Brainerd: Whit Bazemore Saturday summary

Bazemore No. 5 in Brainerd qualifying

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 14, 2004) - Whit Bazemore, driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus Funny Car, qualified No. 5 for Sunday's Lucas Oil Nationals, posting the following four qualifying rounds:

Bazemore: "Today was a good day. So far, the Matco Tools team has done fairly well. We're pretty happy with the way the car has responded to the conditions that we've been faced with and the changes that have happened. I think our testing at Route 66 Raceway last week definitely paid off (under cool conditions similar to the ones here in Brainerd), and we we're able to come into the race here in Brainerd with some ideas that we didn't have before testing and ideas that we wouldn't have implemented during a race.

"So, we're still going in a certain direction with the race car and we feel very confident. We're on a good side of the ladder tomorrow, and it's imperative at this point for our championship hopes that we go rounds and have a good day.

"It's more than just wanting to win a race. We find ourselves in a situation where now is the time that we have to really step up at the plate and perform. As a driver, it's the kind of pressure that I really like and it 's the kind of pressure I think that our team will thrive under. For that reason we have a lot of confidence and we're ready to go race tomorrow."

-dsr-