BAZEMORE QUALIFIES IN BOTTOM HALF OF FIELD...AGAIN
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
Contact: Judy Stropus
BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 30, 2005) - Whit Bazemore qualified the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus Funny Car in the bottom half of the field for the fourth time in six races this year for the O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway today. Only one round of qualifying was held, as the other three were washed out by rain.
With only one round completed, the top 10 in POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points were assured a place in the field, with the rest of the field made up of those who qualified today.
Posting a 4.948/308.78 pass for the 11th spot, Funny Car points leader Bazemore is not disappointed, as his win in Las Vegas two weeks ago came from the bottom half of the field. His other win, in Gainesville, Fla., came from No. 8, and he is the only two-time winner this season.
"It's very frustrating and you feel bad for (President and General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway) Jeff Byrd and the staff here in Bristol," said Bazemore of the weather conditions here. "They certainly deserve to have better weather than what they've gotten this weekend, as we all do.
"That's part of the sport sometimes. In our case, we're satisfied that we went down the race track in light of some of the struggles we've had this year, but we really didn't run that quick.
"The good thing for us is we have a team - the Matco Tools team, led by Lee Beard - that, given one baseline run, can certainly tune the car from that, and we have a team that knows how to get performance out of it.
"I'll sleep well tonight. We'll be very confident. It's kind of good because the both races we won this year we've come from the back, and now we're 11th. That's not much better than 12th. We feel good, we like being in the back. We'll just sneak up on them and catch them by surprise."
Bazemore faces Tommy Johnson Jr., in first round of eliminations, which begin at noon on Sunday.
Contact: Judy Stropus
BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 30, 2005) - Whit Bazemore qualified the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus Funny Car in the bottom half of the field for the fourth time in six races this year for the O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway today. Only one round of qualifying was held, as the other three were washed out by rain.
With only one round completed, the top 10 in POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points were assured a place in the field, with the rest of the field made up of those who qualified today.
Posting a 4.948/308.78 pass for the 11th spot, Funny Car points leader Bazemore is not disappointed, as his win in Las Vegas two weeks ago came from the bottom half of the field. His other win, in Gainesville, Fla., came from No. 8, and he is the only two-time winner this season.
"It's very frustrating and you feel bad for (President and General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway) Jeff Byrd and the staff here in Bristol," said Bazemore of the weather conditions here. "They certainly deserve to have better weather than what they've gotten this weekend, as we all do.
"That's part of the sport sometimes. In our case, we're satisfied that we went down the race track in light of some of the struggles we've had this year, but we really didn't run that quick.
"The good thing for us is we have a team - the Matco Tools team, led by Lee Beard - that, given one baseline run, can certainly tune the car from that, and we have a team that knows how to get performance out of it.
"I'll sleep well tonight. We'll be very confident. It's kind of good because the both races we won this year we've come from the back, and now we're 11th. That's not much better than 12th. We feel good, we like being in the back. We'll just sneak up on them and catch them by surprise."
Bazemore faces Tommy Johnson Jr., in first round of eliminations, which begin at noon on Sunday.
posted by David @ 1:54 AM
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