Post by Franko10 ™ on Feb 28, 2005 21:26:20 GMT -5
2/28/2005 : Arend and the CMKXtreme Machine team disappointed in Phoenix
Courtesy of Bill Walters
CMKXtreme Racing
PHOENIX, Saturday: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend failed to qualify for the 21st annual Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird International Raceway, just south of downtown Phoenix. It was a disappointing weekend for the CMKXtreme team after Arend qualified in Pomona two weeks ago with a career-best effort.
Arend began the weekend Friday morning by visiting with patients at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital along with fellow CMKX racer, Tony Bartone. The pair signed autographs, posed for photos and handed out CMKXtreme Racing teddy bears, hats and shirts to the delighted children and their parents.
CMKX Diamonds CEO and current Chairman of the Board, Urban Casavant and his wife Carolyn, were on hand to support the team in Phoenix. The weather was ideal at Firebird Raceway when Arend pulled to the starting line for his first qualifying attempt Friday afternoon. The CMKXtreme Machine dropped a cylinder at the hit of the throttle and shook the tires, forcing Arend to coast down the quarter-mile. After the team returned to the pits they found a faulty spark plug to be the culprit. The crew fixed the problem as Arend prepared for his second qualifying attempt Friday evening.
Arend was on a great run during his second qualifying shot when a fuel line failed. The Canadian native was on a mid-4.70 run when he was forced to shut it off near half-track and he finished the day in the No. 19 position with a 5.627 at 61.50 mph.
“This is the first time I’ve ever raced at Firebird,” said Arend as he prepared for the final day of qualifying. “The track surface is definitely capable of taking anything we can throw at it, as witnessed by the some of the times run yesterday. Unfortunately, on the first run the CMKXtreme Machine dropped a cylinder which was traced back to a bad spark plug. I was on a career-best run on our second attempt. The incremental times showed that we had the fourth fastest time at half-track and it probably would have been about a 4.76 if it would have made it to the other end but we had a fuel line come apart and I shut it off.”<br>
Arend was optimistic going into Saturday’s second day of qualifying. “The car is showing good numbers even though it’s not making it to the finish line on every run. We’re still working out the all the bugs with our new car but I think we’ll be okay today.”<br>
The CMKXtreme Machine shook the tires near the 100-foot mark on Arend’s third qualifying attempt. The former NHRA Funny Car national event champion dropped to the 21st position on the qualifying ladder. Arend would have one more chance to make the 16-car field during the final session Saturday afternoon. On his final run the CMKXtreme Machine drifted toward the center line as Arend fought to bring the car back into the groove. His 5.059 at 269.83 mph fell short of the 4.92 bump spot and Arend finished the weekend in the 19th position.
“On the first run today we went up there and smoked the tires about 100-feet out,” said Arend. “We came back for the last run with a good tune up in the car and we thought it would run about a mid-4.80,” explained Arend. “But the car started drifting out of the groove a little bit and I was turning the wheel but it just wouldn’t come back. I tried to save it but obviously it didn’t quite work. We’re going to change the steering back in the car to like it was in the CMKXtreme Corvette last year. The steering is a lot slower in this car, which means it doesn’t steer as fast as the Corvette did, which I’m used to, so we’re going to speed it back up. We’ll get it all fixed up and I’m confident we have a good tune up and we’ll be able to run well the rest of the year.”
Courtesy of Bill Walters
CMKXtreme Racing
PHOENIX, Saturday: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend failed to qualify for the 21st annual Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird International Raceway, just south of downtown Phoenix. It was a disappointing weekend for the CMKXtreme team after Arend qualified in Pomona two weeks ago with a career-best effort.
Arend began the weekend Friday morning by visiting with patients at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital along with fellow CMKX racer, Tony Bartone. The pair signed autographs, posed for photos and handed out CMKXtreme Racing teddy bears, hats and shirts to the delighted children and their parents.
CMKX Diamonds CEO and current Chairman of the Board, Urban Casavant and his wife Carolyn, were on hand to support the team in Phoenix. The weather was ideal at Firebird Raceway when Arend pulled to the starting line for his first qualifying attempt Friday afternoon. The CMKXtreme Machine dropped a cylinder at the hit of the throttle and shook the tires, forcing Arend to coast down the quarter-mile. After the team returned to the pits they found a faulty spark plug to be the culprit. The crew fixed the problem as Arend prepared for his second qualifying attempt Friday evening.
Arend was on a great run during his second qualifying shot when a fuel line failed. The Canadian native was on a mid-4.70 run when he was forced to shut it off near half-track and he finished the day in the No. 19 position with a 5.627 at 61.50 mph.
“This is the first time I’ve ever raced at Firebird,” said Arend as he prepared for the final day of qualifying. “The track surface is definitely capable of taking anything we can throw at it, as witnessed by the some of the times run yesterday. Unfortunately, on the first run the CMKXtreme Machine dropped a cylinder which was traced back to a bad spark plug. I was on a career-best run on our second attempt. The incremental times showed that we had the fourth fastest time at half-track and it probably would have been about a 4.76 if it would have made it to the other end but we had a fuel line come apart and I shut it off.”<br>
Arend was optimistic going into Saturday’s second day of qualifying. “The car is showing good numbers even though it’s not making it to the finish line on every run. We’re still working out the all the bugs with our new car but I think we’ll be okay today.”<br>
The CMKXtreme Machine shook the tires near the 100-foot mark on Arend’s third qualifying attempt. The former NHRA Funny Car national event champion dropped to the 21st position on the qualifying ladder. Arend would have one more chance to make the 16-car field during the final session Saturday afternoon. On his final run the CMKXtreme Machine drifted toward the center line as Arend fought to bring the car back into the groove. His 5.059 at 269.83 mph fell short of the 4.92 bump spot and Arend finished the weekend in the 19th position.
“On the first run today we went up there and smoked the tires about 100-feet out,” said Arend. “We came back for the last run with a good tune up in the car and we thought it would run about a mid-4.80,” explained Arend. “But the car started drifting out of the groove a little bit and I was turning the wheel but it just wouldn’t come back. I tried to save it but obviously it didn’t quite work. We’re going to change the steering back in the car to like it was in the CMKXtreme Corvette last year. The steering is a lot slower in this car, which means it doesn’t steer as fast as the Corvette did, which I’m used to, so we’re going to speed it back up. We’ll get it all fixed up and I’m confident we have a good tune up and we’ll be able to run well the rest of the year.”