Whit Bazemore is accustomed to success at Route 66 Raceway. The veteran nitro pilot is a four-time finalist at the Chicagoland track with three career trips to the winner’s circle, including the inaugural event in 1998. Friday afternoon he drove his Matco Tools dragster to a 4.598-second elapsed time.
Entering the ninth race on the 2007 NHRA schedule ranked eighth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings, the 20-time winner used a tune-up from champion crew chief Lee Beard to power the Matco Tools dragster to a solid opening effort of 4.598 seconds at 327.27 mph to position the Matco-backed rail ninth in the Top Fuel order. On his second pass, Bazemore was on a solid mid-4.5-second pass before the Matco Tools rail suffered a mechanical problem and slowed to a run of 4.659 at 256.31 mph. That leaves Bazemore 18th in the 16-car order with two qualifying sessions remaining.
“It should have run a 4.53, but it dropped an exhaust valve and we had to shut off, ” Bazemore said. “It’s time like this that test you and the team’s ability to cope with the frustration. We’ve had a lot of that at the last couple of races. However, it’s refreshing with the guys we have on the race team. They are second to none. This is, without a doubt, the best team I’ve ever worked with. You cannot get a better team than what we have here. We just need to be patient. We’ll run a mid-4.50 and get in the show tomorrow. ”
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