Whit Bazemore and his Matco Tools Top Fuel team rebounded this weekend at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. After missing the cut two weeks ago at Joliet, Ill., the 20-time NHRA winner set a track speed record (332.51 mph) and remained 10th in the NHRA Top Fuel standings.
The 2003 Englishtown winner qualified his Lee Beard-tuned dragster sixth with a solid pass of 4.521 at a blistering 332.51 mph. That pitted Bazemore against two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon in the opening round of eliminations. The veteran nitro racers used excellent reaction times before the Matco Tools rail hazed the tires slowing to a run of 4.997 seconds at 272.78 mph. Dixon’s bright orange rail also lost traction, but further down track. He earned the round win with a run of 4.947 at 280.66.
“The thing went out there and spun the tires before the end of the (concrete) pad pretty hard, ” Bazemore said. “It recovered for a brief moment and spun again. We finally got it to recover but (Larry) Dixon had his nose out in front and stayed there. It’s very frustrating. ”
The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event is the Inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, June 28-July 1, at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
R1 Dixon (. 050) 4.947 ET, 280.66 MPH def. BAZEMORE (. 067) 4.997 ET, 272.78 MPH
Winners
Top Fuel – Larry Dixon def. Doug Herbert
Funny Car – Tommy Johnson, Jr. def. Tony Pedregon
Pro Stock – Greg Anderson def. Jeg Coughlin
Pro Stock Motorcycle – Craig Treble def. Andrew Hines
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