Bazemore holds onto first place in Bristol

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 6 of 23
O'REILLY THUNDER VALLEY NHRA NATIONALS
BRISTOL (Tenn.) DRAGWAY
Race Dates: April 29-May 1, 2005



BRISTOL, Tenn. (May 1, 2005) - It was an ugly Funny Car opening round for
Whit Bazemore, but, then, it was ugly also for John Force and Robert Hight,
all three of whom lost in the first round of eliminations today at the
O'Reilly Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

With the top three in points eliminated early, Bazemore, in the Matco Tools
Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus R/T, held onto No. 1 in the POWERade Drag Racing
Series Funny Car points lead, with a 58-point margin over Force. Cruz
Pedregon, who lost in the semifinal, moved into third, and Hight dropped to
fifth.

"It was amazing the way it transpired. Two of our main competitors also lost
in the first round," said Bazemore, who had qualified 11th, and remains the
only two-time Funny Car winner this year.

"Where we are in points right now really doesn't matter. What matters is
that we're here to race and win a race and we had a problem with our car and
we got beat in the first round. That's the bottom line.

"At the end of the year is when really looking at the points situation, not
right now. Having said that, it's important that we're not 200 or 300 points
behind, and we're not."

Failing cylinders as he hit the gas produced a 4.948/308.78 pass for
Bazemore, while Tommy Johnson Jr. took the win with a 4.857/318.02.

"We're going to test here tomorrow. We have  another race in two weeks, a
race we won last year in Atlanta. We'll go there with a stronger car."

Next up is the NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga., May 13-15.

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Whit Bazemore, 433
2. John Force, 375
3. Cruz Pedregon, 375
4. Gary Scelzi, 370 (winner today)
5. Robert Hight, 360
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 319
7. Eric Medlen, 308
8. Ron Capps, 294
9. Bob Gilbertson, 292
10. Del Worsham, 280