Revell Nationals: Funny Car Notes & Quotes Saturday, October 24, 1998

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Funny Car Notes & Quotes
Saturday, October 24, 1998
This page will be updated throughout the evening

Whit Bazemore (Team Winston Camaro Z28), No. 6 qualifier, 4.891, 309.70, his career best e.t.:
"It's unbelievable that our career best is so over-shadowed by someone else's career best. But it's been a good weekend so far. We went up this morning to try to run a stellar number, a low .80 and we spun the tires at half track. The track was a lot hotter then. This afternoon we went back to try to get down to be ready for tomorrow. We were the first pair, the track cooled off a lot and conditions were just perfect. We ran a .91, which is about what we were trying to do and in the other lane John Force ran a .78, an all-time best. After that the other drivers got real aggressive, there were a lot of .8s. We went from No. 2 to No. 6. We are in good shape for tomorrow and that's why we are here, to win the race tomorrow, not necessarily to set low e.t. of the world. These are just awesome performances for these guys. I'm glad our Camaro is right there in the thick of it."

Did you say anything to Force after that round?
"I told Force and (Austin) Coil at the other end how that run reminded me of 10 years ago when I ran 6.50 and they ran 5.30 and then whipped us in the first round all the time. I thought at half track that this old hot rod is not running that bad, but Force is driving away. Then it dropped a cylinder at the finish, but at half track it was running good, but theirs was running a lot better."

Do you find that force has that extra edge when he runs against you?
"They do run pretty well against us somtimes, it's obvious. Maybe we spur them on a little bit. If we do, then that's a bad thing."

On Force and the championship:
"John sincerely is trying to help me find sponsorship next year. He's been a good help and I appreciate it. He's a good champion, he's a great champion. But we would like to see a Chevy win the championship this year. If it can't be us we'd like to see Ron (Capps) or Chuck (Etchells) do it for Chevrolet. But John Force is pretty strong. The championship chase is going back and forth. Hopefully we can upset somebody and flip the cards one way or the other."

On your sponsorship hunt:
"We are very close to having a major sponsor for next year. A lot of rumors have been going around. This won't be announced for probably quite some time, but we will probably have something signed this week. We made a lot of progress the last couple of days, I'm pretty excited about the possibilities for next year."

Ron Capps (Copenhagen Camaro Z28) No. 4 qualifier, 4.868, 314.79:
"That was a great run, but we really should have done that earlier, on Friday. We wanted to test some new things. Unfortunately we got behind the 8-ball once again and we were fighting some really weird stuff all weekend, but that's Roland (Leong, crew chief). When it counts he seems to pull it out every single time, and we know we have Force on our side of the ladder tomorrow and it's going to be a very important day. It could be very pivotal in the points championship and I think we found our problem. It's supposed to warm up a little tomorrow and we are a little excited about that."

On Force's 4.78-second pass:
"It was a great run. You know, if he had more downforce he might have run a .72 (smiling, tongue firmly in cheek)."

Do you feel under pressure for this championship?
"No. 'Snake' (team owner Don Prudhomme) said to me, 'act like a rookie. Just go up there and do your best. You have nothing to lose.' That's the way I've been driving all year long. I'll just stay loose."

Chuck Etchells (Kendall/Ma Ma Rosa's Pizza/Superwinch Camaro Z28), No.3 qualifier, 4.848,308.00:
"I knew at the finish line that it was a career best. I even told that to the official at the end of the track before I took off my helmet. It was a great run. The Camaro left hard and ran almost 253 miles per hour at half track, which is absolutely flying. It's tough when you look at Force's run, but it just shows how good this team is to come back only half a tenth away from him, which isn't that much when you look at it under race conditions. In fact, when he put that run down, it probably made them turn the wrenches a little harder on our car. Tomorrow's a new day, and it's up to us to bring our Kendall Camaro to the winner's circle, and we'll certainly give it our best shot."

Cruz Pedregon (Interstate Batteries Pontiac Firebird), No. 2 qualifier, 4.839, 317.90:
"Wes (Cerny) told me before the last session that we were going to back it off and get ready for race day. The Interstate Batteries Firebird was in race mode, but we have to give Force credit for his run. We're just as capable of turning those same numbers and Wes has plenty of room on the car to move in that direction. He presses when he feels we need it. It would be a heck of a show down tomorrow if we could race Force in the finals. Our game plan will be to stick with what we're doing, getting up and down the race track and running the big speed. If you look at the 4.94, the slowest run we've made this weekend, to come back and run a 4.83 and two 4.85s was just an awesome performance. That 4.83 last night was actually going to be quicker than our 4.81 run in Houston in March. It was on a 4.79 pass but we had some problems at around 1000 feet. It did what we wanted it to do early, it picked the numbers up down low and we're ready to go racing."

Tim Wilkerson (JCIT Pontiac Firebird), No. 11 qualifier, 4.957, 292.68:
"All we're going to try and do tonight is repeat our first pass because that run would have been a low 4.90 if it would have run to the end. We got a little aggressive during the morning session, and the JCIT Firebird almost made it, but almost doesn't win you a race. We're going to go back to what we had in it yesterday, change a little in the back half of the run, and see if it will go to the end. I think we'll be OK if we do that. We're just going to try and race the race track, and make some consistent runs instead of giving the race away by smoking the tires. We're going to make someone actually beat us."

Dale Creasy, Jr. (Creasy Racing Pontiac Firebird), No. 16 qualifier, 5.221, 281.16:
"We're trying out a new clutch this weekend that General Motors wants us to test. They're working pretty good, our problem is that the car burnt up a piston, pushed all the gaskets out and oiled the car down. We didn't run last night because we're saving our stuff. The Creasy Racing Firebird will be ready for the next run if we have to make an attempt. We're one of the last pairs out tonight, so if we're still in by then, we'll probably sit it out, save our money and be ready for tomorrow. Yesterday, the car was a little bit lazy leaving, but it still felt good coming off the line. It was accelerating like crazy, but it shook real hard when the clutch went to lock up. I didn't know what it was doing because it was the new discs. And then it just took off. On the other end it started getting loose and now I know why. I was running in my own oil. It still ran 281, which is normal for our car. We're happy with it, but it will still go quicker because we made some changes to pick up the 60-foot time. It should run between a 5.10 and a 5.15 if we have to run."

Randy Anderson (Parts America Pontiac Firebird), No. 10 qualifier, 4.951, 300.00:
"We're just gradually trying to get to where we need to be. Jim (Dunn) made some changes on the clutch and everything worked just like it was supposed to. Now he's going to get after the motor, see if the Parts America Firebird can pick up a tenth and go 4.98, 4.97. That's our goal for the second session and that's what we think it will do. This is an excellent race track and these are excellent conditions. There's no question that it's better that what we've seen in a long time. I think we've had some good races in the past few weeks and that shows we're capable of running back in the fours again. We're not looking to set the world on fire, but we don't think you have to to win races. Consistency is what wins out here, and if we can run four good laps tomorrow without making any mistakes, then we have a shot at being around late tomorrow night."

Al Hofmann (GM Performance Parts Pontiac Firebird), No. 8 qualifier, 4.923, 308.85:
"We went out there today and the race track was really good. It grabbed hold of the GM Performance Parts Firebird and wouldn't let it go. So we got the clutch behind it and rattled the tires loose. By looking at it you would think we had too much power and smoked the tires. But that's not the case. Your Pro Stock guys will tell you that the car has to have a little amount of tire spin or it won't run. It will lock the tires dead up. That's exactly what happened to us in the first round today. The track was much better than what we expected.

"We'll go out there, put some harder clutch discs in it, and it should be OK. We were trying to run pretty quick that time. We were trying to run 4.90 or 4.89, or even a little better if we could. This race track will take about all the power you can give it if you apply it properly. Right now we have the rpm on the combination turned way up and we're going to turn it up even more this time. Obviously the track's pretty good. Cruz (Pedregon) is out there running 4.83, 4.85 like it's free. We'll go out there and see what happens."

Del Worsham (Checker/Schuck's/Kragen Pontiac Firebird) No. 12 qualifier, 4.988, 272.31:
"Not only are we out here running ridiculous numbers, ET's we weren't even dreaming of last year, but we came in with one 4.98 on our resume, and after we ran 4.98 yesterday and that 4.99 this afternoon, we were towing back to our pit all mad. Our Pontiac Firebird Funny Car has been on two 4.92 passes but we can't get it to run all the way to the lights.

"It's just a tribute to this track that we're seeing this kind of stuff here. You can lean on it just about as hard as you want and this Motorplex track will take it. We're not a No. 12 team, and our car is not a No. 12 car. But in this atmosphere here, you've got to play on a field you're not all that familiar with if you're not one of the top four or five groups. We know we need to get more fuel to it at the top end, and we'll keep making adjustments to do that."

Dean Skuza (Matco Tools/Mopar Dodge Avenger), No. 7 qualifier, 4.919, 313.80:
"We'll just keep chipping away at it. This Matco Tools/Mopar Funny Car Avenger is really working well right now. We ran 4.92, 4.91 and 4.96 without hurting the motor and that's awesome. We have been taking baby-steps with our tune-up trying to get it just right. Where we get in trouble is when we don't run the motor hard enough. Texas Motorplex allows you to run the motor hard without worrying about losing traction. The bottom line is that we have a very solid raceday combination that should allow us to go deep into some rounds tomorrow."

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