Bazemore out in first round in E-Town

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 11 of 23
K&N FILTERS SUPERNATIONALS
OLD BRIDGE TOWNSHIP RACEWAY PARK
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J.
Race Dates: June 18-20, 2004


BAZEMORE LOSES TO WORSHAM IN FIRST ROUND AT E-TOWN; FALLS TO SECOND IN
POINTS

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 20, 2004) - The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series has
reached the mid-point of the 2004 season after 11 of 23 races and the battle
for the Funny Car championship is as strong as it's ever been, as drivers
Whit Bazemore, Del Worsham and John Force, among seven others, duke it out
for points and all the marbles.

Bazemore, driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus R/T, arrived in
Englishtown, N.J., for this weekend's K&N Filters Supernationals leading the
Funny Car class by 21 points ahead of Worsham and 83 over John Force. He now
leaves in second, 20 points behind Worsham and 22 ahead of John Force, after
losing to Worsham in the first round of eliminations.

It's always a bummer when one qualifies in the No. 9 spot, as Bazemore did
at this event, because one is then faced with racing the No. 8 qualifier. In
this case, it was Worsham. Both drivers claimed to welcome the challenge,
and the fans were looking for a close race. Each had a chance to make major
headway in the point standings: Bazemore to extend his lead, Worsham to
close in on and perhaps pass for the lead.

Bazemore was first off at the starting lights with an .027 of a second
advantage, and he was dead-heading to the finish line in front until the
330-ft. mark when he hazed the tires. So did Worsham, but he recovered first
and crossed the stripe in 5.028 seconds at 288.39 mph to Bazemore's
5.207/269.94, for a margin of victory of .1524 of a second.

"It was an important race, there is no question," said Bazemore, the
national E.T. record holder of 4.713 seconds and fastest Funny Car driver on
Earth (333.25 mph). "It's certainly not the championship at this point, but
it was an important round to win. We overpowered the race track after half
track and they came around us and they won.

"It's frustrating but it's racing.

"They're a great team," he said of Worsham's effort. "Del is a really good
driver. We have a lot of respect for them. They're going to be in the mix
right until the end. We're just focused on our team and what we're doing and
trying to make sure we're there at the end too. That's the important thing.
We need to be consistent and go rounds.

"Any first-round loss is hard," he added. "That can make things tough down
the road, but you're going to have some first-round losses during the
season. You have to hope that you can make up for it by winning a fair
number of races too."

Next up is the Sears Craftsman Nationals in Madison, Ill., June 25-27.

NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:

1. Del Worsham, 806
2. Whit Bazemore, 786
3. John Force, 764
4. Gary Densham, 684
5. Eric Medlen, 680
6. Gary Scelzi, 653
7. Tim Wilkerson, 597