2006-05-23
[Mopar Speed]
Team Mopar driver Whit Bazemore had his strongest performance of the year over the weekend, as the two-time U.S. Nationals champion reached the final round of the Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio. The outing was Bazemore’s first finals appearance since he won the Las Vegas 1 event in 2005.
Bazemore qualified fourth, then drove his Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T to wins over Bob Gilbertson, Del Worsham and Eric Medlen. He matched up with Tony Pedregon in the final round and led out of the gate, but a parts failure ended his bid for the win.
"It's a huge effort and it's fun," said Bazemore, who improved to eighth in the NHRA POWERade Funny Car points standings. "We're having fun. I'm having fun. The car is so perfect. We had to fight it a little bit going down the track, but I love it."
Current Funny Car points leader and Team Mopar driver Ron Capps exited in the first round, but took comfort in the fact second-place John Force also went to the trailer after the first round. Capps, who debuted his Brut Dodge Charger R/T at Columbus, currently has a 91-point lead over Force. Reigning NHRA Funny Car Champion Gary Scelzi racked up another quarterfinals appearance in his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T [he was forced to switch from the Charger after damage in qualifying], but he was unable to go any further after suffering a rare broken rear-end. Scelzi is currently 11th in the points race.
Next up for the Team Mopar and Don Schumacher Racing trio is the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals, scheduled for this Thursday through Sunday. Qualifying coverage can be seen on ESPN on Saturday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST. Finals coverage begins Sunday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. For more info on Capps, Scelzi, Bazemore or the NHRA, log on to shoeracing.com or nhra.com
