CHEVROLET NOTES AND QUOTES
by Judy Stropus
Firebird International Raceway, Jan. 16 -- The final pairing
of Funny Cars after three days of testing saw Chevrolet Camaro
Z28s side-by-side as Ron Capps and Whit Bazemore went head to
head. Bazemore’s Kendall Oil/Superwinch Camaro hazed the
tires at the finish line, slowing him to a 5.295-second lap at
211.79 mph, while Capps posted the weekend’s quickest and
fastest run of 5.017 seconds at 292.96 mph in his U.S. Tobacco
Co. Camaro.
Bazemore, in the previous session on Sunday, made it down the
track with a 5.13-second lap at 251.20 mph, for his best, although
not the straightest, attempt of the weekend.
Teams struggled to get down the track most of the weekend, with
Scotty Cannon, in his Camaro-bodied Funny Car, the only car making
consistent laps early on. His elapsed times were mainly in the
5.2s with one 5.12-second lap to his credit. Jerry Toliver also
showed up in a Camaro-bodied Funny Car, posting a 5.48-second
lap.
RON CAPPS: "It’s been tough because of course you
have the new nitro rules and the new Goodyear tires that they
came up with. We had two variables that we were trying to work
through. After the weekend we had in Pomona in 1999, being the
No. 1 qualifier, I feel great. Working with "Ace" (Ed McCulloch)
at the last race I knew watching him that weekend how he operated
and I knew we were going to have a great year in 2000. And he’s
been real calm about the fact that 98% of the cars trying to get
down the track here were shaking the tires in the same spot. It
has been a major accomplishment just to get through that spot
where it had been shaking. It’s like winning a race just
getting past that point. The run before that it blew a blower
belt and took an oil line with it and put oil on the track. We
missed a good run. We went back up there and Ace told me it was
getting dark and if the Camaro gets through that spot where it
had been shaking and it feels good that I should take it to the
finish line. It was getting dark here and I couldn’t see
the finish line. I could kind of see where it was but I didn’t
want to run past it and hurt any parts on the car, so I clicked
it off early. It would have been a 4-second run at 300 mph, but
we were happy with what we had. It’s nice to put the Camaro
on the top of the list for best e.t. of the weekend. We are going
to stay a couple of days and get in what we need to. We have another
2000 Camaro that’s being painted right now. We need to build
up our arsenal for the season to start, instead of spending too
much time here and getting the guys too tired. I couldn’t
wait for the new season to start at the end of 1999. Everything
now starts from zero."
WERE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE NEW RULES? "No, not at all
-- because everybody has to race with the same rules. If anything
it would help everybody else catch up with (John) Force and his
team. Force has had a stronghold on the class for so long this
will kind of help everyone catch up a little bit. The way I look
at it is we have three great guys in our camp. When you have rules
changes like that and you have guys like Dick LaHaie and Ed McCulloch
-- who are not only good crew chiefs but two of the best drivers
that have raced in drag racing -- as well as Don Prudhomme, and
you have to kind of start over, I feel we have an advantage over
most of the other teams."
WHIT BAZEMORE: "We made three runs. We were slow to start.
Tim (Richards, co-crew chief with Kim Richards) is very particular
and an absolute perfectionist. Our Kendall Oil Camaro has a lot
of new technology. We weren’t ready to run right away. When
we were ready we ran. That’s one reason this team is successful
is because it’s prepared. So our second run was a good run
and our third run was still a good run but we did smoke the tires.
But, it’s testing and we have a lot fewer runs than a lot
of our competitors, so I think the Camaro is going to be very
competitive. We feel very good about where we are and where we
are going. And the fact is we plan to do a lot of testing. I’m
sure before Pomona we will have made 20 runs, maybe 30 - as many
as it takes for the team to feel like we can go to the first race
and be instantly competitive."
ON THE NEW CHASSIS: "It’s identical to the chassis
we ran last year or almost identical. Nothing is really new there,
but there is some new technology on the Camaro as far as the management
systems are concerned; the computer is different. Because of the
new rules there are a lot of new things that are going to be different
from last year, so we are not starting off where we were. We are
starting off with a clean sheet of paper. For that reason it takes
more time to get knowledgeable about the car, and to know what
the car wants and what it doesn’t want."
WERE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE NEW RULES? "I was concerned
about the 90% nitromethane rule because I was very concerned that
the cars may slow down to the point that they would not be exciting
to drive. I didn’t really believe that the cars needed to
be slowed down from a safety standpoint. There’s nothing
quite like the thrill of running a mid- or low 4.80 elapsed time.
It’s probably one of the most intense and exciting things
you can do. Once you have done that it’s hard to go backwards
and get the same satisfaction going 4.90 or 5.0. Obviously the
challenge of competition is still there, but the other part, the
adrenaline from going quicker and faster than you have ever gone,
doesn1t exist anymore. After having made a few runs I think the
Camaro will still be plenty exciting to drive and challenging
to drive. As long as the rules are going to be enforced equally
and accurately than I don1t have a problem with it."
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