Bazemore runs strong, exits early 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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BAZEMORE RUNS STRONG, EXITS EARLY AT GATEWAY

MADISON, Ill. (June 25, 2006) - Whit Bazemore powered the Matco Tools Iron
Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car past his teammate Ron Capps in the opening
round of eliminations at the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals today, then was
defeated by his longtime nemesis John Force in the quarterfinal.

No. 2 qualifier Bazemore survived an emotional first round by ousting the
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader Capps, with a
5.059-second elapsed time at 303.50 mph under hot and steamy mid-America
conditions, to Capps' 5.625/186.12.

In the second round, the two-time U.S. Nationals champion took off at the
starting lights with a .013 of a second edge over the 13-time Funny Car
champion, but it wasn't enough to take the win when the Matco Tools Dodge
experienced tire shake and Bazemore drove to the finish in 6.126 seconds at
208.55 mph. Force captured the win with a 5.082/301.47. Margin of victory:
.0316 of a second.

"We had a lot of confidence on the starting line and it's just drag racing,"
said Bazemore. "We just overpowered the track a tiny bit and that's that.
Force and his team didn't make a mistake.

"Today was a good confidence builder for me, believe it or not. It's such a
mental game and you do what you have to do get yourself in the right frame
of mind. I think I'm pretty good at that. Unfortunately, what I have to do
to really get in the right frame of mind doesn't always sit well with other
people.

"We were in the right place today, for sure, and the first round was tough
as hell against Capps. He's driving at the top of his game and the team is
at the top of its game. And then, against Force, of course, it's always the
same thing: you're racing the top guy.

"It's frustrating, but the good news is our team has come a long way. We're
going to test here tomorrow. We're just trying to constantly improve our
team and our performance and I think the job (crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara)
and Brian (Corradi) are doing is tremendous. Unfortunately, I think our
results certainly don't indicate the caliber team that we have and that's
just a matter of time before they do."

Bazemore is eighth in Funny Car points rankings, 49 points behind his
teammate Gary Scelzi, in seventh.

Next up is the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in
Denver, Colo., July 14-16, 2006.

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 975
2. John Force, 931
3. Robert Hight, 742
4. Tony Pedregon, 728 (winner today)
5. Eric Medlen, 692
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 684
7. Gary Scelzi, 641
8. Whit Bazemore, 592
9. Del Worsham, 536
10. Cruz Pedregon, 530

***