He smiled.

He smiled and talked nice for the cameras and the man with the microphone.

But who was this impostor? The guy looked like Whit Bazemore. But he couldn't have been -- didn’t sound like him at all. 

It was like a scene from the 1950s science-fiction B-movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 

In the past, Bazemore had been like Dr. Miles Bennell, the poor slob everybody thought was crazy when he tried to warn a skeptical group of doctors and nurses that aliens were taking over the Earth. "Doctor, will you tell these fools? I'm not crazy. Make them listen to me before it's too late," he would say.  

Toward the end of the film, he lamented, "In my practice, I've seen how people have allowed their humanity to drain away. Only it happened slowly instead of all at once. They didn't seem to mind. . . . All of us -- a little bit -- we harden our hearts, grow callous. Only when we have to fight to stay human do we realize how precious it is to us, how dear." 

Finally, Bennell screamed to anyone who would listen, "Look, you fools. You're in danger. Can't you see? They're after you. They're after all of us.  . . . You're next!" 

At Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Arizona, not far from Phoenix and hmmm . . . not far from all those UFO sightings . . . it was as though, well . . .  Bazemore was not Bazemore anymore.  

He talked about how he'd try to do better at the next race and said he had great mates who would go forth and carry the team banner. It was weird. 

But Whit Bazemore, who enjoys reading, art, photography, and trading stock market equities, doesn't have to give cookie-cutter interviews. He could use his intellect to charm and confound Those Who Think Whit Should Play Nicely, all while continuing to express his opinions in an entertaining way. 

For example, Bazemore could've taken the scholarly approach in his top-end interview with Alan Reinhart following his second-round loss to Burkart in Phoenix. It could have gone something like this: 

REINHART: Tough loss, huh? You really wanted that victory. 

BAZEMORE: "She whom I love is hard to catch and conquer. Hard, O, but the glory of winning were she won!" Well, heh-heh . . . George Meredith wrote that in Love in the Valley. Actually, here's what I think: (well, Shakespeare said it first in Troilus and Cressida, but . . . eh--) "Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is." 

REINHART: Let me get this straight. You're saying, "It would've been cool to win. But I didn't. So winning isn't all it's cracked up to be"? C'mon --  

BAZEMORE: I have a great crew and great teammates. I want to thank Don Schumacher for all he does for this team. And I have a great sponsor. And I have the best fans in the world. And I love getting to drive this Funny Car and get paid to do what I love to do. So you know what? Thomas Carlyle said this, and it’s true: "The tragedy in life isn't what man suffers but rather what he misses."  

REINHART: What do you think about the racing surface? Is the track prepared to your liking? 

BAZEMORE: Winston Churchill said it, and it's worth repeating: "I think 'No comment' is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again." 

REINHART: Are you just being syrupy-sweet because you think NHRA wants you to have no personality? 

BAZEMORE: To quote Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Our little systems have their day." 

REINHART: Man, you are on probation for two years, through November 16, 2006, to be exact. How can you stand that? How can you stand the people at NHRA? What keeps you going? 

BAZEMORE: "Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes, and adversity is not without comforts and hopes." Francis Bacon said that, you know. 

REINHART: Sheesh. OK, let's talk about the race. If you had beaten Phil Burkart, what do you think he would've said to you? 

BAZEMORE: "Fetch me the handkerchief." And by the way, that's not original, either. Shakespeare wrote it in Othello. 

REINHART: I'm thinking NHRA won't like you conducting interviews this way. 

BAZEMORE: Aldous Huxley must've been thinking of them when he wrote the phrase "clueless we go." 

REINHART: Oh, man, Bazemore, what if Graham Light tells you to knock it off? What if he fines you another $15,000, like he did last November? I mean, what was that? 

BAZEMORE: "A hit, a very palpable hit." William Shakespeare. Hamlet.

REINHART: Do you want that to happen again? What if Graham Light says he's going to terminate your driving privileges? What if he says your behavior is "unsportsmanlike" and "detrimental to the sport." What if he says you violated the Participant Conduct section on page 243 of the NHRA Rulebook? 

BAZEMORE: I'd have to borrow the words of Benjamin Disraeli. I'd have to call it "the hare-brained chatter of irresponsible frivolity." 

REINHART: Hey, listen, once they figure out what you’re saying, those honchos at NHRA aren't going to like you saying all this stuff, all this high-brow trash-talking. 

BAZEMORE: What's the line from Julius Caesar? "Ambition should be made of sterner stuff." 

REINHART: Are you crazy? You could lose all you've worked for, for crying out loud! Don't you care about that?