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TEAM
FORCE LOOKING FOR MILE-HIGH DOMINANCE IN DENVER
MORRISON,
Colo.- They say two minds are better than one.
Does that relate to the cars of
drag racing as well? If so, maybe the saying
should be 'Three cars are better than one.' The
three-car team of John Force Racing has been
unstoppable at times this season, and currently
holds the top three positions in the NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series point standings.
Team owner John
Force and his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang have
claimed three wins and two runner-up finishes this
season. Tony Pedregon, driver of the Castrol
Syntec Ford Mustang, also has two victories this
year. Gary Densham, the newest addition to Team
Force, has earned two wins and one runner-up in
the Automobile Club of Southern California Ford
Mustang.
Densham joined
the team three races into the 2001 season. He was
winless before he hopped into the Force-owned
Mustang, but that has all since changed. Not only
has Densham become a regular threat to every race,
he has been at the top of the Funny Car point
standings too. Densham became only the sixth Funny
Car driver in the last 13 years to hold the points
lead for three or more consecutive races.
"It's all
good," Densham said. "I always thought I
would win a race but I never thought I would lead
the points. It's a credit to my crew, to John
Force and especially my crew chief, Jimmy Prock."
Force, Pedregon
and Densham will be competing against each other
and the rest of a tough Funny Car field at the
23rd annual Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals, July
18-21, at Bandimere Speedway. Larry Dixon, Force,
Warren Johnson and Angelle Savoie are the
defending winners of the $1.8 million race. It is
the 13th
of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series.
While each
driver will tell you that they all get along well,
they each have the competitive desire to lead the
Funny Car order. Pedregon is looking to change the
order in the Force camp.
"That's
pretty remarkable to be in the top three spots of
the standings," Pedregon said. "For each
of us to win two races, for each of us to have
qualified No. 1 says a lot about the kind of
operation John has put together here. The only
thing I would change is the order. Right now, Gary
and John are ahead of me. We'll try to do
something about that soon."
If one thing
seems more surprising than Densham's climb to the
top of the standings is the lack of a dominating
performance by Force himself. The 11-time champion
had four wins and four runner-ups going into the
2001 Denver event.
"We
learned something testing (recently) and that
should help us," Force said. "With the
Funny Car group out here right now, you need every
advantage. People keep asking, 'What's wrong?'
There's nothing wrong, just a lot of good race
teams our there right now."
Two of the
better teams out there are pitted right next to
Force. Densham knows being part of the Force team
has been the difference in his recent success.
"The best
way I can explain it is that when you're driving
one of John's cars, there's a kind of intimidation
effect," Densham said. "Even when you're
not running good, the competition knows that
there's always the chance that you're going to
jump up and throw the low elapsed time at them,
and they have to prepare accordingly."
More than
halfway into the season, each of the three Force
cars have an eye out for the Funny Car
championship. Densham knows what it is going to
take to hold off the competition - that's
something he has learned from watching his own
boss.
"Winning
the championship is different from winning a given
race," Densham said. "To win the
championship, you have to be competitive every
week and that's how John has won 11 times. A lot
of drivers run well at a few race tracks. John
generally runs well at all of them. He wins his
round even when his car isn't perfect. That's
something we have been able to do so far this year
too."
BAZEMORE
SEEKING ANOTHER SECOND HALF CHARGE BEGINNING AT
DENVER
MORRISON, Colo. - Whit Bazemore
was so impressive in the second half of the 2001
season, many people chose the Indianapolis
resident as a serious threat to deny John Force a
10th
straight Funny Car championship in 2002.
With 11 races remaining on
the schedule, Bazemore finds himself in the No. 5
spot of the standings, 199 points behind Force,
who sits atop the standings for the first time
since early May after his win at St. Louis.
Luckily for Bazemore, the next time he aims for
the winner's circle, he'll be in a very
comfortable setting.
Bazemore will try to move up
in the standings when he competes at the 23rd
annual Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals, July
18-21, at picturesque Bandimere Speedway. The $1.8
million race is the 13th
of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series.
The 39-year-old Bazemore has
three final round appearances (1997, 1999-2000)
and has been to the winner's circle twice ('97,
'00) at Denver, including a win over his current
teammate Scotty Cannon two years ago. He also has
scored the No. 1 qualifying spot four times at
Bandimere, including the first four-second run in
the facilities history in 2000. With the Mopar
Parts Mile-High Nationals being the first of three
races on consecutive weekends (Seattle and Sonoma,
Calif.), a win at the opening race of what has
become known as the 'West Coast Swing' could give
Bazemore the momentum needed to challenge rival
Force for the title.
"We're at the point of
the year where it is vitally important to us to
make a strong rebound, and honestly, the West
Coast Swing is the best time for us to start
that," said Bazemore. "We have done
especially well when we head back west and
especially in Denver. It's been a great race for
me and we have always run well there. It's with
tremendous optimism that this Matco Tools team
starts off well in Denver."
Bazemore's performance at
the beginning of the year was disappointing
considering he had qualified his Matco Tools
Pontiac Firebird No. 1 at nine of the last 12
events in 2001, winning three times and finishing
a career-best second in the final Funny Car
standings. After the first four races this season,
Bazemore lost in the first round three times.
Bazemore then qualified No. 1 at Houston and
advanced to the semifinals and then scored
back-to-back wins at Bristol, Tenn. and Atlanta.
He followed his win streak with another semifinal
appearance, but then posted three first round
losses (two of them to Force) in the next four
events giving him six opening round defeats in 12
races. He had three all of last year.
"We have to win two or
three of the next seven races starting with
Denver," said Bazemore. "We have to
consistently go rounds every weekend and if we can
do that we will be strong and be able to challenge
for the championship. We have way more first round
losses than we ever imagined we could have with
this team. It's been really up and down, but you
can't predict these things. In this business there
is absolutely no guarantee of success. You can't
buy success, you have to create it."
Prior to the 2002 season,
Bazemore's team owner, Don Schumacher, added a
second Funny Car to the team to be driven by the
eccentric Scotty Cannon. The two-car team has paid
dividends in its initial year producing two wins
(both by Bazemore) in four final round appearances
and the No. 5 and No. 6 spots in the standings for
Bazemore and Cannon respectively.
"Don't think that a
two-car team is absolutely essential," said
Bazemore. "It reflects that all the top level
teams are two-car teams. (Don) Prudhomme's team
has always been good, Force obviously, our team
was good last year and you have the Worsham
family, who have run awfully well this year. It is
beneficial to have two cars if it is done right.
But another part of that, the reason why nine of
the top 10 are two-car teams is because they would
be the top cars anyway. They would be a top team
no matter what."
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