Phoenix: Whit Bazemore Saturday summary

BAZEMORE NABS NO. 11 IN PHOENIX QUALIFYING

CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 25, 2006) - Whit Bazemore, driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car, collected the No. 11 position after four qualifying rounds for the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway.

The two-time U.S. Nationals champion is seeking his first win at this track to round out his career victories to 20.

Bazemore posted his quickest pass of the weekend in the final qualifying session, a 4.780-second ET at 317.94 mph, which was followed by a scary 'chute-less run to the end of the track, when the parachute lever broke. The car stopped safely, with no damage resulting to the car.

His earlier passes included a 4.899/295.92, a 5.565/182.16 and a 4.819/318.62.

"Everybody is working hard on this Matco Tools Dodge team, and the performance is hard to find," he said. "We haven't had perfect runs yet, but we're working hard to make that happen.

"The fact that we ran a 4.78 on a less than perfect run is to me very encouraging."

Bazemore faces his teammate Ron Capps in first round of eliminations on Sunday.

-dsr