Post by daj on Jul 21, 2005 6:30:57 GMT -5
Arend conquers Thunder Mountain, qualifies for the Mile-High Nationals
DENVER, qualifying: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend continued his surge toward a spot in the POWERade Drag Racing Series Top 10 point standings by qualifying for the 26th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
Arend started his weekend on Friday by visiting children at Presbyterian/St Luke's Medical Center in downtown Denver. Then it was off to Bandimere Speedway for the first pair of professional qualifying rounds.
Arend rolled to the starting line for his first qualifying attempt sporting the colors of his new associate sponsor, SOOoo Good International, a company that specializes in high quality Hawaiian cigars, coffee and chocolate products. Arend recorded a 5.081 to finish the first session qualified 10th. The Canadian native was on a great pass during his Friday night run when his opponent crossed the centerline and knocked a timing cone through the timing traps, eliminating Arend's run and time. The 42-year-old driver finished the first day qualified in the 16th spot, with two qualifying sessions scheduled for Saturday.
The third qualifying session at the Mile-High Nationals was held during the middle of the afternoon Saturday in front of a huge crowd of Colorado drag racing fans. With the track temperature soaring, the CMKXtreme Machine team decided to skip their third qualifying attempt and prepare for the final session early in the evening, when the conditions would be cooler and more conducive for a good run.
Arend was on a solid run once again on his final qualifying attempt when the car started drifting left toward the centerline and he was forced to lift off the throttle, ending his shot at improving his qualifying position. Arend ended up 16th and will face Robert Hight in round one on Sunday.
"The car did what we wanted on the first qualifying run," Arend explained, "but as I was going down the track the car started going toward the centerline. It was getting closer and closer and just about the time I was going to lift the motor quit. We never really figured out what happened but we think the motor may have run out of fuel. That kind of put us behind the eight ball because we had to put our other fuel pump on, which we haven't run in a long time. We used it last night and the car dropped a cylinder two seconds into the run."
Arend continued, "Today we skipped the first session because it was so hot we figured no one would get down the track, and they didn't, so it was a good call. We were going to try something different on the last run, because only Terry Haddock could bump us out and he ran before us. But we ended up running Haddock and we couldn't try what we wanted to. I feel pretty confident going into tomorrow. What we did change worked and the car is running pretty good and it's going to be a whole different race track tomorrow."
"We surprised everyone this weekend with a new paint scheme featuring SOOoo Good International," added Arend. "They are a Las Vegas-based company that deals with a group of Hawaiian companies that manufacture cigars, coffee beans, and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. We're looking forward to a long term relationship with them and for some big things to happen in the near future."
DENVER, qualifying: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend continued his surge toward a spot in the POWERade Drag Racing Series Top 10 point standings by qualifying for the 26th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
Arend started his weekend on Friday by visiting children at Presbyterian/St Luke's Medical Center in downtown Denver. Then it was off to Bandimere Speedway for the first pair of professional qualifying rounds.
Arend rolled to the starting line for his first qualifying attempt sporting the colors of his new associate sponsor, SOOoo Good International, a company that specializes in high quality Hawaiian cigars, coffee and chocolate products. Arend recorded a 5.081 to finish the first session qualified 10th. The Canadian native was on a great pass during his Friday night run when his opponent crossed the centerline and knocked a timing cone through the timing traps, eliminating Arend's run and time. The 42-year-old driver finished the first day qualified in the 16th spot, with two qualifying sessions scheduled for Saturday.
The third qualifying session at the Mile-High Nationals was held during the middle of the afternoon Saturday in front of a huge crowd of Colorado drag racing fans. With the track temperature soaring, the CMKXtreme Machine team decided to skip their third qualifying attempt and prepare for the final session early in the evening, when the conditions would be cooler and more conducive for a good run.
Arend was on a solid run once again on his final qualifying attempt when the car started drifting left toward the centerline and he was forced to lift off the throttle, ending his shot at improving his qualifying position. Arend ended up 16th and will face Robert Hight in round one on Sunday.
"The car did what we wanted on the first qualifying run," Arend explained, "but as I was going down the track the car started going toward the centerline. It was getting closer and closer and just about the time I was going to lift the motor quit. We never really figured out what happened but we think the motor may have run out of fuel. That kind of put us behind the eight ball because we had to put our other fuel pump on, which we haven't run in a long time. We used it last night and the car dropped a cylinder two seconds into the run."
Arend continued, "Today we skipped the first session because it was so hot we figured no one would get down the track, and they didn't, so it was a good call. We were going to try something different on the last run, because only Terry Haddock could bump us out and he ran before us. But we ended up running Haddock and we couldn't try what we wanted to. I feel pretty confident going into tomorrow. What we did change worked and the car is running pretty good and it's going to be a whole different race track tomorrow."
"We surprised everyone this weekend with a new paint scheme featuring SOOoo Good International," added Arend. "They are a Las Vegas-based company that deals with a group of Hawaiian companies that manufacture cigars, coffee beans, and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. We're looking forward to a long term relationship with them and for some big things to happen in the near future."