NHRA News: Force and Beard go toe-to-toe in Memphis (9/20/2003)

Force and Beard go toe-to-toe in Memphis

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
9/20/2003

John Force

A season-long feud between John Force and Whit Bazemore's crew chief, Lee Beard, finally reached a boiling point Saturday after a Round 3 showdown. The Force camp has contended for some time that Beard intentionally slows Bazemore's staging procedure to throw Force off-balance, a charge the Matco team vehemently denies.

Force and Bazemore were paired up in the third session of qualifying for the 16th annual O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals when the latest flare-up occurred. After the run, Force publicly questioned Bazemore about his crew chief's intentions on the public address system and then had a heated exchange with Beard when the Matco Tools team arrived at the top end to collect its car and driver.

"We always did long burnouts in the past but we quit that early in the year because it wasn't agreeing with the tune-up," Force said. "Everyone out here knew we shortened our burnouts. We said it publicly. So I'm wondering why they continue to play dumb like that. That's what I was asking them down there. I know it ain't Baze and he told me, 'Hey, I'm just the driver,' and that's fine. So when Beard got there I asked him.

"I wanted him to explain to me how a guy knows you're gonna beat him to the starting line but he starts last. Is his timing off every time? I told him don't let me be backing up and I see you go by on your burnout like it happens every time. Don't do that again."

Beard was quick to reply that his staging procedure has never wavered.

"First of all, he's never talked to me about this, ever," Beard said. "We do the same routine every time. When I hear their car fire on nitro I start my car. The only variable there is how fast Bazemore backs up and he's pretty consistent.

"We race [John Force Racing] cars a lot because of the way the points have been. Typically, if you're upset with someone then you send your crew chief or a crew guy over and ask that they either speed up or slow down their procedure to match yours. We have not heard a word from them.

"It's hard for me to understand why he's complaining when I go back and look at the tape and see my driver light both the pre-stage and the stage light first."

Lee Beard

Force and crew maintain that Beard's delays come before any staging lights are lit, which makes it tougher for NHRA officials to regulate what's happening. There is a long-standing gentleman's agreement in place that teams try their best to arrive at the pre-stage beam at the same time. Teams generally study and time their competitors so they can adjust their start-up and staging routine accordingly.

"We haven't put on our lights yet so no one can be late, but [Castrol GTX crew chief Austin] Coil looks over there and they have the body up and no one's doing anything," Force said. "If that's not playing games then what is? If you pay attention you'd realize we're out there for a long time, too long, every time we race them.

"They did the same thing in the Bud Shootout and our clutch got hot but it back-fired on them because we beat them. Our car drove through it that time. But that's when we told them that we knew what they were up to and that they better quit screwing around.

"From now on we need to start at the same time. If they want to sit, that's their right, but we can't be way ahead of them. Everyone sees it. The fans are even telling me they notice it. We need to start together and then if I hold him up then he can complain. But I won't be late. I ain't been late all year."

Beard believes Force's gripe has nothing to do with who stages first but is symptomatic of a bigger problem that exists between the two camps.

"I think what it really boils down to is that if you look back over the years since 2001 when I joined this team we've been a pretty good threat to John and his team and he's upset about it," Beard said. "We constantly praise their team and respect their team and we say it all the time in the media and on television. The bottom line is that they have no respect for us.

"We've worked very, very hard to get where we're at and I think we deserve a little respect from them. I don't think all the rules can be bent to play into John Force's hands. He can't always get every single thing he wants."

For now, Force will ask the NHRA to intervene.

"I've talked to the NHRA and they said they'd watch it," Force said. "I told Beard he's being watched. He said I didn't need to tell him how to run his team, and that's fine. I'd say the time for apologizing is over. If they want a war, we will give them a war."

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