rpm.espn.com: Whit Bazemore

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Wednesday, December 11
Updated: January 24, 11:26 AM ET

Whit Bazemore
By Bill Stephens
ESPN.com

Team: Matco Tools/Don Schumacher Racing

Whit Bazemore
Bazemore

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Final rounds
No. 1 qualifier
Round record

2002 5 2 3 3 24-19

Career 12 28 21 227-214

2002 recap
The good: Outside of some nagging inconsistency, Whit Bazemore and tuner Lee Beard had a car capable of outstanding performances every time it rolled to the line. The statistics may not be staggering, but nobody took the Matco Tools car lightly whenever it got down to business.

Season highlight: Bazemore won back-to-back races -- Bristol, Tenn., and Atlanta -- and moved into third in the standings.

The bad: He had too many round losses that should have been victories. Bazemore had four holeshot losses during the season, along with at least four races lost due to smoking the tires (against ordinarily beatable opponents). Those things shouldn't happen to such a good team.

Season lowlight: Bazemore failed to qualify at the U.S. Nationals one year after winning the sport's biggest race.

Key stat: He followed up his runner-up finish in Reading, Pa., by missing the field in Memphis -- and he won just two rounds in the last five races.

2003 outlook
What needs to be done: Big changes have already taken place at Schumacher Racing. Gary Scelzi comes in to drive a third car, joining Bazemore and Scotty Cannon. Dan Olson will move from tuner for Tony Schumacher's Top Fuel car to a supervisory role for the entire team. And the team's Funny Cars are expected to be wearing Dodge bodies. It could be Bazemore's best chance to break up the John Force championship monopoly.

Prediction: Plenty of strong-willed and deeply competitive racers will have to find their chemistry and work together for this new alignment of personnel to succeed. If they can, Bazemore will have a career year.

Your take
Here are your thoughts on Bazemore's prospects for the 2003 season.

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