NHRA

Memphis: Whit Bazemore Saturday summary

BAZEMORE QUALIFIES NO. 11 IN MEMPHIS MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 19, 2006) - Whit Bazemore drove the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into No. 11 in qualifying for the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals, posting his quickest pass of the ...

Published: Aug 20, 2006, 1:31 PM

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BAZEMORE QUALIFIES NO. 11 IN MEMPHIS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 19, 2006) - Whit Bazemore drove the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into No. 11 in qualifying for the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals, posting his quickest pass of the weekend in the final round: 4.948 seconds at 300.66 mph.

In only three qualifying rounds held because of a three-hour rain delay on Friday, Bazemore also clocked a tire-smoking 5.048/264.49 last night and another less-than-perfect pass of 5.289/215.03 earlier today in 100-degree temperatures.

"It was good," said Bazemore of that last pass in slightly cooler air. "We would have liked to have been more aggressive tonight, but because we struggled a little bit last night we had to go down the track tonight and just try to move up. We couldn't risk overstepping the boundary.

"It's been a good weekend so far. We made good progress every run with the Matco Tools Dodge and we had a few little things that weren't 100 percent. The last run was good and I think tomorrow - especially in the first round and probably the second - it's going to be whoever goes down the race track is going to win," he said of the extreme heat that is expected again on Sunday. "It puts more pressure on the drivers to be in a position to help the car go down the race track, so those are the conditions that we typically enjoy and some of the races we have won have been in those kinds of conditions, so we like that.

"It's awfully hot, it's miserable here. It is what it is. It doesn't bother me physically. I feel good. I've ridden (on his Seven Cycle) 40 miles every morning from the track. I feel nice and relaxed all day. When you're sweating, and it's 100 degrees and you're packing the parachute or driving the car, you're just drenched all day. In that aspect, it's not a job on Wall Street. The rest of the time it doesn't bother me at all."

Bazemore faces Tommy Johnson Jr. in first round of eliminations on Sunday.

-credit: dsr

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