Imagine if Whit Bazemore was appointed king of the world. How would King Bazemore view certain topics?

Bazemore, the teenager who earned his first racing gig as photographer for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, went on to score a lucrative career as a few Funny Car driver and sits in the same position as a Top Fuel driver.

If you ever wondered what the world would be minus PC (political correctness), you might see that if ‘ole Baze is appointed the grand poo-pah of all.

There’s never a dull moment. Read at your own non-PC risk his take on Funny Cars, the leadership of the NHRA, Monday testing safety, the Spotted Owl (he moved to Oregon, remember?) and Government versus Big Tobacco.

Get inside Bazemore's brain ...

Imagine if Whit Bazemore was appointed king of the world. How would King Bazemore view certain topics?

Bazemore, the teenager who earned his first racing gig as photographer for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, went on to score a lucrative career as a few Funny Car driver and sits in the same position as a Top Fuel driver.

If you ever wondered what the world would be minus PC (political correctness), you might see that if ‘ole Baze is appointed the grand poo-pah of all.

There’s never a dull moment. Read at your own non-PC risk his take on Funny Cars, the leadership of the NHRA, Monday testing safety, the Spotted Owl (he moved to Oregon, remember?) and Government versus Big Tobacco.

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to FUNNY CARS

I can sum that class up with four one-word answers. Exciting. Challenging. Difficult. Rewarding.

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to REMEMBERING WINSTON DRAG RACING…

They were really good friends and really good people. I first went to work with them right out of high school. I was growing up and going to the races with them. I remember the good guys like Jeff Byrd, T. Wayne Roberson, Rick Hooser, Bob Masten and a lot of good people. There would good times with those guys.

They aided my step up to what I call professionalism through the sponsorship with Smokin’ Joes, Camel and Winston. The whole experience and especially winning Indy in 1997. Those are the memories I have on that era.

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The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to DON GARLITS

He’s an eccentric genius. He’s a racer and one that personifies the term racer. He's the best racer out there the race has seen. He wasn't about the commercial side of racing. He was about the mechanical side and being out there racing. Unfortunately, that is not the way racing is today. The sport has changed so much that it would work against him today.

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to SPOTTED OWLS – TARGET OR SAVIOR?

That one has to be related to my move to Oregon. It’s time for people to be responsible. I was on a bike ride with Mike Dunn the other day and we stopped to save a turtle crossing the street.

Definitely savior, but it’s not really about the spotted owl. It’s about clear cutting the forests and when you see that, you see exactly what an absolute disaster it is. I can’t see believe the timber industry still takes part in that practice. It’s nothing short of a crime to clear cut a forest or a mountain.

You save the spotted owls, why would you want to kill them? It’s like those idiots who shot those dolphins. What kind of %$#@&%$ idiot would do something like that? It’s a shame that we have people like that that do things that stupid and uncalled for. It’s frustrating to see that stuff.

The same thing holds true for the environment. The spotted owl is an unfortunate victim of that practice. There are many other victims of this.

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF THE NHRA BY HD PARTNERS …

That one I don’t know about. There are things about it I think are good and others that are cause for concern. What I found – and I’ve been in this sport since the early 1980s – and the entire time I was always led to believe the sportsman racers were the financial foundation and without them the sport would go away. In the meeting, come to find out the pros fund the sportsmen. I find that very interesting that is the case. I find it interesting they are using the interest off of this buyout is going to fund sportsman racing.

That is great. But I think the professional racing needs more funding as well. Hopefully they have their eye on the ball as well there.

  a d v e r t i s e m e n t 

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The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

It’s a waste of #@$%&$# time.

The world accorind to Whit Bazemore when it comes to THE LEADERSHIP OF THE NHRA …

In the Topeka meeting, there were some contradictions. For someone who had the knowledge that he did coming into the sport, Tom Compton has done okay. There are some contradictions I have heard since this proposed sale of the NHRA.

There are things that the racers want and need -- and it’s not just money – the things that would help the sport grow are not always addressed. Personally I get very frustrated. As a participant in the sport, you either like it or you don’t like it. You either do it or you don’t. I choose to do it because I love it. That doesn’t mean you don’t get frustrated because you go to a track and it looks the same way it did 20 years ago.

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to AMERICAN IDOL

I’ve never watched it and I don’t care.

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to LAWSUITS AGAINST BIG TOBACCO …

The lawsuits against the tobacco companies are the most ludicrous things I’ve ever heard of. I don’t smoke. I don’t believe in it. Smoking is a health issue.

If you choose to smoke, that is your choice. You suffer the consequence of that. I don’t buy the fact it’s an addiction. There are millions of addictions. Look how overweight the majority of people are. They’re addicted to eating. I’m addicted to drag racing a fuel car and riding my bicycle. People are always looking for excuses and trying to pass the buck. It’s always someone else’s fault. People can’t be responsible for their own actions. For an individual to sue a tobacco company – it shouldn’t be legal. But, of course it’s legal, because the states did it and the governments supported it. It’s hypocrisy. It’s the world we live in. It’s not always good and it’s not always right.  

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to THE PROPOSED EXPANSION OF THE NHRA SCHEDULE

The infrastructure is not there to support it. Things would have to change and the money would have to increase dramatically. We just don’t have the budgets to do. We don’t have the dedicated truck drivers to go to places like Mexico. Believe it or not, the teams are not big enough to support that kind of growth. Things would have to drastically change to support that kind of expansion.

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to WAR IN IRAQ

I thought it was tremendous that we captured Saddam Hussein because he was truly a bad guy in our world. But, obviously the whole thing was somewhat poorly planned. I know our people are doing the best they can over there. The leadership in this case, clearly is under a lot of criticism. Hopefully there were be a way for our country to finish our job and exit without many more casualties and without causing any more bad situations for the rest of the world.

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to MONDAY TESTING SAFETY

It has become apparent there isn’t a real standard in place for race tracks because we go to some tracks – like Houston and Topeka – and the scoreboards are close to the race track and really dangerous. Both pro and sportsman racers have died by hitting those. Then we come to a place like Chicago where it is much better. The same is true with testing. Sometimes the track safety is exceptional and others it is non-existent. Obviously, there’s a lack of input from the sanctioning body to the tracks to have consistent standards in place.

The rules – we have those for our race cars. It’s important that the race tracks have them. Clearly when you look at the facts, that’s not the case in this situation. Some tracks are good. Others they don’t have the right kind of helmet. There’s no way they could go into a burning car to save someone at some of these test sessions. They would die.   

The world according to Whit Bazemore when it comes to FORCE’S CAR OF TOMORROW

I’d say by the way he’s running -- he needs a car of today. I’m only joking.

I really don’t know a lot about it. I think the cars are an old design. I think if someone were to present a design for a carbon fiber tub for a Top Fuel car with a bolt on front and rear, it might be something that might work well and provide more safety. There are definitely opportunities within our sport to design cars that are as good as we have now and safer. Whether the rules would allow that, it is hard to say.

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