NHRA

Commerce: Whit Bazemore preview

POINTS LEADER BAZEMORE SET TO DEFEND HIS 2004 TITLE IN ATLANTA COMMERCE, Ga. (May 11, 2005) - Whit Bazemore is enjoying the limelight as the POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader, the only driver to have won twice in that class this ...

Published: May 12, 2005, 1:22 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

POINTS LEADER BAZEMORE SET TO DEFEND HIS 2004 TITLE IN ATLANTA

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 11, 2005) - Whit Bazemore is enjoying the limelight as the POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader, the only driver to have won twice in that class this year, and as the defending Funny Car champion coming into the Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway this weekend, the seventh of 23 national events in 2005.

The icing on the cake is that he calls this dragstrip in Commerce, Ga., his home track. Growing up in Atlanta, his dad used to drop him off at the track to watch the drag races, then pick him up at the end of the day. As a youngster he dreamed of competing here in a Funny Car. He achieved that goal and has earned two victories here, including 2004, when he beat his teammate Gary Scelzi for the trophy. He also won in 2002 and was runner-up in 1999.

"We've done well here," said the driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing who is seeking his first Funny Car championship crown. "We're excited. We're rolling into Atlanta in the points lead, which is a goal that I've always had and it's a track that has suited our Matco Tools Dodge and we've had good success here. (Crew chief) Lee (Beard) and the guys have a handle on it.

"This year the track prep has been a lot different than it has been in the past, so it may be a different type of race track. We'll just have to see.

"It's my home track and so we always have a lot of friends and family here, and it's always exciting to show off a little bit."

Bazemore held onto the points lead despite a first-round loss at Bristol Dragway two weekends ago, as the other two top contenders for the No. 1 spot also lost in the first round. He holds a 58-point cushion over John Force, a 60-point lead over Cruz Pedregon, is 63 points ahead of his teammate Gary Scelzi and 73 over Robert Hight in fifth.

Admittedly, Bazemore has not won two races this year with the fastest or quickest car. Strategy, driving talent and luck played a huge part. With the points spread between the top five so thin, he knows it will be tough to maintain top-dog status.

"We'll see. We tested in Bristol and we feel good about what we did there," said Bazemore. "We'll see how it goes in Atlanta. I'm not going to predict anything.

"Obviously Bristol worked in our favor a little bit, despite a first-round loss. Force and Hight going out early was key. It's great that our teammate Scelzi came up and won that race. That's a car and team that, quite honestly, should probably be where we are. They're definitely going to be a strong team that we're going to have to face for the rest of the year, I'm sure, but especially this next set of races coming up."

Atlanta begins a three-race back-to-back sweep, followed by a weekend off and another three-race sweep. Bazemore, wife Michelle and new son Dashiell will travel together cross-country in their motor coach.

"To have basically six races in seven weeks is a lot, but it's fun," said Bazemore, who calls Indianapolis his home now. "It's what we do. I love racing. We'll just get the oil changed in the Marathon coach and we'll be on the road.

"It's going to be different traveling with Dashiell, but I'm really excited about it. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's going to be fun. It's a lot of travel, a lot of races, but it's what we want."

And these back-to-back races are good from a racing standpoint. "It gives you an opportunity, if you're on a roll a little bit, to pick up some good momentum," he added.

-dsr-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Commerce: Tony Pedregon preview

Next article Commerce: GM Racing preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry

WEC

WEC WEC 3 min

Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry

Jorge Martin the slowest Aprilia in Australia practice: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here”

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

42 min

Jorge Martin the slowest Aprilia in Australia practice: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here”

2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits

General

Misc General 1 h

2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits

Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

1 h

Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts