BAZEMORE MAKES IT TO NO. 12, PROBLEMS AND ALL, AT RTE. 66
JOLIET, Ill. (Oct. 2, 2004) - Debuting the Matco Tools Rat Fink Dodge
Stratus body this weekend, Whit Bazemore struggled through two of three
qualifying sessions (Friday's second round was cancelled because of rain),
ending up No. 12 in the field with the 4.847/314.31 pass he posted in
today's final qualifying round.
Following the rain, today's track conditions were nearly perfect, with
temperatures in the mid-50s under a brilliant sun. Bazemore and crew chief
Lee Beard were unable to take advantage of the great weather in the second
pass, however, as the engine broke its second connecting rod, resulting in
damage to the Rat Fink body, which had survived a small fire the night
before.
In the final qualifying session, Bazemore went up to the line not qualified,
as his teammate Johnny Gray had just bumped him out of the field, and
getting down the track and into the race was the team's No. 1 goal.
Sporting the pin-striped Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge body, Bazemore made a
conservative but successful pass down Route 66 Raceway's quarter mile of
4.847/314.31, placing him safely into No. 12.
In this final qualifying round, John Force wowed the crowd and surprised his
competitors by setting a track-record elapsed time of 4.697 seconds at
332.75 mph under NHRA's 85-percent nitromethane rule. If Force backs up this
time within one percent (4.744 seconds) in eliminations tomorrow, he will
take away Bazemore's national ET record of 4.713 seconds, set here in May,
under NHRA's 90-percent nitromethane rule.
His speed came awfully close to also surpassing Bazemore's 333.25-mph
track-record run he established in May. For Force to break Bazemore's
teammate Gary Scelzi's national speed record of 330.55 mph, he will have to
back it up within one percent tomorrow (329.42).
"First off, congratulations to Force and his team for being the first to run
in the 4.60s," said Bazemore. "It was something that we all wanted to do,
quite honestly, and conditions were certainly there for it. For us it's kind
of a frustrating that we weren't in a position to contend for that today.
"We had bigger problems and bigger challenges to get our car to go down the
race track without hurting itself and go quick enough to qualify.
"The guys on the Matco Tools team did a tremendous job re-building the car
after an explosion in today's first round. We were up there and went right
down the race track. It was a handful, but we made it and we qualified, and
that's the first order of business every weekend."
Bazemore faces Gary Densham in first round of eliminations on Sunday, which
begin at 11 a.m.
Courtesy Judy Stropus
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
Stratus body this weekend, Whit Bazemore struggled through two of three
qualifying sessions (Friday's second round was cancelled because of rain),
ending up No. 12 in the field with the 4.847/314.31 pass he posted in
today's final qualifying round.
Following the rain, today's track conditions were nearly perfect, with
temperatures in the mid-50s under a brilliant sun. Bazemore and crew chief
Lee Beard were unable to take advantage of the great weather in the second
pass, however, as the engine broke its second connecting rod, resulting in
damage to the Rat Fink body, which had survived a small fire the night
before.
In the final qualifying session, Bazemore went up to the line not qualified,
as his teammate Johnny Gray had just bumped him out of the field, and
getting down the track and into the race was the team's No. 1 goal.
Sporting the pin-striped Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge body, Bazemore made a
conservative but successful pass down Route 66 Raceway's quarter mile of
4.847/314.31, placing him safely into No. 12.
In this final qualifying round, John Force wowed the crowd and surprised his
competitors by setting a track-record elapsed time of 4.697 seconds at
332.75 mph under NHRA's 85-percent nitromethane rule. If Force backs up this
time within one percent (4.744 seconds) in eliminations tomorrow, he will
take away Bazemore's national ET record of 4.713 seconds, set here in May,
under NHRA's 90-percent nitromethane rule.
His speed came awfully close to also surpassing Bazemore's 333.25-mph
track-record run he established in May. For Force to break Bazemore's
teammate Gary Scelzi's national speed record of 330.55 mph, he will have to
back it up within one percent tomorrow (329.42).
"First off, congratulations to Force and his team for being the first to run
in the 4.60s," said Bazemore. "It was something that we all wanted to do,
quite honestly, and conditions were certainly there for it. For us it's kind
of a frustrating that we weren't in a position to contend for that today.
"We had bigger problems and bigger challenges to get our car to go down the
race track without hurting itself and go quick enough to qualify.
"The guys on the Matco Tools team did a tremendous job re-building the car
after an explosion in today's first round. We were up there and went right
down the race track. It was a handful, but we made it and we qualified, and
that's the first order of business every weekend."
Bazemore faces Gary Densham in first round of eliminations on Sunday, which
begin at 11 a.m.
Courtesy Judy Stropus
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
posted by David @ 3:27 AM
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