How the Mighty Have Fallen
Written by David Lamm · June 15, 2005
Whit Bazemore and the Matco Tools Funny Car has been atrocious lately. In the last four races Bazemore has tumbled from the top of the points standings to seventh. Adding to the frustration, Bazemore failed to qualify for the race in Chicago this past weekend; marking the first time he has failed to qualify since 2003. Apparently the fall guy for all this losing is the crew chief, Lee Beard.
NHRA.com: Beard asked to temporarily step aside; Olson takes over
With Beard being asked by Don Schumacher to take a break, what will that do for his confidence? Also, switching crew chiefs for one race can have an adverse effect on the way the driver handles the car. It is well known that different crew chiefs tune their cars differently and the drivers drive that car accordingly. Jimmy Prock, crew chief for Funny Car driver Robert Hight, is well known for a hard launching car that leaves the starting line in a violent fashion. Other crew chiefs will tune the car to leave the starting line softer and then apply more clutch further down the track. The change in tuning styles can be a bit of a learning curve for drivers and Bazemore might be thrown off his game just trying to adjust to Dan Olsen’s style.
Everyone involved in sports can slip into a slump now and then. Baseball players can just stop hitting for no reason and they just have to work through it. The same can be said for Beard and it appears to me that Don Schumacher is hitting the panic button a bit soon. Rather than sideline Beard and replace him with Olsen, I would suggest Olsen have more of an active say in the tuning calls. No need to make an announcement that Beard will be replaced. A public announcement shows a vote of no confidence in his abilities and that might be the wrong message to send. This was billed as a temporary replacement. So what happens if Bazemore goes out in Englishtown, N.J. this weekend and advanced to the final round? Will Olsen remain the crew chief until Bazemore loses in the first round? Once Bazemore starts struggling again will Beard be back in his familiar crew chief role? No matter what happens this weekend, will Beard come back to his crew chief duties for the St. Louis race? This opens up a big can of worms and could potentially annoy and irritate both Olsen and Beard. A bit of a panic move in my opinion.
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