Bazemore blazes to No. 1 in Denver NHRA qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2004 POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 13 of 23
MOPAR MILE-HIGH NHRA NATIONALS
BANDIMERE SPEEDWAY
Morrison, Colo.
Race Dates: July 16-18, 2004



BAZEMORE COLLECTS HIS THIRD NO. 1 OF THE YEAR, 27TH CAREER, IN DENVER

MORRISON, Colo. (July 17, 2004) - Following a wash-out on Friday, as rain
cancelled the first two rounds of qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High NHRA
Nationals, Whit Bazemore blazed down the quarter-mile to his third No. 1
Funny Car qualifying position of the year, the 27th of his career, following
just two qualifying rounds.

Driving the Lee Beard-tuned Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus to a
4.842-second lap at 312.50 mph, Bazemore became the first driver to break
the 4.80-second mark at Bandimere Speedway. He is also the driver who
recorded the first four-second Funny Car pass ever made at the Denver
facility, in 2000.

The two-time winner here (1997 and 2000) initially posted a
track-record-breaking pass in the first session of 4.897 seconds at 311.92
mph, then clocked an ever quicker pass in the final round of 4.842 seconds
at 312.50 mph.

The concerns the team had over the performance of the new Goodyear tire and
the mandated tire pressures were not an issue, he said. "The tire is working
well here, and after the next couple of races we may decide to come back and
race here 23 times next year.

"So far it's good," he added. "It's a very tricky race track, especially
now. It always has been. It's very challenging. The altitude always presents
a problem with making horsepower and making downforce and now with a
shortened qualifying session and a new tire (it was even more challenging.)
The tire is really important to the performance of the race car. It can
either really help us or really make life difficult. In this case, on our
car, at least, it seems to be working really well here.

"And so we have to thank Goodyear for making the move and building a tire
that performs the way they want it to."

There was only a slight threat of rain today and temperatures were
comfortable under a cloudy sky. "We were blessed with overcast today," said
Bazemore. "Tomorrow, if it's a hot sunny day, it's going to be a whole
different ballgame. And we know that. But this Matco Tools team knows what
to do and one of Lee Beard's strong points as a crew chief is that he's able
to adjust the car for conditions as good as or better than anyone else out
here. We're in good hands."

Bazemore will face series newcomer Robert Schwab in the first round of final
eliminations, which begin at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

***

Sea level/ A litle loose down there. Did you  The first run was hard.