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ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 23, 2007) – Whit Bazemore looks to earn his second career win at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park when he will start from the No. 6 qualifying position. The veteran nitro pilot raced his Matco Tools rail to the No. 6 qualifying position Saturday afternoon with a run of 4.521 seconds at a track-record speed, 332.51 mph.
Bazemore drove the Matco Tools rail to 4.5-second passes in three of the four qualifying sessions this weekend. His best lap came Friday evening when he used a Lee Beard tune-up to clock a run of 4.521 seconds at 332.51 mph to claim the sixth quickest run of the weekend. Bazemore clocked the third quickest run of Saturday’s first qualifying session with an elapsed time of 4.582 at 310.77. It is the second time that he has qualified sixth this season. Beard called the shots one year ago when Bazemore’s teammate Rod Fuller claimed the title at the Englishtown event.
“We feel confident,” Bazemore said. “We went down three of four runs. We have a tough opponent in Larry Dixon, but we’ll be ready to race. We’re working hard to turn our season around. We’re excited to be in the show and excited about the opportunity.”
“We got down the track three out of the four sessions,” Beard added. “Anytime you can go to Raceway Park in Englishtown , N.J. and set the track record for speed, that’s pretty awesome performance. We’re focused on our consistency under hot conditions because that’s what we’ll be faced with during eliminations and the next few months.”
Bazemore will battle No. 11 qualifier Larry Dixon in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations at 11 a.m. (ET) on Sunday. He is 0-1 in his brief Top Fuel career against the two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion. ESPN2 will televise three hours of final eliminations coverage at 10 p.m. (ET) on Sunday evening.
Q1 4.577 ET, 326.00 MPH No. 2
Q2 4.521 ET, 332.51 MPH No. 6
Q3 4.582 ET, 310.77 MPH No. 6
Q4 5.957 ET, 144.00 MPH No. 6
No. 1 Qualifiers
Top Fuel – Tony Schumacher
Funny Car – Tommy Johnson, Jr.
Pro Stock – Greg Anderson
Pro Stock Motorcycle – Angelle Sampey
BAZEMORE RACES TO NO. 6 SPOT AT ENGLISHTOWN,
SETS TRACK SPEED RECORD AT MORE THAN 332 MPH
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 23, 2007) – Whit Bazemore looks to earn his second career win at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park when he will start from the No. 6 qualifying position. The veteran nitro pilot raced his Matco Tools rail to the No. 6 qualifying position Saturday afternoon with a run of 4.521 seconds at a track-record speed, 332.51 mph.
Bazemore drove the Matco Tools rail to 4.5-second passes in three of the four qualifying sessions this weekend. His best lap came Friday evening when he used a Lee Beard tune-up to clock a run of 4.521 seconds at 332.51 mph to claim the sixth quickest run of the weekend. Bazemore clocked the third quickest run of Saturday’s first qualifying session with an elapsed time of 4.582 at 310.77. It is the second time that he has qualified sixth this season. Beard called the shots one year ago when Bazemore’s teammate Rod Fuller claimed the title at the Englishtown event.
“We feel confident,” Bazemore said. “We went down three of four runs. We have a tough opponent in Larry Dixon, but we’ll be ready to race. We’re working hard to turn our season around. We’re excited to be in the show and excited about the opportunity.”
“We got down the track three out of the four sessions,” Beard added. “Anytime you can go to Raceway Park in Englishtown , N.J. and set the track record for speed, that’s pretty awesome performance. We’re focused on our consistency under hot conditions because that’s what we’ll be faced with during eliminations and the next few months.”
Bazemore will battle No. 11 qualifier Larry Dixon in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations at 11 a.m. (ET) on Sunday. He is 0-1 in his brief Top Fuel career against the two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion. ESPN2 will televise three hours of final eliminations coverage at 10 p.m. (ET) on Sunday evening.
Q1 4.577 ET, 326.00 MPH No. 2
Q2 4.521 ET, 332.51 MPH No. 6
Q3 4.582 ET, 310.77 MPH No. 6
Q4 5.957 ET, 144.00 MPH No. 6
No. 1 Qualifiers
Top Fuel – Tony Schumacher
Funny Car – Tommy Johnson, Jr.
Pro Stock – Greg Anderson
Pro Stock Motorcycle – Angelle Sampey
