Bazemore starts 2006 with improved team, makes early exit in Pomona

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 1 OF 23
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals
POMONA (CALIF.) RACEWAY
RACE DATE: FEB 9-12, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BAZEMORE STARTS 2006 SEASON WITH IMPROVED TEAM, BUT GOES OUT IN FIRST ROUND
AT POMONA

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 12, 2006) - Whit Bazemore, driving the Matco Tools Iron
Eagle Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car, is motivated more than ever by the
improvement his team is making with new crew chief Brian Corradi, despite a
first-round loss at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series' season-opening
CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway.

Bazemore and the Matco Tools team produced four consistent straight runs in
qualifying to earn the No. 6 spot and were pumped to get a solid head start
on the season with a good performance in final eliminations.

In the opening round, the two-time U.S. Nationals champion nailed the
starting light with an outstanding .055 light, the quickest of the round, to
Bob Gilbertson's .092. But it was Gilbertson first across the stripe, with a
winning 4.813/316.38 to Bazemore's 4.943/311.70.

"The Matco Tools Dodge was just down on power and then it dropped the No. 1
cylinder at 2.1 seconds," explained Bazemore. "They (Gilbertson's team) made
a good run. We got beat. We got outrun. It's that simple.

"All in all, we had a very positive weekend. The team is jelling. The team
is doing a really good job preparing the car. We have a lot of new things.
There are very high expectations, but the reality is that we have a new
team.

"Stuff doesn't happen overnight when you have new people and change is not
always good. I don't like change within a team that I'm in. In this case, we
made some very good moves and it's going to pay big dividends. I'm trying to
do my job the best I can. Everyone is. Brian and Todd (Okuhara) are
brilliant, and we just had a bad race.

"If I recall last year here, the team that won the championship had a
terrible race. So did the team that finished second. Today, it's
disappointing, but we're already going to look towards Phoenix."

"The first-race jitters are behind me," said Corradi. "It's getting
comfortable now. All there is is up from here, as far as I'm concerned. We
qualified in the fastest Funny Car field in NHRA history, in the top half on
top of that. I'm happy how qualifying went. Surely I'm not happy with race
day. There's always another race in a week or two."

Next up is the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, Ariz.,
Feb. 24-26.

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS (after one race)

1. Robert Hight, 112
2. Ron Capps, 92
3. Phil Burkart Jr., 72
    Bob Gilbertson, 72
5. John Force, 58
6. Gary Scelzi, 56
7. Del Worsham, 51
    Jim Head, 51
9. Tommy Johnson Jr., 37
10. Tony Pedregon, 35

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