<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/j_arend07_343561.jpg" alt="j_arend07_343561" align="left"borders="0"/>
DENVER (July 10, 2007) -- Throughout the 2007 season, fans and experts have been discussing the unprecedented level of competition in the Funny Car class, burning up the phone lines and internet message boards in amazement. With 19 well-funded, full-time teams now making the tour, and other part-timers adding their names to the list at various races, the act of securing a place in the 16-car field has gone from "challenging" to "nerve wracking" in just a few months. The equation is a simple one, and the math illustrates the point: Each week, at least three big-time teams, who enter each event with the thought of winning the race, will instead be on the sidelines come Sunday.
For Jeff Arend, the driver of the blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala, the haunting image of sitting out a race had been following him since his debut with the team in Pomona. Week after week, while the biggest names in the sport each took their turns hanging the albatross of the dreaded DNQ around their necks, Arend just kept making the field. Finally, when Gary Scelzi missed the cut in Norwalk, just two weeks ago, Arend was alone as the unlikely "last man standing," having made each race field at the first 11 events. It was quite an accomplishment for the CSK driver and his team, having avoided a plaguewhich had knocked out out of every other team, but the insidious little bug was soon to bite him, too, and down he went one week later in Bristol.
"Hey, we lasted longer than anyone, and I'm very proud of that," Arend said. "When Gary missed the show in Norwalk, and we had the longest streak, you had to feel a twinge of fear that the crown was really a curse, but we went after it in Bristol with the thought that we'd make that race too. Instead, the Friday night deal was really our undoing, as we had to shut the car off early on the night run and never could get back into the field in the heat on Saturday. So, now we need to start a new streak, and we'll do it on the mountain at Bandimere Speedway in Denver. Right now, if everything goes according to plan, we'll do that with a cool new body on the car."
As the third "special edition" body in a four-car series, the Chevron Techron Impala was originally slated for use in Seattle and Sonoma. But, with teammate Del Worsham having demolished his only Impala in Norwalk, Arend's team has pushed the Techron car ahead with plans to run it at all three "Western Swing" events, so that Worsham can compete
with the blue team's standard CSK blue Chevy on his car. Worsham will take possession of a new red CSK Impala either during, or just after, the Sonoma weekend.
"The Techron car is always a popular one, and this version is just as cool looking as any other, so I'm happy to run it at Denver," Arend said. "If it helps our organization out, having Del use our regular blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen body, then everyone on our team is all for it. It'll be a little weird in the staging lanes, because I bet I'll just automatically head for the blue car when it's time to get in, but we'll adjust and we'll do all we can to put the Techron Impala deep
into the field, to start that new streak at one race in a row.
"With all of these special bodies, the overall goal is to give a big
promotional boost to key associate sponsors who help our team so much,
or in the case of the Murray's car, a whole chain of stores that have
been added the CSK family. Chevron has been instrumental in keeping
our team competitive, and the Techron car is a way for Worsham Racing
and CSK to say 'Thank You' to them, for all the great support. There
probably couldn't be a better way to say that than taking it to the
Winner's Circle for a lot of great pictures. The way our car has been running, despite the fluke deal in Bristol, we're fully capable of winning any race we enter."
To Arend's point, the difference between his Bristol DNQ and the No. 1qualifying position was just a matter of safety. On his Friday night lap, Arend was powering to what appeared to be the quickest lap of the session, and he likely would have ended qualifying in the No. 1 spot, but with the wheel turned all the way to the left, he still was unable to keep the car from hunting the center line, and those unforgiving timing blocks, so his only choices were to drive it across the line or lift off the throttle.
"I had to lift, that's all there was to it," he said. "I had my right hand all the way over, and couldn't steer the car any more to the left than I was, but it just would not come back. Sometimes that happens on really huge laps, because all the power is hiking the front end and you don't have a lot of contact between the front tires and the track. It stunk, because we were on the lap of the weekend, but I wasn't going to cross the lines or hit any timing blocks. So, it may have looked bad for us to DNQ, but we know we had a fast car there. It's not like we smoked the tires four straight runs. As a matter of fact, we made four pretty nice laps, we just had to abort the Friday night run and that did us in.
"Now, we'll bring that same fast car to Bandimere Speedway and see what we can do on the mountain. It's always a challenge for the tuners to make power at Bandimere, and it can be tough for the drivers to keep it going straight with so little downforce on the car, but we're up for the challenge. We'll start a new streak and see if we can't put the Techron car in the history books."
One lap at a time, a new streak can be born.
AREND AIMS TO START A NEW STREAK IN DENVER, USING TECHRON COLORS
DENVER (July 10, 2007) -- Throughout the 2007 season, fans and experts have been discussing the unprecedented level of competition in the Funny Car class, burning up the phone lines and internet message boards in amazement. With 19 well-funded, full-time teams now making the tour, and other part-timers adding their names to the list at various races, the act of securing a place in the 16-car field has gone from "challenging" to "nerve wracking" in just a few months. The equation is a simple one, and the math illustrates the point: Each week, at least three big-time teams, who enter each event with the thought of winning the race, will instead be on the sidelines come Sunday.
For Jeff Arend, the driver of the blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala, the haunting image of sitting out a race had been following him since his debut with the team in Pomona. Week after week, while the biggest names in the sport each took their turns hanging the albatross of the dreaded DNQ around their necks, Arend just kept making the field. Finally, when Gary Scelzi missed the cut in Norwalk, just two weeks ago, Arend was alone as the unlikely "last man standing," having made each race field at the first 11 events. It was quite an accomplishment for the CSK driver and his team, having avoided a plaguewhich had knocked out out of every other team, but the insidious little bug was soon to bite him, too, and down he went one week later in Bristol.
"Hey, we lasted longer than anyone, and I'm very proud of that," Arend said. "When Gary missed the show in Norwalk, and we had the longest streak, you had to feel a twinge of fear that the crown was really a curse, but we went after it in Bristol with the thought that we'd make that race too. Instead, the Friday night deal was really our undoing, as we had to shut the car off early on the night run and never could get back into the field in the heat on Saturday. So, now we need to start a new streak, and we'll do it on the mountain at Bandimere Speedway in Denver. Right now, if everything goes according to plan, we'll do that with a cool new body on the car."
As the third "special edition" body in a four-car series, the Chevron Techron Impala was originally slated for use in Seattle and Sonoma. But, with teammate Del Worsham having demolished his only Impala in Norwalk, Arend's team has pushed the Techron car ahead with plans to run it at all three "Western Swing" events, so that Worsham can compete
with the blue team's standard CSK blue Chevy on his car. Worsham will take possession of a new red CSK Impala either during, or just after, the Sonoma weekend.
"The Techron car is always a popular one, and this version is just as cool looking as any other, so I'm happy to run it at Denver," Arend said. "If it helps our organization out, having Del use our regular blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen body, then everyone on our team is all for it. It'll be a little weird in the staging lanes, because I bet I'll just automatically head for the blue car when it's time to get in, but we'll adjust and we'll do all we can to put the Techron Impala deep
into the field, to start that new streak at one race in a row.
"With all of these special bodies, the overall goal is to give a big
promotional boost to key associate sponsors who help our team so much,
or in the case of the Murray's car, a whole chain of stores that have
been added the CSK family. Chevron has been instrumental in keeping
our team competitive, and the Techron car is a way for Worsham Racing
and CSK to say 'Thank You' to them, for all the great support. There
probably couldn't be a better way to say that than taking it to the
Winner's Circle for a lot of great pictures. The way our car has been running, despite the fluke deal in Bristol, we're fully capable of winning any race we enter."
To Arend's point, the difference between his Bristol DNQ and the No. 1qualifying position was just a matter of safety. On his Friday night lap, Arend was powering to what appeared to be the quickest lap of the session, and he likely would have ended qualifying in the No. 1 spot, but with the wheel turned all the way to the left, he still was unable to keep the car from hunting the center line, and those unforgiving timing blocks, so his only choices were to drive it across the line or lift off the throttle.
"I had to lift, that's all there was to it," he said. "I had my right hand all the way over, and couldn't steer the car any more to the left than I was, but it just would not come back. Sometimes that happens on really huge laps, because all the power is hiking the front end and you don't have a lot of contact between the front tires and the track. It stunk, because we were on the lap of the weekend, but I wasn't going to cross the lines or hit any timing blocks. So, it may have looked bad for us to DNQ, but we know we had a fast car there. It's not like we smoked the tires four straight runs. As a matter of fact, we made four pretty nice laps, we just had to abort the Friday night run and that did us in.
"Now, we'll bring that same fast car to Bandimere Speedway and see what we can do on the mountain. It's always a challenge for the tuners to make power at Bandimere, and it can be tough for the drivers to keep it going straight with so little downforce on the car, but we're up for the challenge. We'll start a new streak and see if we can't put the Techron car in the history books."
One lap at a time, a new streak can be born.
