Bazemore advances to second round at Mopar Mile-High Nationals

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 13 of 23
MOPAR MILE-HIGH NHRA NATIONALS
Bandimere Speedway
Morrison, Colo.
Race Dates: July 15-17, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BAZEMORE ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND AT MOPAR MILE-HIGH NATIONALS

MORRISON, Colo. (July 17, 2005) - No. 2 qualifier Whit Bazemore advanced to
the second round of eliminations today at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at
Bandimere Speedway under the heat of the Colorado sun, and the Matco Tools
Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus Funny Car team, which changed tuners two races ago,
is encouraged by the progress that's been made.

Bazemore was looking strong following his first-round win against Bob
Gilbertson in the dry but hot conditions. He took off at the starting light
with an outstanding .058 reaction time to Bob Gilbertson's .081, and despite
a slight wobble when the tires hazed, Bazemore took the victory with a
5.164-second ET at 284.03 mph. Gilbertson lost traction and posted a slower
and losing 5.484/206.73.

Track and atmospheric conditions changed in the second round as the
temperature rose. Bazemore's opponent Tim Wilkerson launched with a slow
.148 light to Bazemore's .072. Both cars smoked the tires, but it was
Wilkerson who recovered first and drove to the finish line with a winning
5.195/268.06 to Bazemore's 5.759/245.09.

"We have a really good race car and it's making a lot of power," said
Bazemore, a two-time winner here. "We just haven't been able to back it down
far enough yet. It's an animal. Based on the first round, there's just no
reason to believe that it wouldn't have gone down the race track (in the
second round). The track was a little worse, we knew that. The air was
worse. (Crew chiefs) Dan (Olson) and Todd (Okuhara) and the Matco Tools team
made very significant changes in it.

"So, it smoked the tires. We just have to mellow it out a little bit and I
think when we do that and the car goes down the track it's going to run
really well, without really trying hard, which is kind of like what it did
Friday (in qualifying). We weren't trying to rotate the earth and we ended
up No. 2 with two runs that weren't really perfect yet.

"It's a time thing. The guys need more time. They're getting more experience
with the car and the tune-up, figuring out what it likes, what it doesn't
like. A couple of races ago we started over, so I think, with that thought
in mind, we're not really in a bad place, so we're very optimistic."

Bazemore remains in seventh place in the POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny
Car point standings, with 689 points. He's just six points short of sixth
place and 42 out of fifth.

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Robert Hight, 873/893 (in final round today against Phil Burkart Jr.)
2. John Force, 871
3. Gary Scelzi, 857
4. Ron Capps, 812
5. Tommy Johnson Jr., 731
6. Cruz Pedregon, 695
7. Whit Bazemore, 689
8. Eric Medlen, 656
9. Del Worsham, 633
10. Tony Pedregon, 596

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