Indy ORP: Whit Bazemore Saturday notes

BAZEMORE IMPROVES SATURDAY AT U.S. NATIONALS

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 1, 2007) -- Whit Bazemore and his Matco Tools team improved Saturday at the 53rd annual U.S. Nationals. The two-time U.S. Nationals winner (1997, 2001) recorded top speed of the day at 330.23 mph.

Bazemore's Matco Tools rail overpowered the race track on its first two qualifying attempts of the weekend at the storied Indianapolis drag strip before he posted a solid effort on his third pass. The veteran racer and longtime Indianapolis resident blistered the O.R.P. quarter mile in 4.601 seconds at 330.23 mph on Saturday's second attempt. He now sits 18th in the order.

"I should have just legged it," Bazemore said. "It shook and I pedaled it. It was a good pedal job other than the car would have made it. It's very frustrating. It's one of those situations that you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. The car hasn't been going down the track as consistently as we'd like. This car doesn't usually make it through shake. The end result is that we have to run a high 4.50 to qualify and that's what we're going to do."

Top Fuel qualifying will conclude with sessions four and five scheduled for 12:45 and 3:40 p.m. (ET) on Sunday afternoon.

-credit: dpm