Post by daj on Jun 14, 2005 19:02:19 GMT -5
Arend advances to the semifinals in Chicago in the CMKXtreme Machine
CHICAGO, post-race: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend continued his consistent performance with a semifinal finish on Sunday at the 8th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. Arend drove to his third career semifinal appearance, twice this season, as the CMKX team continues to improve their performance and consistency.
The weather was cool, cloudy and overcast as Funny Car eliminations began at the CARQUEST Nationals. Arend entered race day qualified 10th and squared off against his good friend, No. 7 qualifier Phil Burkart Jr., during the first round. It was the first time the pair has met this season. Ironically, both drivers earned their fuel Funny Car license through CMKXtreme Machine crew chief, Paul Smith.
Arend left the starting line first at the flash of green with a great .061 reaction time, while Burkart's ride smoked the tires almost immediately. Arend blasted into his third quarterfinal of the year with a stout 4.862 at 315.71 mph, his quickest and fastest run of the weekend. The run was also good enough for lane choice in the second round.
The CMKXtreme Machine Monte Carlo was up against local crowd favorite, Dale Creasy Jr. in round two. The race was over as soon as it began when Creasy left the starting line too soon and was disqualified with a red light. Arend motored to a consistent 4.896 at 312.64 mph to advance to the semifinals.
Arend once again had lane choice as he entered the semifinals, where his opponent was Eric Medlen. Arend left the starting line first against Medlen with a .095 reaction time and the pair was side by side until the CMKXtreme Monte Carlo dropped a cylinder near the finish line and started drifting toward the outside retaining wall. Arend was forced to lift off the throttle mere inches from the wall and Medlen squeaked by to take the victory with a 4.835 at 323.58 mph to Arend's 4.890 at 291.57 mph.
"It was a great weekend for the CMKXtreme Machine team and the Monte Carlo is really coming around," said Arend. "We were able to test on Saturday and we found a few things that have helped us to get the car to run in the mid 4.80"s consistently.
"The first couple of rounds today went really well and the car was running strong," continued Arend. "In the semis against Medlen the car put a cylinder out at about 4.3-seconds into the run. Just around half-track the CMKX car shot over to the right and I was fighting to keep it off the wall but it got too close I probably clicked it early. It would have been a close race because we were about even at the thousand-foot mark and it could have gone either way."
"We didn't embarrass ourselves this weekend and the CMKXtreme Machine car is running great and the team is doing a great job. We're looking forward to Englishtown next weekend."
CHICAGO, post-race: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend continued his consistent performance with a semifinal finish on Sunday at the 8th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. Arend drove to his third career semifinal appearance, twice this season, as the CMKX team continues to improve their performance and consistency.
The weather was cool, cloudy and overcast as Funny Car eliminations began at the CARQUEST Nationals. Arend entered race day qualified 10th and squared off against his good friend, No. 7 qualifier Phil Burkart Jr., during the first round. It was the first time the pair has met this season. Ironically, both drivers earned their fuel Funny Car license through CMKXtreme Machine crew chief, Paul Smith.
Arend left the starting line first at the flash of green with a great .061 reaction time, while Burkart's ride smoked the tires almost immediately. Arend blasted into his third quarterfinal of the year with a stout 4.862 at 315.71 mph, his quickest and fastest run of the weekend. The run was also good enough for lane choice in the second round.
The CMKXtreme Machine Monte Carlo was up against local crowd favorite, Dale Creasy Jr. in round two. The race was over as soon as it began when Creasy left the starting line too soon and was disqualified with a red light. Arend motored to a consistent 4.896 at 312.64 mph to advance to the semifinals.
Arend once again had lane choice as he entered the semifinals, where his opponent was Eric Medlen. Arend left the starting line first against Medlen with a .095 reaction time and the pair was side by side until the CMKXtreme Monte Carlo dropped a cylinder near the finish line and started drifting toward the outside retaining wall. Arend was forced to lift off the throttle mere inches from the wall and Medlen squeaked by to take the victory with a 4.835 at 323.58 mph to Arend's 4.890 at 291.57 mph.
"It was a great weekend for the CMKXtreme Machine team and the Monte Carlo is really coming around," said Arend. "We were able to test on Saturday and we found a few things that have helped us to get the car to run in the mid 4.80"s consistently.
"The first couple of rounds today went really well and the car was running strong," continued Arend. "In the semis against Medlen the car put a cylinder out at about 4.3-seconds into the run. Just around half-track the CMKX car shot over to the right and I was fighting to keep it off the wall but it got too close I probably clicked it early. It would have been a close race because we were about even at the thousand-foot mark and it could have gone either way."
"We didn't embarrass ourselves this weekend and the CMKXtreme Machine car is running great and the team is doing a great job. We're looking forward to Englishtown next weekend."