Pomona2: Whit Bazemore final summary

Bazemore advances to second round at Winternationals

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 29, 2004) - Having a two-car team can be beneficial when trading information, but when it comes to head-to-head competition, one team member always has to lose. Today Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus Funny Car driver Whit Bazemore was the one on the losing end in the second round of the K&N Filters Winternationals when his opponent and teammate Gary Scelzi crossed the finish line first by an agonizingly close margin of .0768 of a second.

Bazemore was first in reaction time, .074 to Scelzi's .080, but it was Scelzi, who had qualified No. 4, ahead the rest of the way down the quarter-mile, defeating Bazemore with a 4.801-second elapsed time at 319.37 mph to his teammate's 4.883/314.31.

"It's just like beating any other team out there or getting beat by another team," said Bazemore, who had qualified fifth for this season-opening event of the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. "We approached it like any other round and we knew we had to run probably a high 4.70 (-second elapsed time) in the conditions that were out there for the second round."

However, after the crew checked over the data and the car following that run, a mechanical problem was found. "We battled ignition problems all weekend," added Bazemore, "and in the second round we had an ignition parts failure that made us lose power."

Bazemore is still ahead of his teammate in the win column with three career round wins against Scelzi to Scelzi's two against Bazemore.

In the first round, Bazemore easily dismissed Bob Bode with a 4.837/319.45 to Bode's 11.026/78.44.

-dsr-