Bazemore earns fourth No. 2 of season at Gateway

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 12 of 23
O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
Gateway International Raceway
Madison, Ill.
Race Date: June 23-25, 2006

MADISON, Ill. (June 24, 2006) - Whit Bazemore and the Matco Tools Iron Eagle
Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team continue to impress, with Bazemore earning
his fourth No. 2 qualifying position of the season today at the O'Reilly
NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway.

The two-time U.S. Nationals champion came up just .003 of a second short of
the pole, establishing a 4.806-second elapsed time at 325.37 mph (top speed
of the meet), in the final qualifying session under the lights.

His other passes included a 6.166/154.37 (for No. 9), a 4.850/318.24 (for
No. 2), and a 6.108/152.73.

"I know (crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara) and Brian (Corradi) had a tune-up in it
to run low ET, if that's what it took. And I know when we ran (in the last
pair), low ET was [Robert Hight's] 4.803, so we backed it down just a little
bit and that's it.

"It's all good. We're competitive. You always want to be No. 1 qualifier,
but the important thing is to be in the top half and be prepared for race
day. We feel very confident that we are."

Bazemore faces NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader Ron
Capps in first round of eliminations on Sunday.