is perfect."



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