Bazemore misses one round, qualifies No. 12 in Seattale

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 14 of 23
SCHUCK'S AUTO SUPPLY NHRA NATIONALS
Pacific Raceways
Kent, Wash.
Race Date: July 21-23, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BAZEMORE MISSES ONE ROUND, QUALIFIES NO. 12 IN SEATTLE

KENT, Wash. (July 22, 2006) - Whit Bazemore missed one round of qualifying
today for the Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways and
had to settle for No. 12 position for Sunday's Funny Car eliminations.

Bazemore's first two attempts on Friday in unusually hot conditions for the
Northwest, with temperatures soaring into the 90s, produced a 5.476-second
elapsed time at 262.64 mph and a 4.953/309.13 - good for No. 8 at the time.

The Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car then experienced an
oil-pressure problem during the warm-up for the first session, resulting in
an engine change which was not completed in time for a pass under cooler
temperatures due to a welcome a cloud cover.

In the final session, under a hot sun, Bazemore lost traction at the hit and
coasted to an 11.093/76.61 lap.

"Honestly, we struggled here a little bit, especially today," he said.
"Yesterday we went down the track fine, but today we had a problem with the
engine in the pit area this morning and couldn't make this morning's run.
That really hurt us. That was the best session of the day.

"To kind of make up for that we pushed it pretty hard and aggressively in
the final pass and the track just didn't hold what we were trying to do.
Having said all that, we're still very, very confident about our potential
for tomorrow. We've got a race car that we know we can win the race with;
it's just a matter of my doing my job up there and everyone else on the team
doing their jobs perfectly. If we do that, we'll end up in the winner's
circle, because that's what it takes."

Bazemore faces Phil Burkart Jr. in first round of Funny Car eliminations on
Sunday.

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