Bazemore has hiccup in final session, qualifies sixth in Topeka

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 9 of 23
O'REILLY NHRA SUMMER NATIONALS
HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA, Kan.
Race Dates: May 27-29, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

BAZEMORE HAS HICCUP IN FINAL SESSION, QUALIFIES SIXTH IN TOPEKA

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 28, 2005) - Whit Bazemore and Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge
Stratus Funny Car crew chief Lee Beard put together three excellent passes
during qualifying for the O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park
Topeka, but failed to start the final session because of a starter problem.

The defending Topeka Funny Car champion ended up sixth in the field and will
face his teammate Ron Capps in the first round of final eliminations on
Sunday.

Bazemore posted a 4.847/317.19 in the first round, followed by a
4.806/316.90 in Friday's night session and a 4.922/307.79, before aborting
the final run at the starting line.

"It's been an up and down weekend," said Bazemore. "It's been OK. We went
down the track every time except in the last session, where we had a really
freak situation with the starter motor and the batteries. We couldn't get
the car to start, because one starter motor failed, and then it caused a
problem with the battery pack.

"We were unable to make the last run, which was really unfortunate, because
the conditions were good (a cloud cover came over because of an impending
storm) and with the information that we learned from last night we all feel
pretty confident that we could have run considerably better and improved our
position in the field.

"But, as it is, sixth is not bad. It's in the top half, so we're not unhappy
with the job that we've done so far."

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