FIRING 'EM UP AT FIREBIRD

by Kay Burk
Photos by Tim Marshall and Mark Rebilas

ew cars, new drivers, new set-ups - all need to get the bugs worked out before the first race of the season. For the NHRA drivers, Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix is the first chance to get the combination right.

BAZEMORE TOPS FUNNY CAR RUNS

Photo by Tim Marshall

Whit Bazemore debuted a new Dodge Stratus-bodied Funny Car and leapt to the top of the numbers with a 4.820/320.89 on Saturday. The car's other runs were 4.88/319.00; 4.90/320.60; and 4.85/317.84.

Bazemore was pleased with the consistency of the Schumacher Racing entry.

"We've been conservative with the tune-up," he said, adding that the team was going to test all week at the track. "We're going to start working on some new technology that we have that will, hopefully, increase our performance a little bit more and give us even more consistency and make it easier for Lee (Beard, crew chief) and Dan (Olson, co-crew chief on Bazemore's and Scelzi's cars) and everybody else on the team to tune the car."

SCELZI GETS NEW VIEW FROM STRATUS

Photo by Tim Marshall

Gary Scelzi, the newest member of the Schumacher Racing team, was testing the other new Stratus body. He posted his personal best in a Funny Car, 4.85 at 315.64 mph. He admits that things are different for him this year.

"It's different looking out of the new Dodge," he said. "You sit further back because the dash area is further forward. But the visibility is good and the car is really stable on the top end. It doesn't want to drift around a lot. So, it's a whole new ballgame for me."

The new Stratus body is more aerodynamic, and crew chief Lee Beard believes all the work by the Chrysler engineers and his own crew members will pay off on the race track.

"We're not going to get cocky and say that, Gee, we're ready to go race, we're ready to beat John Force for the championship," Beard said, "but we feel that we're comfortable and we're on target as far as our schedule of testing goes."

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