Whit Bazemore advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive race Sunday afternoon at Gainesville Raceway. The 20-time NHRA Funny Car winner moved to third place in the NHRA Top Fuel standings.
Bazemore started from the No. 4 position, the best of his brief Top Fuel career, after qualifying with a 4.542-second elapsed time. In the opening round of eliminations, the veteran nitro pilot bested Michael Gunderson, then second-year pro Hillary Will, before losing traction and falling to two-time champion Larry Dixon in the semifinals.
Facing off against the upstart Florida Top Fuel racer, the longtime Matco Tools driver used a slight jump at the start to score the wire-to-wire victory. Bazemore’s rail dropped a cylinder, but still powered to a run of 4.694 seconds at 306.40 mph to easily defeat Gunderson, whose dragster lost traction early and slowed to a 13-second elapsed time.
Bazemore advanced to the semifinals for the second straight race by knocking off the Top Fuel starlet from Michigan. The drivers used nearly identical reaction times before the Matco Tools rail pulled away for the win. Bazemore blasted to a run of 4.609 at 317.42 to hold off Will’s run of 4.710 seconds. It’s the second straight race that Bazemore had defeated Will.
| 
|