Etchells Racing Friday notes

Whit Bazemore's pursuit of a fourth straight No.1 qualifying position got off to a rough start in today's opening qualifying sessions for The Colonel's Truck Accessories Nationals. In each of his two attempts, tire smoke signaled a speed-robbing loss of traction, slowing Bazemore to a best elapsed time of 6.883 seconds. Relegated to an uncharacteristic 15th place halfway through qualifying, the Kendall Motor Oil/Matco Tools Camaro Z28 Racing team was determined to rectify the situation during Saturday's time trials.

"The car was a little loose at the hit, then it dried up and seemed like it was going to make it. But then about 1.8 seconds in, it started to lose traction. I pedaled it, but it still smoked 'em, so I pedaled it again and waited to let it to hook up. After that, it just started to fall off. Right now, the problem is that our car just doesn't seem to be responding to changes in the tune-up. It's a frustrating situation for all involved, but the Etchells crew is working hard to fix it.

"Looking at the time sheet, it seems like it was feast or famine for the entire Funny Car field. Some guys have run really well, while others struggled. In our case, we have to find the sweet spot in the tune-up on this Kendall/Matco Camaro. We know that if we go down the track, we'll run a killer number. But the key is getting down the track, and that's what we're focused on doing."