Given no specific reasons why team owner David Powers released him abruptly and surprisingly Wednesday, Top Fuel driver Whit Bazemore said, "The future is wide open."
Powers said in a statement released through public-relations director Ted Yerzyk, "This was an extremely difficult decision to make because Whit is a very talented driver and one of the sport's top competitors. We felt that in looking towards the future of our growing organization, it was best to move forward in a different direction. We wanted to give Whit time to pursue other opportunities and we wish him continued success in his future racing endeavors. The entire David Powers Motorsports organization thanks Whit for his commitment and effort to the team this season."
Bazemore, in his first season behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster, performed well. He was runner-up to teammate Rod Fuller in July at Denver, qualified No. 1 at Houston, recorded four semifinal finishes, started from the top half of the field at 13 races (including his first six), and advanced to the Elite Eight in the Countdown to the Championship.
In the standings, Bazemore was no worse than 10, and he was 10th for only two races at midseason. He was among the top five for the opening six events of the season and was seventh -- ahead of such outstanding and more experienced Top Fuel drivers as J.R. Todd, Melanie Troxel, Dave Grubnic, Cory McClenathan, Doug Kalitta, Hillary Will, Clay Millican, and Morgan Lucas. He was .500 (17-17) in elimination rounds at the time of his dismissal.
"It's very disappointing," Bazemore said in a telephone interview from his home in Bend, Oregon. "In the last couple of races, Lee [crew chief Beard] has been ready to turn the corner. I honestly believe we were in a strong position to win races. The team has been outstanding. It's a great, great team. it’s the best bunch of guys I've ever worked with. The relationship there is very, very strong."
Matco Tools, Bazemore's sponsor for eight years that included his Funny Car stretch with Don Schumacher Racing, issued the same type of polite statement Wednesday, despite company President Tom Willis' reassurance as recently as late July that he was pleased with the association.
"He came to Sonoma [for the Fram-Autolite Nationals at California's Infineon Raceway], and I had a discussion with him about my performance, " Bazemore said. "I asked him, 'Is there anything I can do that would translate to better representing Matco Tools?' And he said no, that I'm doing everything just fine."   
In a prepared statement Wednesday, Willis didn't indicate why another driver is expected to drive the Matco Tools Dragster at the Oct. 26-28 ACDelco Nationals at Las Vegas and the Nov. 1-4 Auto Club Finals at Pomona, California.
"We have had an eight-year relationship with Whit Bazemore and he has been a fantastic spokesman for the Matco Tools Racing program and our distributors," Matco Tools President Tom Willis added. "We want to thank him for representing Matco Tools for nearly a decade, and we wish Whit nothing but success in the future."
The David Powers press release indicated that Matco would continue with the organization and another driver: "The driver of the Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season will be announced later."
Bazemore said, "I really have no idea. I have no idea" why Powers took action Wednesday.  
"I wasn't given a reason," he said.
"We haven't had media attention," Bazemore said, meaning he couldn't think of any controversy that would have affected the team in a negative way. "We've been very positive.
"The details of my relationship with David Powers is such that we had a three-year agreement," the 20-time Funny Car winner said. "I've been wanting to get that in writing for a couple of months. But it wasn't forthcoming. Two races ago, David told me that he wanted to keep me on but we might have to renegotiate my package."
He said that while he had no idea he would be cut loose, he was concerned about a written contract not being offered readily. He said Wednesday afternoon that he had no immediate plans.
"I'm still trying to figure it out. It's all too quick," Bazemore said
"I'm not in a hurry," he said, qualifying that by saying he would be ready to race again right away "if Don [Schumacher] called or if a couple of people called. It may be I take a year off."
He said he and wife Michelle, who is expecting their second child (a daughter to follow two-year-old son Dashiell), are in the process of trying to buy a home. "She's due in February. It might be a good time to be a homebody and spend some time with my little girl when she's born."
In the Funny Car class, he won 20 times in 46 final-round appearances and won at least once race per year for 10 consecutive seasons. And he was a top-10 finisher for 12 straight seasons, with a best showing of second in 2001 and 2003. He was a top-five driver in six of the previous 10 years. Would he consider driving a Funny Car again?
"I'd consider that. I'd consider any good opportunity," Bazemore said, adding that he might think seriously about forming his own team again if the conditions were right.
"There are a couple of teams I'd like to drive for if the opportunity arises," he said. He said that means "any well-funded, serious team that has goals compatible with mine -- Don Prudhomme, John Force, any team along those lines. Anything less . . . Nah, I don’t think I'd want to do that."