Bazemore remembers his "first" in Memphis
DON SCHUMACHER RACING 2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES Round 17 of 23 O'REILLY NHRA MID-SOUTH NATIONALS Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park Race Date: Aug. 18-20, 2006 MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 17, 2006) - Whit Bazemore enjoys returning to Memphis Motorsports Park as the driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car with 20 national-event wins in 45 final rounds under his belt. When he arrives at this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals he'll recall that day in 1992 when, as a fledgling driver just beginning to live his lifelong dream, he reached his first Funny Car final round. "We have a lot of good memories from Memphis," says the two-time U.S. Nationals champion, 2003 Memphis winner and No. 1 qualifier here in '03 and '04. "It's been a good place for us over the years. You never forget your first final and a race that we were favored to win. At the time, we were a really small team. We had so much help from other people between rounds it was really amazing. It's also neat that a couple of our key guys back then - and they were key only because there were two of them: Chris Forton and Bryan "Speedy" Shipman - have worked hard and elevated themselves up through the sport to become very valuable members of their respective current teams. That's always good." (Note: Chris Forton is with Brandon Bernstein's Top Fuel team and Bryan Shipman with Melanie Troxel's Top Fuel team.) "We had a great day," Bazemore remembers. "Our car was running good back then and we just got a little greedy in the final and smoked the tires against Al Hoffman, but I remember it very, very well." As for the 2006 NHRA season, Bazemore has had his ups and downs. After struggling the first part of the year, he and the Matco Tools came back strong mid-season, reaching two final rounds and winning once. But, in last weekend's Brainerd, Minn., race the team suffered a setback when Bazemore failed to qualify because of a mechanical problem in the final qualifying session. The avid cyclist and Indianapolis resident remained eighth in Funny Car points, but lost ground in the standings and is 127 markers short of fifth place. He continues to look forward and refuses to be discouraged. "Brainerd was very frustrating," Bazemore says, "but the important thing is that we know we have such a good team and such a good running car. You just have to learn from it, but ignore it at the same time, move on and not let it influence you in a negative way at all. We just have to kind of forget it and go on, which we can do." WHIT BAZEMORE QUICK FACTS: * Eighth in 2006 Funny Car point standings after 16 events, with one win (Seattle), one runner-up and three semifinal finishes * Two-time U.S. Nationals champion, 1997 and 2001 * Ninth in final 2005 Funny Car point standings * Won two events in 2005 (Gainesville, Las Vegas 1), No. 1 qualifier once (Columbus) * No. 10 qualifier in 2005 Mid-South Nationals, lost first round to teammate Ron Capps * Has one win (2003) and two runner-up finishes in Memphis (1992 and 2000) * No. 1 qualifier in Memphis in 2003 and 2004 * First Funny Car driver to break 325-mph barrier (U.S. Nationals 2001) * Career quickest ET is 4.674 seconds (Chicago 2006), career fastest speed is 333.25 mph (Chicago 1 2004) * Has 20 career Funny Car event wins in 45 final rounds in 334 races * Took the 2003 championship chase to penultimate race in Las Vegas in an exciting final round against eventual champion Tony Pedregon * Was second twice in the Funny Car championship in 2001 and 2003, third in 1997 and '99 and has finished in the top five six times and 13 times in the top 10 since 1992 * Age 43, born in New York City, an avid cyclist, lives in Indianapolis with wife Michelle, a competitive amateur cyclist, and son Dashiell Aidan, born March 12, 2005 (same as Bazemore's birthday) * 2006 is his sixth season with Don Schumacher Racing WEEKEND SCHEDULE: FRIDAY, Aug. 18 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 4:30 and 7 p.m. SATURDAY, Aug. 19 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 2 and 6 p.m. SUNDAY, Aug. 20 - Pre-race ceremonies, 2 p.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 3 p.m. TELEVISION: Saturday, Aug. 19, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 8 p.m. (ET). Sunday, Aug. 20, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of eliminations at 10 p.m. (ET). Sunday, Aug. 20, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will broadcast NHRA 2Day, a 30-minute weekly news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET). SATELLITE: Friday, Aug. 18, 11-11:30 p.m. (ET) - Galaxy 11 / 20 K (12100 MHz, vertical) Saturday, Aug. 19, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) - Galaxy 11 / 20 K (12100 MHz, vertical) Sunday, Aug. 20, 10-10:30 p.m. (ET) - Galaxy 11 / 20 K (12100 MHz, vertical)