NHRA News: Bazemore's a rebel with a cause (12/12/2004)

Bazemore's a rebel with a cause

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
12/12/2004

"When I feel things aren't as good as they can be I let my feelings out."
– Whit Bazemore

After tasting the top ranking for one race in 2003 and giving eventual champion Tony Pedregon a close race down the stretch before settling for second place, Funny Car driver Whit Bazemore was many people's preseason pick to finally clear the championship hurdle in 2004. In fact, in a preseason poll on NHRA.com he garnered more votes than Pedregon, Del Worsham, Gary Densham, Tim Wilkerson, Eric Medlen, Ron Capps, and Tommy Johnson combined.

By the eighth race of the year in Chicago, Bazemore's supporters were looking pretty smart as the Matco Tools Dodge driver easily ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the midst of racing to four finals in a row. Life was good, until the wheels came off.

In inexplicable string of three first-round losses and the sudden death of his friend and fellow racer Darrell Russell had Bazemore reeling by the time the Western Swing reached Seattle, and in between flashes of his former brilliance, Bazemore slowly slipped down the rankings, ultimately finishing the year off the charts in sixth place.

Bazemore was on top of the world in Atlanta.
Racers Edge Photography

In this question and answer session, Bazemore explains what went wrong, why he's viewed as a firebrand, his pending foray into parenthood with his wife Michelle, and what his Don Schumacher-owned, Lee Beard-led team plans to do to have a better showing in 2005.

Q: For a time, it looked like 2004 was going to be your year. What happened?
Bazemore: It just fell apart for us. The rule changes really caused us to struggle. All the momentum we had and the fact we were in the points lead and looking so strong all just went away. It was hard to take but that's just how racing is some times. We're addressing the issues and problems that we had right now in order to hopefully come out next season and be a stronger team.

Q: What problems has your team identified?
Bazemore: There were some technical things with the racecar. At first we didn't respond well to the 85-percent [maximum allowable amount of nitromethane in the fuel mixture] deal. We just couldn't make enough horsepower and that messed up everything. We also struggled with the new tire a little bit and we couldn't get the car to be consistent.

Near the end of the year we started getting better but just lost a couple of close races, which happens from time to time. In Pomona we smoked the tires right at the hit, which was a big surprise, but it had run decently in qualifying. Our power came back to us, which really encouraged us all, but we just weren't as consistent as we needed to be.

Q: Does everything with the team remain intact?

This win over Eric Medlen in Topeka padded Bazemore's first-place ranking in the POWERade points.
Racers Edge Photography

Bazemore: Pretty much. Don's the car owner, Matco Tools is our primary sponsor, Lee's the crew chief, and I'm the driver. We did lose two really great crew guys in Ronnie Thompson and Ryan Pethtel, which is really unfortunate, but we've made two really strong replacements. The idea is always to try and make the team stronger and I was talking with a couple of the guys this morning and they tell me the new guys look to be strong players. The other guys like them and that's important to overall team chemistry.

We've been fortunate in the four years this team has been together that we've all gotten along well with one another. The turnover ratio of crewmen has been very low overall and that's key to success at this level.

Q: Is it all about the championship for you?
Bazemore: Yes, but there is way more to racing then the championship itself. The championship is very important and I'd really like to win one, but there are a lot of guys that never win it all. To me the ultimate goal is to do the very best I can every time I race. Then you try to win races and if you do that enough times then you win the championship. We're not there yet. We're close, probably closer than we've ever been, leading the points at various times over the past two years. If we continue to build on that momentum the championship will come our way.

Q: Are you too emotional for your own good?
Bazemore: The fact is that I'm one of the most outspoken people in the sport. I'm pretty intense about winning. For example, the deal in St. Louis [where Bazemore kicked his car on national TV], that was just a critical race for us. It was in the first round and we lost to Del Worsham for the second race in a row and he was close to us in the points. We had him beat but we broke a drive belt on the supercharger. It was a freak parts failure, just pure bad luck, and I was so frustrated. We had a crucial round win in the bag but it went away. It just shows you that nothing is done until it's done.

Noted crew chief Lee Beard, center, will be back
with Bazemore for the fifth straight year in 2005.
Racers Edge Photography

I don't feel like I need to defend myself against anything or anyone. I have the respect of my peers. Over the years there have been a lot of people who have trusted me and hired me to drive their cars. Guys like Lee Beard, Rob Flynn, and Tim Richards have all wanted me in their cars at various times. And they've told me that I've done a good job for them. At the end of the day that's all that matters.

Q: Will becoming a father change you?
Bazemore: I don't think so, at least not as it relates to driving the car. It takes a certain amount of intensity and focus to be successful in this sport. People mellow a little bit with age but you can't lose that edge if you want to win. We race as hard as we can and we risk our lives to do it so to me that makes it very intense. We saw this year with Darrell Russell's death the price that can be paid.

Being married and the fact I'm about to be come a father makes this a great, great time in my life. I'm really excited about things right now. I have a tremendous wife that is very supportive of my career and the sacrifices we make to do this. I couldn't ask for anything more.

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