Brainerd Chuck Etchells Sunday Pit Notes

Bazemore Banter Final Results from the 18th annual The Colonel's Truck Accessories Nationals

Bazemore's strong run extends into Brainerd final

Day/Date: Sunday, August 22, 1999 Location: Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd, Minnesota

Qualifying: 3rd, 4.984 seconds, 299.66 miles-per-hour

Eliminations: First round: Whit Bazemore (.536 r.t., 5.107 E.T., 289.76 mph) defeated Tim Wilkerson (.534 r.t., 6.304 E.T., 155.47 mph) Second round: Whit Bazemore (.546 r.t., 11.681 E.T., 72.84 mph) defeated Al Hofmann (No Show) Semi-finals: Whit Bazemore (.519 r.t., 4.997 E.T., 299.40 mph) defeated Ron Capps (.537 r.t., 5.123, No Top Speed Recorded) Finals: John Force ( .490 r.t., 4.929 E.T., 313.80 mph) defeated Whit Bazemore ( .473 r.t., 5.000 E.T., 305.77 mph)

For the fourth race in a row, Whit Bazemore found himself in what is becoming extremely familiar territory - the Funny Car final, this time at the The Colonel's Truck Accessories Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota. After defeating Tim Wilkerson, Al Hofmann and Ron Capps in the earlier rounds, the Kendall Oil/Superwinch Camaro Z28 pilot faced his arch-rival, John Force. Despite gaining a slight advantage at the start and recording his top speed of the weekend at 305.77 miles-per-hour, Bazemore's 5.000-second run was not enough to secure his second win of the season. Despite the disappointment, Bazemore was pleased with the weekend's results, which saw him gain additional ground on second place Tony Pedregon.

"We were definitely having problems throughout the day with our car. We made a lot of major changes and we thought we knew what we had to do to get the job done, but the car didn't have enough snot (power). I think Tim (crew chief Richards) found the problem we had been experiencing all day before the final, and we basically ran out of runs.

"But this whole Kendall Camaro team is really happy to be runner-up again. We were pretty fortunate today. We didn't run nearly as good as we could have, but we still ran well. We were the number three qualifier here on a run that would have been tremendous had the car been perfect. We just never got the car right this weekend until the final. We think we found the problem, which is a good thing, because from here we're headed to Indy.

"Being to four finals in a row feels awfully good. Today was important because we got the job done and made it to the final when we really didn't expect to. When you're able to get good results when you're struggling, that's a good weekend."