Denver: Whit Bazemore preview

The Bazemore Bulletin
The pre-race release of 20-time NHRA winner Whit Bazemore and the Matco Tools Top Fuel team

"We really like going to Denver. We love the city and we like the race track a lot. It's not your standard drag strip and that makes it more interesting. It presents a different challenge being at altitude. It's a hard race. We're proud of our record there and we'd like to add to it."

Bazemore Denver Notebook

Last weekend at Bristol Dragway, Bazemore qualified his Matco Tools dragster second with a run of 4.547 seconds at 327.43 mph. It was his best qualifying position since earning the pole at the Houston race in late March.

Bazemore enters the Denver race ranked ninth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings with 549 points. He trails teammate and point-leader Rod Fuller by 312. Bazemore trails eighth-place racer Melanie Troxel by just two points for the coveted No. 8 position in the Countdown to the Championship.

Last June, Bazemore qualified his Matco Tools Funny Car seventh with a run of 4.952 seconds at 311.70 mph at the Denver race. He lost in round one to John Force.

Bazemore has two victories (1997, 2000) in three career final-round appearances at the Denver race. He has multiple wins at six current NHRA tracks.

Bazemore has five career poles at Bandimere Speedway, the most he has recorded at any track. His average starting position at the Denver track is 5.5.

Bazemore has 30 career poles. At the Houston race in March, he

became the 15th driver in NHRA history to earn poles in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions.

Baze Banters About Denver...

Denver: "Mountains"

Bandimere Speedway: "Difficult"

Favorite local restaurant: "Pei Wei or the Morrison Inn"

Favorite Bandimere Speedway racing memory: "Winning the race in '97. The final round against (Chuck) Etchells was a pretty good race."

Favorite Denver-area cycling route: "Going up Mt. Evans from Idaho Springs or the Lookout Mountain loop we do from track."

-credit: dpm