WJ Rides Career-Best Top Speed to Fifth Starting Spot in Phoenix

Contact: Jon Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

Warren Johnson and the GM Performance Parts GTO Racing team completed a strong qualifying performance on Saturday at the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, AZ capturing the fifth starting spot for Sunday's final eliminations. Improving upon his previous time in each of his first three attempts, Johnson took advantage of the horsepower-friendly conditions at Firebird Raceway to post a 6.652-second elapsed time with a career-best top speed of 208.14 mph in the third qualifying session, which proved to be his run of record. Having secured his best starting spot since qualifying third in Sonoma, CA last year, the six-time champion turned his attention to successfully defending his title from this event a year ago.

"The most important part about our qualifying effort is that we made decent runs every time we ran, and learned something every time. For example, on our first run this morning, we were fairly confident that our time from Friday wouldn't get bumped out so this GM Performance Parts GTO crew got together to discuss with some few potential tuning scenarios.

"We evaluated the pros and cons of each one, and came up with a decision, one fortified by the fact that since the pre-season test session in Las Vegas, we had gotten down the track every time. Things obviously worked out in our favor, so maybe this tuning by committee has some merit!

"We were a little too conservative in the last session, which might have cost us a couple hundredths, but the information gathered will certainly come in handy. It's supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow so we will look at what we accomplished on our previous runs, make our adjustments and go from there."

Saving His Best for Last, KJ Qualifies Seventh in Phoenix

Contact: Jon Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team did a complete about-face on Saturday at the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals in Phoenix, AZ putting any struggles from the previous day behind them and powering their way into Sunday's final eliminations field. On his third attempt, Johnson quickly allayed any fear about his participation on race day with a solid 6.677-second clocking, and then punctuated his performance with the quickest pass of the fourth and final session, an impressive 6.658-second, 207.75 mph run in the heat to capture the seventh starting spot.

"Anytime you can go from not in the field to twelfth and then seventh on consecutive runs, including being the quickest car in the last session, you have to be pleased. Things seemed to coming together rather nicely for the ACDelco Cobalt crew today, and, looking at the runs on the computer, we think we can pick up even further. With as many tough teams, crew chiefs and drivers as we have in Pro Stock, qualifying in the top half is quite an accomplishment, and something we're pretty happy about. However, we know we still have work to do.

"With qualifying behind us, our focus will now be on lighting the win light four times. After all, it doesn't matter how fast we run, just as long as that light keeps coming on in our lane. We've done it twice before here at Firebird, in 1999 & 2004, and we'd certainly like to add number three tomorrow."

BAZEMORE WINDS UP SIXTH AT PHOENIX

News From David Powers Motorsports
CONTACT: Ted Yerzyk

CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 24, 2007) – Despite battling a tricky race track and some consistency issues, Whit Bazemore and the Matco Tools Top Fuel team raced to the sixth quickest qualifying pass of the weekend at Firebird International Raceway. Entering the day in the No. 18 spot, the veteran nitro pilot reeled off a pass of 4.507 seconds to claim the No. 6 qualifying position.

On the first day of qualifying for the 23rd annual CSK Nationals, Bazemore and his Lee Beard-led race crew missed the tune-up call on both qualifying attempts leaving them on the outside looking in. However, there was no panic in the Matco Tools camp. With 50 career victories under his belt, Beard tuned Bazemore to the quickest run of Saturday’s first qualifying session, 4.507 seconds at 327.19 mph. That run gives the first-year Top Fuel driver a lot of confidence heading into Sunday’s final eliminations.

"We lost some of the consistency that we had during testing and at Pomona," Bazemore said. "That being said, we learned some things about the race car. We're in a good position to win the race. We can repeat that 4.50; we'll be in good shape. I’m confident that we can run that and even improve a little bit. Now, we just have to go make it happen."

The 20-time NHRA Funny Car winner will match-up against No. 11 qualifier Hillary Will in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations at 11 a.m. (MT). Bazemore qualified 11th last season at the CSK Nationals.

Q1 10.217 ET, 73.53 MPH No. 17

Q2 10.521 ET, 73.97 MPH No. 18

Q3 4.507 ET, 327.19 MPH No. 4

Q4 9.083 ET, 76.21 MPH No. 6

www.matcotools.com

Schumacher, Hight and Line Top Pro Qualifiers at the NHRA POWERade Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals presented by Castrol

NHRA Saturday Recap

BAZEMORE STRUGGLES ON OPENING DAY OF QUALIFYING AT PHOENIX

News From David Powers Motorsports
CONTACT: Ted Yerzyk

CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 23, 2007) – The great thing about the sport of drag racing is that if a team struggles, there's always another day of racing right around the corner. After the first day of qualifying at the 23rd annual CSK Nationals, Whit Bazemore and the Matco Tools Iron Eagle dragster are on the outside looking in, but the 20-time NHRA winner and his Lee Beard-led race team have two runs on Saturday afternoon to make the 16-car field.

Bazemore's Matco Tools dragster lost traction on both runs on the opening day of qualifying at Firebird International Raceway. Last month, the veteran nitro pilot cross-graded his Funny Car license for eligibility in the Top Fuel category during testing at the Phoenix track. He ran a testing-best run of 4.500-seconds at F.I.R. during testing.

"On the first run, it was too aggressive and it pulled the tires loose," Beard said. "We took some clutch out for the second run and it dropped a cylinder."

Top Fuel qualifying continues on Saturday at 12:30 and 3 p.m. (MT) at the Phoenix-area track. Bazemore qualified his Matco Tools Funny Car in the No. 11 spot last season.

Q1 10.217 ET, 73.53 MPH No. 17

Q2 10.521 ET, 73.97 MPH No. 18


www.matcotools.com

SGMP Testing Report From Marvin T. Smith

Marvin sent this info and photos of Chip Ellis, George Bryce and Steve Spiess today. Speiss was reportedly running in the 6.30s.

Chip Ellis and George Bryce were testing a brand new cycle that was just finished last night and still unpainted. They didn't even make a partial check out pass but blasted a fine 7.01 at 188 in the first ever pass on the bike! A second try resulted in a broken throttle cable, but a third pass in the heat of the afternoon netted a good 7.03. George was really happy.
Marv

WJ Pleased But Not Satisfied with Friday's Firebird Runs

Contact: Jon Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

Warren Johnson and the GM Performance Parts GTO Racing team opened their qualifying effort for the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in fine fashion on Friday, posting solid efforts in each of their two attempts. After opening with a 6.704-second, 206.35 mph pass in the first session, Johnson picked up the pace in his afternoon run, improving to a 6.695-second elapsed time with a top speed of 207.21 mph. This slotted the six-time champion in the 11th position heading into Saturday's final twin qualifying sessions, where WJ will look to continue his forward progress.

"We're not where we want to be yet, but we're certainly headed in the right direction. Our GM Performance Parts GTO made two pretty good runs today, and, more importantly, we have a good idea of what we need to do to make it even better. Even though the forecast is calling for it to be a little warmer tomorrow, we're hoping to keep climbing up the speed charts."

Hight's Quickest Ever FC 4.636 and Schumacher's 4.430 Kick-Off Qualifying at NHRA Phoenix

Schumacher, Hight and Line lead Pro qualiying at the NHRA POWERade Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals presented by Castrol.

For the second event in a row, Robert Hight has set the quickest ever funny car ET! Tony Schumacher ran the fourth quickest ever Top Fuel ET and Jason Line leads the Pro Stock field.

Georgia Racers:
Bob Vandergriff is #6 in Top Fuel at 4.523 @ 329.58 and Whit Bazemore is #18 (10.217 @ 73.97).

Warren Johnson is in the #11 spot ( 6.695 @ 207.21) and Kurt Johnson is 18th with a best of 6.713 @ 207.34.

NHRA Friday Recap

Blast From the Past Photos - Toby Denham Funny Car Shots from Commerce

Thanks to Toby Denham for sharing these funny car shots from the mid 1970s at Commerce, Ga. These are from the IHRA days with the Chi-Town Hustler in the top photo and it appears to be the Blue Max in the bottom shot.

WJ Works to Eliminate Errors in Phoenix

Contact: Jon G. Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing

GM Performance Parts crew targets defense of 2006 Firebird win

Sugar Hill , Ga., February 20, 2007 – Located in the northern reaches of the Sonoran desert, the city of Phoenix is one of the world's favorite vacation spots, particularly in the winter months. Offering the enticing combination of crystal clear blue skies and year round summer temperatures without oppressive humidity, the Arizona capital draws visitors looking to play golf or get away from the annual snowstorms that blanket the northern parts of the country.

Although Warren Johnson and the GM Performance Parts GTO Racing team will most certainly welcome the balmy weather upon their arrival in the Valley of the Sun, the purpose of their trip will have little to do with sitting by the pool or hitting the fairways. Instead, the heat they will be most interested in is their competitive fire, as they look to successfully defend their Pro Stock title at this weekend's Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler. In order to reach this goal, Johnson realizes that all facets of his racing program must be at their best and error-free, something he has been working on since his return from Pomona ten days ago.

"We've gotten our GM Performance Parts GTO to the point where it's relatively consistent, making decent runs every time out," stated Johnson. "In Pomona, we kept working on the tune-up, adapting to what it would give us, and by the end of qualifying were among the fastest cars out there. In that respect, we were happy coming away from that race.

"However, we know we still have several areas that we need to shore up. For example, we thought we would be in good shape in the horsepower department at the start of the season, but we had a series of setbacks as far as certain materials were concerned, forcing us to leave the new design engines at the shop for these first two races, going back to the pieces we ran at the end of last year. We hope to have a few things ready for Phoenix, but we'll adapt to whatever we have and make the best of it.

"In addition, I obviously need to pick up the pace on the driving end, which is a combination of both myself and the car. This chassis is a different design from any other I've driven, and for some reason I've never been able to cut great lights with it, so we may have change its configuration in the driver's compartment to help my performance in that area. It's all part of the total package that we are constantly working on, trying to make it better."

One area in which Johnson and crew chief Terry Adams are well versed is the racing surface at Firebird Raceway, site of this weekend's event. 2007 marks the 23rd year the NHRA has come to the Arizona desert, and Johnson has been a part of every race, winning three times in seven final round appearances. While some competitors cringe at the prospect of pushing the envelope on this wind-swept, bumpy quarter-mile, the six-time champion relishes the challenge. Entering this year's edition as the defending champion, he is targeting a return trip to the winner's circle.

"Firebird Raceway is my kind of racetrack because it takes a driver to get it to the other end," stated Johnson. "At some tracks, once you get it off the line, all you have left to do is talk to the announcer at the top end, but here, with the wind and sand blowing across the track, you have to be on your game all the way down or you can end up on your roof. With that in mind, and based on what we learned in Pomona, we're really looking forward to going back to Phoenix.

"Naturally, the win in Phoenix last year was the highlight of our season. We had a good weekend, fighting our way to the winner's circle from the eleventh starting spot. Unfortunately, from that point on we proceeded to shoot ourselves in the foot. However, instead of dwelling on our mistakes, we prefer to see them as part of racing's learning curve, doing what we can to make our program stronger in the long run. This year, we're looking for a repeat performance as well as a strong showing for the rest of the year. We certainly have our work cut out for us, but we're pretty optimistic about our chances."

Warren Johnson & the GM Performance Parts GTO Racing team

By the Numbers – Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals edition:

1 – Total number of WJ starts outside the top half of the field in Phoenix, which came one year ago, when he won.

3 – a) NHRA national event wins scored at Firebird Raceway by WJ, with the most recent coming one year ago.

b) WJ's average starting position in Phoenix in 22 starts.

6 – No. 1 qualifying performances by WJ at Firebird Raceway, most recently in 1999.

6.638 – WJ's career best elapsed time (in seconds) recorded in October 2006 in Richmond, VA

7 – WJ Firebird Raceway final round appearances, most recently in 2006

11 – Starting position for WJ's 2006 Phoenix win

22 – Career WJ Firebird Raceway appearances entering the 2007 season

41 – WJ Phoenix elimination round wins, versus 19 losses for an impressive .683 win percentage.

207.08 – Firebird Raceway Top Speed Record, set by WJ in February 2006

2006 – Year of WJ's most recent Phoenix win, when he qualified eleventh and defeated V. Gaines, Jason Line, Rickie Smith and Greg Anderson.

KJ Determined to Rise into Contention in Phoenix

Contact: Jon G. Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing

ACDelco Cobalt crew works to build on lessons learned in Pomona

Sugar Hill , Ga. , February 20, 2007 – Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team entered the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season determined to get their pursuit of the 2007 Pro Stock championship off to a strong start. In the season-opening race in Pomona two weeks ago, they accomplished their first objective by qualifying in the top half of the field. Entering race day they were cautiously optimistic about their chances for victory, but saw their day end early when a mysterious electrical malady slowed their race car just enough to drop a heartbreaker in the first round.

As the leader of a young and relatively inexperienced crew, Johnson knew this initial experience could have lasting repercussions if not addressed. Therefore, the second-generation racer immediately turned his team's attention on this weekend's Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals in Phoenix, AZ using lessons learned at the season-opener to put them in a better position to win in the Valley of the Sun.

"The ACDelco crew is definitely hungry heading into Phoenix," said Johnson. "Pomona was a tough race. We were fairly pleased with our effort in qualifying, but things just didn't go our way on Sunday. We started by having a freakish problem in the electrical system show itself one hour before we were supposed to run, forcing us to use a different strategy. We then lost in the first round by two thousandths of a second in what was the closest race of the day. To top it off, the guy who beat us goes all the way to the final. Looking back, we naturally feel we could have been there challenging for the win, but it didn't work out.

"It's certainly not a good way to start, but it could have been worse, so we're not about to let it get us down. In fact, we are more motivated than ever to get back to the winner's circle. As things stand right now, I believe we can run near the top, and I have a few ideas on how to pick up the pace even further. We're going to take what we learned off our runs in Pomona and tune up this ACDelco Cobalt for Phoenix."

In a somewhat ironic twist, Johnson's relationship with Firebird Raceway, site of this weekend's event, has also grown wings after a rocky start. During his rookie appearance at the Arizona quarter-mile, Johnson, in only the second start of his Pro Stock career, fell victim to the tricky crosswinds at the top end of the track after a second-round win over good friend and former teammate Scott Geoffrion, putting his race car on its roof. However, as he returns for his 15th NHRA national event in Chandler, the Georgia racer is one of only five drivers with multiple wins in the desert, having taken home the trophy in 1999 & 2004.

"I have seen both sides of the competitive spectrum at Firebird Raceway," stated Johnson. "I've ended the day in the winner's circle, and ended the day on my roof. It's a strange place to race at this time of year, one that puts you on the edge of your seat.

"It's a narrow track with an old, bumpy surface that dips in the middle and comes up at the finish line, with surroundings that differ from anywhere else we race. It can be hot or cold, dry or rainy. Basically, Firebird can be a handful, especially when the sand is blowing on the track, but it can also be good. You never know what to expect so we'll just wait and see what we find when we get there.

"Still, Phoenix would be a good place for us to win, and we feel that we can. We may not be at the top of the speed charts right now, but we're working on it. Besides, I think we have enough to get the job done right now, and we want to win for our new guys, as well as for everyone at ACDelco and Chevrolet. As the saying goes, strap in and hold on."

Kurt Johnson & the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team

By the Numbers - Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals edition:

2 – KJ Firebird Raceway wins, which came in 1999 & 2004

5 – Different types of car that KJ has raced at Firebird Raceway (Oldsmobile Cutlass, Pontiac Firebird, Chevrolet Camaro, Cavalier & Cobalt)

6.613 – KJ's career best elapsed time (in seconds) recorded in October 2006 in Richmond, VA

12 – Top half qualifying starts for Kurt in Phoenix, where his average starting position is 5.71

14 – Previous KJ Firebird Raceway starts, dating back to his rookie debut in 1993.

18 – KJ Phoenix round wins, versus 12 losses for a .600 win percentage

209.26 - KJ's career best top speed (in mph) recorded in October 2006 in Richmond, VA

2004 – Year of KJ's most recent Firebird Raceway win, when he qualified fifth and defeated J.R. Carr, his father Warren Johnson, Greg Anderson and David Connolly.

Event Schedule:
Friday, February 23: Two qualifying sessions at 1:30 & 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 24: Two qualifying sessions at 12 noon & 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 25: Pre-race ceremonies starting at 10:00 a.m.
First Round of Eliminations at 11:00 a.m.

Television Coverage:
Qualifying: Sunday, February 25: 12:00 midnight – 1 a.m.
Eliminations: Sunday, February 25: 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.
NHRA RaceDay: Sunday, February 25: 11:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Bogacki leads both DRR categories after J.W. Performance Transmission Peach State Bracket Nationals

From Tim Glover
by DRR staff


(Adel, Georgia) Over 150 race cars made the first round call during day one of the 2007 DragRaceResults.com series season opener J.W. Performance Transmission Peach State Bracket Nationals, held on February 17-18, 2007. The competition was tight as the racers braved the cool temps on the hard-hooking South Georgia Motorsports Park track to make day one of the Peach State Bracket Nationals a success. "Cool Hand" Luke Bogacki enjoyed a terrific weekend, finishing in three final rounds, and left the facility leading the points in both CSR Super Pro and the Sportsman categories.

Saturday
Bobby Hattaway of Cleveland, Ga. took the CSR Super Pro win with his J.W. performance Transmission Ultrabell equipped '67 Camaro after defending CSR Division Two champion Luke Bogacki fouled by -.001 in the final round.

Jason Rollins of Alachua, Fla. put together a string of great reaction times, with close or right on runs in his '71 Nova as he charged through the Sportsman field to defeat Ken Grant's '90 Chevy pickup truck. The final round saw another right on run by Rollins that forced Grant under his dial by .003.

Bryant Denning, an active duty Coast Guard Flight Mechanic from Rincon, Ga., drove his 1969 Pontiac powered Firebird to the DRR Trophy victory.

Ty Ty, Ga. racer Bobby Mouat added another win to his impressive career as this young rising star defeated Daniel Young of Palm Harbor, Fla. for the day one Race Tech Junior Dragster title.

CSR Super Pro racer Bug McCarty from Hazelhurst, Ga., took the early lead in the 2007 Pace American / Barker Trailer Sales Run for the Trailer with a dead-on 5.800 and a .028 light. Scott Deese of Dothan Alabama won the Sportsman portion of the Run for the Trailer, and Allen Rouse Jr. from Jacksonville, Fla. took home Saturday's portion of the Run for the Money.


Sunday
With another great turn out, day two of the J.W. Performance Transmission Peach State Bracket Nationals was completed as racers, crews, fans and track personnel braved temperatures in the 40's. Our hat is off to Richard Hall and the entire crew of South Georgia Motorsports Park for providing a well prepared and safe track. Even with a headwind, nearly all racers saw their elapsed times remain constant from Saturday's milder conditions.

Woodville, Alabama's Luke Bogacki used a string of near perfect reaction times and dead on runs to march through seven rounds of Sportsman and seven rounds of CSR Super Pro to earn a double win on Sunday.

The Super Pro finals paired Bogacki against Nick Griswold's Dunlap, Tenn. based '68 Camaro. Griswold gave away his chances of a win at the starting line with a -.028 red light, giving Luke an easy pass for the victory.

In Sportsman action, Bogacki used a near perfect .001 reaction to help push John Rollins' Tallahassee, Fla. based '72 Nova under its 6.52 dial by .005 seconds.

Jeff Berrier raced through four rounds of competition to garner the victory in the DRR Trophy class. Mitchell Gunter fouled away his opportunity for a victory in the final, handing the win to Berrier with a -.082 red light.

Bobby Mouat claimed his second victory in as many days in Sunday's Race Tech Jr. Dragster class. Mouat came back from a first round defeat and raced through six rounds to meet Commerce, Ga.'s Taylor Ramsey in the finals. A great .007 holeshot ensured Mouat's victory as he pushed Taylor under her dial by .02 seconds. Mouat took the early Race Tech Jr Dragster points lead by winning both days.

Steve Sheppard earned the Sunday Run for the Trailer win in CSR Super Pro. Melissa Tramontana won the Sportsman portion of the Run for event, and Eric Rodden earned the Race Tech Jr Dragster cash.

Always looking to add value to the series, Danny Sons and Chris Barker created the DRR Super Pro Shootout to the 2007 season lineup. The Shootout enhances the opportunities for the competitors to win an additional $5000 at each event. "This is a special non-points race for the first 16 competitors who sign up," stated Sons. Look for this program at every race this year with an even larger payout at the season's final race, the Pro Bracket Masters Championship Shootout. Randy Anderson used a .001 reaction time and a .01 over his 6.50 dial against Carey Locke's .005 light and .02 over 4.71 for the DRR Super Pro Shootout win on Sunday.

Book Review: Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke - Bob McClurg’s Drag Racing Memories

Book Review: Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke - Bob McClurg’s Drag Racing Memories

Review by David Dilbeck
EditorGeorgiaDragRacing.com


If you think Bob's latest book from CarTech Inc., Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke - Bob McClurg's Drag Racing Memories, is much the same as his last book (Diggers, Funnies, Gassers & Altereds - Drag Racing's Golden Age), you are mistaken! After reviewing my copy, I was thrilled to see more great examples of his photographic work (and G.K. Callaway & others), but what makes this book memorable to me is the photo captions from Bob. His recollections provide a different insight - informative, often humorous and sometimes surprising with his "inside" view of drag racing. I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the photos and reading Bob's thoughts and I think you will, too!

The chapters included in Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke - Bob McClurg's Drag Racing Memories are, Diggers, New Age Diggers, Funnies, Gassers & Altereds, Pro Stocks and Exhibition Cars. Something for just about every drag racing fan! A couple of my favorite photos are off the line, wheels-up shots of Bill Stiles in his Duster and Roy Hill in his Petty built Duster - great early Pro Stock action! I’m not going to try to list all the great shots in this book, but I don’t think you will be disappointed with the photos from any of the different chapters!

The book is a 8 1/2" x 11" softbound, 160 page book filled with more than 300 spectacular photos (color and b/w) of wheelies, burnouts, racing action, explosions, turbine cars, jet cars, rocket cars ( & a rocket Go Kart) and wheelie cars! Photos of most of the top drag racing stars are included as expected, but many lesser known drag cars are included, too. Georgia is not left out as photos of Reid Whisnant, Dyno Don Nicholson and Linda Vaughn are included.

Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke - Bob McClurg's Drag Racing Memories is another winning book from CarTech that any drag racing fan will love to have. Be sure to pick up a copy soon!

Purchasing Information:
You may order Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke - Bob McClurg's Drag Racing Memories directly from Amazon.com or you may purchase it at your local book store.

Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke - Bob McClurg's Drag Racing Memories can also be purchased from CarTech (1-800-551-4754 or http://www.cartechbooks.com/). A $4.95 shipping and handling fee will be added to each order.

Thanks to Marie Norton at CarTech, Inc. for supplying GeorgiaDragRacing.com a review copy of Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke - Bob McClurg's Drag Racing Memories!

The Bazemore Bulletin

The Bazemore Bulletin - The prerace release of 20-time NHRA winner Whit Bazemore and the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Top Fuel team
Contact: Ted Yerzyk


23rd annual Checker Schuck’s Kragen Nationals
February 23-25, 2007
Firebird International Raceway
Chandler, Ariz.

"I'm going to my second race in Top Fuel. I have a better idea of what to expect and more experience in the car. Confidence-wise, I'll be way more confident in Phoenix than at Pomona and that's important. I feel really good about every aspect of our team. I'm confident that I can compete."


Bazemore CSK Nationals Notebook
Last February, Bazemore qualified 11th at the CSK Nationals with a run of 4.780 seconds at 315.71 mph. He was defeated in the opening round of eliminations to then teammate Ron Capps.

Four weeks ago, Bazemore cross-graded his NHRA Funny Car license for eligibility to compete in the Top Fuel category. Bazemore had driven Funny Cars since 1989. He first-ever pass in a Top Fuel dragster came on Jan. 26, 2007, at the Phoenix-area track. He made a testing-best run of 4.500 seconds on Jan. 31.

Firebird International Raceway is one of 9 current tracks where Bazemore has yet to win a race. He has claimed victories at 12 tracks and multiple wins at 6 tracks. He has advanced to the semifinals four times at the Phoenix-area track.

The highest Bazemore has qualified at the Phoenix race is second in 2004 when he clocked a run of 4.782 seconds at 322.34 mph.

At the 2007 NHRA season-opener, Bazemore qualified in the No. 7 position (4.507 seconds) and advanced the second round of eliminations before falling in a narrow match to teammate Rod Fuller, 4.557 to 4.561. He currently sits sixth in the Top Fuel standings.

Baze Banters About Phoenix...

Firebird International Raceway: "Desert Dirt"

Favorite Phoenix-area cycling route: "Mt. Lemon in Tucson"

Favorite local restaurants: "Sakana"

Favorite Firebird Int’l Raceway memory: "Several times doing well at testing and you start the year off well."

2007 NHRA Top Fuel Standings
1. J.R. Todd (1) 114 - - - -
2. Brandon Bernstein 95 - 19
3. ROD FULLER 77 -37
4. David Grubnic 73 -41
5. Doug Kalitta 55 -59
6. WHIT BAZEMORE 53 -61
7. Bob Vandergriff, Jr. 52 -62
8. Joe Hartley 51 -63
9. Tony Schumacher 38 -76
10. Larry Dixon 34 -80

Whit Bazemore's Career Results at Firebird International Raceway
Year Qualified Finish & Winning Driver
1992 No. 14 2nd round—Richard Hartman
1993 No. 8 1st round—Kenji Okazaki
1995 No. 9 1st round—Tony Pedregon
1996 No. 6 Semifinals—Chuck Etchells
1997 No. 10 Semifinals—John Force
1998 No. 10 2nd round—Chuck Etchells
1999 No. 3 Semifinals—Cruz Pedregon
2000 No. 11 1st round—Al Hofmann
2001 No. 3 1st round—Del Worsham
2002 No. 16 1st round—John Force
2003 No. 6 Semifinals—Gary Densham
2004 No. 2 2nd round—Del Worsham
2005 No. 14 2nd round—Phil Burkart, Jr.
2006 No. 11 1st round—Ron Capps (foul)

Whit Bazemore's Phoenix Schedule
Date & Time Event and Location
Fri., Feb. 23, 2/4:30 p.m. TF Qualifying 1/2, Firebird Int'l Raceway
Sat., Feb. 24, 12:30/3 p.m. TF Qualifying 3/4, Firebird Int'l Raceway
Sun., Feb. 25, 11 a.m. Final Eliminations, Firebird Int'l Raceway

Whit Bazemore's Career-Best Performances
E.T.—4.507 seconds (TF) Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2007
MPH—329.75 MPH (TF) Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2007
E.T.—4.674 seconds (FC) Joliet, Ill. June 2006
MPH—333.25 MPH (FC) Joliet, Ill. June 2004

Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals TV Schedule (ESPN2)
Date & Time (ET) Coverage
Sat., Feb. 25, 12-1 a.m. Qualifying Highlights
Sun., Feb. 25, 11:30 a.m.-Noon NHRA Raceday
Sun., Feb. 25, 7-10 p.m. Final Eliminations Coverage
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