Bazemore fouls out, exits early in Phoenix

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. 26, 2006) - Whit Bazemore's misfortunes continued
today in final eliminations for the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals
at Firebird Raceway, as an uncharacteristic red light ended his day in the
first round.

Bazemore, crew chief Brian Corradi and assistant crew chief Todd Okuhara
struggled all weekend with the performance of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle
Dodge Stratus Funny Car, qualifying 11th and suffering through mechanical
issues during this morning's warmup.

His day didn't improve in the opening round, when he faced his teammate Ron
Capps without lane choice. Bazemore took off way too early, fouling out with
a minus-.210 reaction time, while Capps took the win with a 4.743-second ET
at 321.58 mph.

"We are just in a frustrating spot right now," Bazemore said with
disappointment on his face. "The red light was really pathetic and the tree
(starting lights) was just a little longer, I was fired up , and my foot
went down.

"It doesn't happen very often, but it happened, and I'll take full blame for
that, obviously. I think it's just a case of trying too hard, more than
anything.

"We have a lot of work to do and we have some things we're going to be
working on. We're testing here tomorrow.

"We're still a new team and we're going to be working on addressing some of
the issues that we have and that's what you do when you're a new team.
Sometimes it just doesn't fall together perfectly. You have to work at it.
We're going to work at it and come back to Gainesville much stronger and
with a driver that can go up there and do his job," added Bazemore, the
defending 2005 Gatornationals Funny Car champion.

Bazemore is concerned about the tire issues in Funny Car and Top Fuel: "The
NHRA mandated a new tire for Gainesville. It's highly likely it's going to
change the landscape, if you will, of the fuel classes, at least for a
couple of races. When everyone ran this tire in testing they struggled with
it. We're very concerned about the ability of the tire to do its job."

Next up is the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., on March
16-19.

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS
1. Ron Capps, 166
2. John Force, 151
3. Tommy Johnson Jr.,149 (winner today)
4. Robert Hight, 146
5. Phil Burkart, 144
6. Del Worsham, 107
7. Bob Gilbertson, 104
8. Tony Pedregon, 90
9. Gary Scelzi, 89
10. Cruz Pedregon, 88
11. Eric Medlen, 72
12. Whit Bazemore, 66