Bazemore nabs No. 11 in Phoenix qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 2 of 23
CHECKER SCHUCK'S KRAGEN NHRA NATIONALS
FIREBIRD INTL RACEWAY
CHANDLER, Ariz.
Race Date: Feb. 24-26, 2006


CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 25, 2006) - Whit Bazemore, driver of the Matco Tools
Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car, collected the No. 11 position after
four qualifying rounds for the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals at
Firebird Raceway.

The two-time U.S. Nationals champion is seeking his first win at this track
to round out his career victories to 20.

Bazemore posted his quickest pass of the weekend in the final qualifying
session, a 4.780-second ET at 317.94 mph, which was followed by a scary
'chute-less run to the end of the track, when the parachute lever broke. The
car stopped safely, with no damage resulting to the car.

His earlier passes included a 4.899/295.92, a 5.565/182.16 and a
4.819/318.62.

"Everybody is working hard on this Matco Tools Dodge team, and the
performance is hard to find," he said. "We haven't had perfect runs yet, but
we're working hard to make that happen.

"The fact that we ran a 4.78 on a less than perfect run is to me very
encouraging." 

Bazemore faces his teammate Ron Capps in first round of eliminations on
Sunday.