Post by daj on May 6, 2005 23:03:11 GMT -5
5/6/2005 : Arend poised to make a run at the top 10
Courtesy of Bill Walters
CMKXtreme Racing
ATLANTA, pre-race: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend may look back on his final round appearance at the recent NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals as the turning point in his effort to pilot a legitimate top 10 race car on the POWERade Drag Racing Series tour. Arend will attempt to continue his ascent in the point standings with another big weekend at the 25th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, May 12-15.
The CMKXtreme Machine team will roll into Atlanta fresh off of Arend’s second career Funny Car final round. The 42-year-old Canadian native qualified for his 40th career NHRA national event at Bristol Dragway after rain limited qualifying to a single, pressure-filled session on Saturday. With cagey veteran crew chief Paul Smith calling the shots, Arend blasted through the first three rounds of eliminations and into finals on Sunday. His path to the championship round was highlighted by an upset victory over the No. 1 qualifier in the quarterfinals with a 4.896 at 320.58 mph, the fastest run of his career.
Arend’s ‘Tennessee turnaround’ ended after Gary Scelzi beat the CMKXtreme Machine Monte Carlo to the finish line in the final round, but the team still felt a tremendous amount of satisfaction. With his runner-up finish Arend moved up to 13th in the POWERade Funny Car point standings, less than two rounds out of the top 10. The CMKXtreme Machine team’s hard work and perseverance finally started to pay off in Bristol and they want to carry that momentum into the Southern Nationals in Atlanta.
“I’ve been saying all along that it’s only going to be a matter of time until the CMKXtreme Machine starts going some rounds,” said Arend, “and it all came together in Bristol. We’ve been qualifying in the middle of the pack all season and when you do that you’re racing against cars that are very evenly matched,” Arend explained, “and your chances to go rounds on Sunday increase. With a veteran like Paul Smith tuning the car I have a lot of confidence going into those close races. We’re still tapping into all of the power that the CMKXtreme Machine makes and I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential yet. We’ll head into Atlanta with the same game plan we’ve had all season, qualify solidly and go some rounds on Sunday.”<br>
Courtesy of Bill Walters
CMKXtreme Racing
ATLANTA, pre-race: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend may look back on his final round appearance at the recent NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals as the turning point in his effort to pilot a legitimate top 10 race car on the POWERade Drag Racing Series tour. Arend will attempt to continue his ascent in the point standings with another big weekend at the 25th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, May 12-15.
The CMKXtreme Machine team will roll into Atlanta fresh off of Arend’s second career Funny Car final round. The 42-year-old Canadian native qualified for his 40th career NHRA national event at Bristol Dragway after rain limited qualifying to a single, pressure-filled session on Saturday. With cagey veteran crew chief Paul Smith calling the shots, Arend blasted through the first three rounds of eliminations and into finals on Sunday. His path to the championship round was highlighted by an upset victory over the No. 1 qualifier in the quarterfinals with a 4.896 at 320.58 mph, the fastest run of his career.
Arend’s ‘Tennessee turnaround’ ended after Gary Scelzi beat the CMKXtreme Machine Monte Carlo to the finish line in the final round, but the team still felt a tremendous amount of satisfaction. With his runner-up finish Arend moved up to 13th in the POWERade Funny Car point standings, less than two rounds out of the top 10. The CMKXtreme Machine team’s hard work and perseverance finally started to pay off in Bristol and they want to carry that momentum into the Southern Nationals in Atlanta.
“I’ve been saying all along that it’s only going to be a matter of time until the CMKXtreme Machine starts going some rounds,” said Arend, “and it all came together in Bristol. We’ve been qualifying in the middle of the pack all season and when you do that you’re racing against cars that are very evenly matched,” Arend explained, “and your chances to go rounds on Sunday increase. With a veteran like Paul Smith tuning the car I have a lot of confidence going into those close races. We’re still tapping into all of the power that the CMKXtreme Machine makes and I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential yet. We’ll head into Atlanta with the same game plan we’ve had all season, qualify solidly and go some rounds on Sunday.”<br>