Tucson Dragway

The prerace release of 20-time NHRA winner Whit Bazemore
 and the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Top Fuel team 
Contact: Ted Yerzyk, (317) 892-5040 o, or (760) 207-9767 c
ted@davidpowersmotorsports.com 
20th annual O’Reilly Spring Nationals
March 30-April 1, 2007
Houston Raceway Park
Baytown, Texas 
“I feel very confident going into Houston simply because we’ve had a good year. We’ve had good performance and the team is working hard to improve upon our performance. We’ve made some good progress in testing and we hope that we can go to Houston with a higher level of performance.”
Bazemore Houston Notebook

--Last year, Bazemore qualified 9th at the Houston race with a run of 4.818 seconds. He was defeated in the opening round of eliminations by Tony Pedregon.

--Houston Raceway Park is one of 9 current tracks where Bazemore has yet to win a race. He has claimed victories at 12 race tracks, and multiple wins at 6 tracks.

--Bazemore qualified first at the Houston race in 2002 (4.800, 318.92). He has 29 career poles.

--Bazemore powered his Matco Tools Funny Car to low elapsed time of the meet at the Houston race in 2002 (4.800 seconds). He has earned low E.T. honors 24 times.

--Bazemore raced his Funny Car to top speed of the meet at the Houston Raceway Park in 1997 after blasting to a run of 313.04 mph. He has earned the top speed of the meet 27 times in his career.

--Bazemore enters the Houston race third in the POWERade standings following consecutive semifinal finishes at Phoenix and Gainesville. He trails teammate and points leader Rod Fuller by 69 points.
Baze Banters About Houston...
Houston:
“Hot” 
Houston Raceway Park:
“High performance” 
Favorite Houston-area cycling route:
“Around the track” 
Favorite local restaurants:
“Seafood at Kemah Boardwalk” 
Favorite Houston Raceway Park memory:
“Going 313 mph in 1997”
 2007 NHRA Top Fuel Standings
1. ROD FULLER (1) 271 - - - -
2. Tony Schumacher (1)                232 -39
3. WHIT BAZEMORE 202 -69
4. J.R. Todd (1) 178 -93
5. Larry Dixon 165 -106
6. Brandon Bernstein 161 -110
7. Dave Grubnic 157            -114
                Bob Vandergriff, Jr. 157             -114
9.          Doug Kalitta                             138             -133
10.         Bob Vandergriff, Jr.                     121             -150 
Whit Bazemore’s Career Results at Houston Raceway
Year Qualified Finish & Winning Driver
1990 No. 12 1st round—Tom Hoover
1991 DNQ
1992 No. 11 1st round—Tom Hoover
1993 No. 16 1st round—John Force
1994 No. 13 1st round—Al Hofmann
1995 No. 9 2nd round—Mark Oswald
1996 No. 14 1st round—Al Hofmann
1997 No. 2 Semifinals—Tony Pedregon
                No. 9                         2nd round—Tony Pedregon
1998      No. 10                     1st round—Al Hofmann
                No. 3                     Runner-up—Cruz Pedregon
1999      No. 4                     2nd round—Del Worsham
            No.  2                    1st round—Kenny Sayers
2000      No. 3                 2nd round—Tony Pedregon
                No. 5                 Semifinals—Tony Pedregon
2001      No. 2                 Semifinals—John Force
2002      No. 1                 Semifinals—John Force
2003      No. 2                 Semifinals—Tony Pedregon
2004      No. 11                 1st round—Del Worsham
2005      No. 12                 2nd round—John Force
2006  No. 9                     1st round—Tony Pedregon
Bazemore’s Houston Schedule
Date & Time Event and Location
Fri., March 30, 4/7 p.m. TF Qualifying 1/2, Houston Raceway Park
Sat., March 31, Noon/3 p.m. TF Qualifying 3/4, Houston Raceway Park
Sun., April 1, 11 a.m. Final Eliminations, Houston Raceway Park
Bazemore’s Career-Best Performances
E.T.—4.507 seconds Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2007
MPH—329.75 MPH (TF) Pomona, Calif. Feb. 2007
MPH—333.25 MPH (FC) Joliet, Ill. June 2004
O’Reilly Spring Nationals TV Schedule (ESPN2)
Date & Time (ET) Coverage
Sun., March 31, 7-9 p.m. Qualifying Highlights
Sun., April 1, 11-11:30 a.m. NHRA Race Day
Sun., April 1, 4-7 p.m. Final Eliminations Coverage