Bazemore takes a shot at third U.S. Nats win, gets runner-up

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 18 of 23
U.S. NATIONALS
O'REILLY RACEWAY PARK
Clermont, Ind.
Race Date: Sept. 1-4, 2006


BAZEMORE TAKES SHOT AT THIRD U.S. NATIONALS WIN, GETS RUNNER-UP

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 4, 2006) - Two-time U.S. Nationals Funny Car champion
Whit Bazemore survived a dramatic day of drag racing at the U.S. Nationals
at O'Reilly Raceway at Indianapolis, charging his way to his fourth final
round of Funny Car eliminations at this historic event, coming up just 13
feet short of a three-peat.

Driving the special-bodied Matco Tools "Tales of the Rat Fink" Dodge Charger
R/T, the Indianapolis resident and No. 4 qualifier easily defeated Tim
Wilkerson in the opening round with a 4.790-second elapsed time at 324.05
mph. In the quarterfinal, he dismissed Cruz Pedregon with a 5.072/275.96 to
Pedregon's 5.814/174.17, who was then disqualified for crossing the
centerline. 

Bazemore benefited from an odd occurrence which disqualified Jim Head in the
semifinal, when Head clipped a cone at the finish line following his round
win over Bazemore in dueling tire-smoking runs. Head, however, did not cross
the centerline.

With that, Bazemore earned a spot in a final-round match-up against Robert
Hight. The pair launched with nearly identical reaction times: .078 for
Bazemore, .071 for Hight. It was a tight drag race to the finish, with Hight
taking the victory by .0267 of a second with a 4.737/328.38 lap over
Bazemore's losing 4.756/327.82.

"We're just really disappointed," said Bazemore, "but at the same time we're
really proud of the team and the guys on the Matco Tools team. It was a long
weekend, a stressful weekend. We were runner-up at Indy. On one hand, it's a
great accomplishment. On the other hand, you just left with a very empty
feeling because you had a chance to win this race and you don't have that
many opportunities. So in that aspect, it's frustrating.

"The team bounced back. We had a tough day. We spun the tires a little bit
in the second round, then we spun them a lot in the third round and I
couldn't get the thing to hook back up. We kept it off the wall and off the
centerline, which ultimately got us the win, but I felt like we left a lot
on the table there as far as the driver is concerned.

"In the final, I think the team did excellent. Hight and (crew chief) Jimmy
Prock had the car to beat all weekend, if not all year. They have a lot of
good performance over there and it was basically their race to lose and we
gave them a hell of a race, and for that we're really proud."

Bazemore explained the events of his semifinal win over Head: "I saw he was
awfully close to the centerline and just for a fleeting moment I had hopes
that OK, maybe he did cross the centerline, but then you realize what are
the odds, because we got beat. I was really upset with myself more than
anything because I should be able to get this car to hook back up. And then
they said that we won and, (I thought) Great, we got a lucky break. Then we
go watch it on the monitor for ESPN and I'm watching Head and his rear tire
actually didn't cross the whole centerline and they're interviewing me and
it's on television and I'm watching and I'm thinking, We really didn't win.
I didn't see him clip the cone. I just saw his rear tire touch the white
line but not cross it. And the rule is you have to cross it and clearly he
didn't cross it. So my emotions are, OK do I point this out and get the win
taken away? It turned out that he did hit the cone."

Bazemore remains eighth in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car
point standings, with five races left in the season.

Next up is the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Reading, Pa., Sept. 15-17.

PROVISIONAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 1300
2. John Force, 1281
3. Robert Hight, 1141 (winner today)
4. Tony Pedregon, 1112
5. Eric Medlen, 1084
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 1008
7. Gary Scelzi, 1001
8. Whit Bazemore, 956
9. Cruz Pedregon, 759
10. Phil Burkart, Jr. 756