Bazemore low qualifier on Friday in Memphis

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 17 of 23
O'REILLY MID-SOUTH NHRA NATIONALS
MEMPHIS (Tenn.) MOTORSPORTS PARK
RACE DATES: Aug. 20-22, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BAZEMORE LOW QUALIFIER ON FRIDAY IN MEMPHIS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 20, 2004) - Defending Memphis Funny Car champion and
No. 1 qualifier in 2003 Whit Bazemore is low qualifier after two qualifying
session at the O'Reilly Mid-South NHRA Nationals at Memphis Motorsports
Park. Bazemore posted a 4.862-second elapsed time tonight at 309.77 mph in
the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus, which followed a low-qualifying
4.979/295.85 in the first round.

Bazemore, who has struggled in the last few races and is third in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series after leading, was buoyed not only by qualifying
No. 1, but by the strong performance crew chief Lee Beard and the Matco
Tools team pulled off in the first qualifying session under hot and humid
conditions.

"We've got a never-say-die team," he said. "It's been tough the last couple
of months. We had an 80-point lead in the championship and kind of gave it
all back and then some.

"The team is a tight team. We're all very focused on the same goals, and
that goal is to win an NHRA POWERade championship. Just making two good runs
here doesn't automatically mean we're going to be back in the hunt the way
we want to be. But we definitely made progress and it's the hard work that
everyone has put forth that has gotten us back to this level and hopefully
it's a level that we can sustain.

"The first run is always very important in order to have a good baseline
going into the night run," added the two-time U.S. Nationals champion, "and
the track is new (newly-extended concrete launch pad), the groove is very
narrow and that makes it hard. We ran a .97 in the first run and spun the
tires the last 300 or 400 feet and as a driver you know you're knocking off
at least a tenth of the ET doing that. I almost shut it off. We're just not
programmed to go this slow, yet (under the new 85-percent nitromethane
rule). The cars are slow, let's face it. They're way slower than they were.

"Even though tonight was a good step forward running an .86 - I think last
year we ran an .81 (4.826), so that's not too bad - but in the heat it's
definitely a new ballgame with the new rules and the tire that we're
mandated to run. It takes some getting used to. I'm not used to it, yet. I
got out of the car and I couldn't believe we were low (qualifier) in the
first round. But we ran a .97 and that's about what it felt like. It is all
relative and it's a good thing.

"Running good in the heat today was a big step for our team. That's where
we've struggled. If you're going to win races, you've got to run well in the
heat.

"The fans here are great. It's going to be neat to have a night race. I'm
excited about that. It's going to be hard."

Two more qualifying rounds are scheduled for Saturday.

***