Chill, Man

Bazemore chilled by
Glendora’s high sheriffs

12/8/04

My heart sank a little when I learned NHRA fined Funny Car pilot Whit Bazemore $15,000 and imposed a two-year probation on him for “unsafe driving and unsportsmanlike conduct” at the season-ending event in Pomona. Not because I’m concerned about Bazemore’s bank account, or even because I dispute what he did, but because I see it as just one more step toward silencing one of the few unabashed truth-tellers left in the sport.

As a collector of quotes from NHRA and team press releases after each national event, I had already noticed a change in the Indy-based driver’s statements this year. Where Bazemore previously was quite forthcoming about problems with his car, about mid-season that stopped and every release from then on basically had him commenting on how hard his team worked, regardless of whether their results were good, bad, or ugly. I suspect a team edict came from on high to can the criticism. Which is unfortunate, because although Bazemore’s teammates certainly deserve credit and no doubt routinely go above and beyond the call of duty, that reining in has deprived drag racing fans of one of the most descriptive and insightful observers of the circuit.

It’s called “chill” in media circles when activists mount a campaign to influence coverage of a story and are able to lead news outlets to pull punches in a way they wouldn’t have done before. That’s what putting Bazemore on probation will do. It will further chill his inclination to speak out. Why the NHRA would want to stifle one of its most marketable stars is beyond me.

Love him or hate him, Bazemore at least inspires emotion in fans, something that’s all too lacking nowadays in professional drag racing--actually, in professional racing in general. A common complaint among many fans and media members is that today’s drivers lack the personality and color of those in days past, but I’ve never heard that grievance leveled at Bazemore. I’m afraid that’s about to change as he faces the next two seasons under the watchful eyes of NHRA’s version of Big Brother.

And forget about developing the rivalry Bazemore has with John Force. It’s easy to root for Force; everyone loves a winner. Although Bazemore has won several races, too (17 at last count), he’s also cast as the perennial underdog, always on the verge of overthrowing the Funny Car king but never quite getting the job done. He finished runner-up in points to Force in 2001 and 2003, and looked set to challenge again this season before fading in the last half of the schedule.

The important aspect of this is that this situation quite clearly bothers Bazemore to no end. Unlike so many modern drivers, who seem only concerned about getting off their sponsor plugs before pronouncing the guys in the other lane “a great team,” Bazemore makes no apologies for wanting to beat Force--badly--every time they face off. Which makes for great fan fodder. The Force-Bazemore rivalry that’s developed over the years is probably the best and most intense we see in current competition.

But I fear that officially muzzling Bazemore is going to make that go away. The chill is on.

As far as “unsafe driving” goes, NHRA says that after his first-round loss at Pomona, Bazemore was “observed exiting the racetrack at a dangerously high rate of speed and ignored the instructions of NHRA officials to reduce his speed.” They further claim he “ignored directions as to where to safely stop and park his vehicle,” thus endangering the safety of other race team crewmembers, ESPN personnel, and NHRA officials in the area.

I find it hard to believe that anything Bazemore did at the top end could be any more “unsafe” than the driving most teams do on race day to get back to the pits with only 75 minutes between rounds. And they’re endangering paying customers! In fact, Force actually hit a security guard, I believe it was, with his golf cart at Bristol just a couple of years back. And I don’t recall any fine or probation, but then, that’s Force. Like the greats in other sports, he gets beneficial calls from time to time, when lesser, mere mortal competitors would have their feet held to the flames. I’m not even saying that’s wrong; it’s just an observation.