BAZEMORE RUNS TO FIFTH SPOT ON FRIDAY
SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2007) – Whit Bazemore began the day happy and left Infineon Raceway frustrated. The 20-time NHRA winner posted the fifth quickest run of the opening day of qualifying at the FRAM-Autolite Nationals, 4.582-seconds, but failed to make a second attempt as a strict noise curfew forced the cancellation of the second qualifying session.
Entering the 15th race on the 2007 NHRA schedule sitting just five points from sixth place in the POWERade standings, Bazemore opened the weekend with the second quickest pass of the opening qualifying session. He used a Lee Beard tune-up to blast the Matco Tools rail to a run of 4.582 seconds at 323.43 mph. After only eight of 18 Top Fuel dragsters faced the Infineon Raceway quarter mile on Friday evening, NHRA and track officials had to cancel the rest of the session due to a hard 10 p.m. curfew. Bazemore fell from second to fifth in the Top Fuel order. Bazemore and Tony Schumacher were the last pair of cars scheduled to make a pass on Friday evening.
“We disappointed on many levels,” Bazemore said. “We’re disappointed because of what was allowed to happen. The sanctioning body is there to maintain a level playing field. If there’s a strict curfew, it seems odd to start the session 28 minutes late. It’s just not fair. It’s not fair to the fans. We’re out here competing for championship points and bonus points and the fans are the real losers. We’re out here trying to take this sport to the next level and that won’t happen if we continue down this path. You can’t alienate fans and sponsors like we did tonight.”
Top Fuel qualifying resumes with sessions schedule for noon and 2:45 p.m. on Saturday. ESPN2 will televise two one hour shows featuring qualifying highlights of the FRAM-Autolite Nationals at 3 p.m. (ET) on Saturday and 2 a.m. (ET) on Sunday.
Q1 4.582 ET, 323.43 MPH No. 2
Q2 canceled curfew
