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TOPEKA, Kan. (May 29, 2007) -- Jeff Arend is now seven races into his first season behind the wheel of the blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car, but he's already learned one valuable lesson: Nothing comes easy out here. Taking over a fast running car, Arend did manage to get off to a great start, advancing to the semi-finals at the season opener in Pomona. Since then, he's run as well as the majority of drivers in the NHRA Funny Car class, and better than many, but close losses are a part of the game and Arend's results haven't always been commensurate with his performance.
This weekend, as the POWERade tour fires back into action after an unexpected three-week halt, Arend and his team will travel to Topeka to continue their strong 2007 effort, and they all remain confident that those who consistently put a strong car on the race track will eventually earn the results they deserve.
"We're one of only four Funny Car teams to make the field at all seven races so far, and we've run well at most of them," Arend said. "But, in this game there's a guy on the other side of the track, and you can't control what they do. All you can do is your best, work as a team, and keep fighting the fight, and if you do that you will earn your just rewards. It's like teeing it up and shooting the round of your life sometimes, putting a 68 on the scorecard, but another guy birdies the last hole and shoots 67 to beat you. You know you played great, but you didn't win.
"We haven't quite shot that kind of score this year, but I know we're completely capable and very ready to do that. So far, we've been shooting par, I'd say, making the shots you have to make, but we're getting better and I think we're about ready to bust out. Put it this way, I don't look forward to this weekend's race in Topeka, or any other race on the schedule, and think 'We can win some rounds there.' I look ahead and think we can win the race."
A clear illustration of Arend's year, to this point, can be made by simply comparing his numbers to those of his CSK teammate, Del Worsham. With a well-earned runner-up finish in St. Louis, Worsham nudged Arend out of the top eight in the points, despite the fact Worsham failed to qualify at the season's first two events. Arend, meanwhile, has qualified at every race, yet five first-round losses, many of which were extremely close and frustrating, have seen him slip down the chart into the 9th spot.
"We opened up great, in Pomona, and the new driver even contributed to that one with a hole shot over Ron Capps in round two," Arend said. "After that, we went on a streak of races where we did a lot of things right, and were good enough to win a lot of the other first round match-ups, but we just couldn't beat the car we happened to be running. In Houston, we lost by 25-thousandths of a second. In Las Vegas, I think it was about 11-thousandths. And in St. Louis, we were one of only three teams to make it down the right lane in round one, but we drew John Force and he beat us.
"So, all of us take a lot of strength from the fact we've been running well, and we've been very consistent. You can't let the close losses get you down, and so far they haven't at all. Our guys are fired up and the chemistry on this team is the best I've ever been a part of. That starts at the top, with Del and Chuck Worsham, and it gets amplified by my crew chiefs, Marc Denner and Chris Cunningham. All four of those guys are great leaders, great racers, and great people. It's just an honor to be driving this car."
Arend and his group also got an added bit of motivation during the time off, not that they needed to be amped up any more than they have been. In other sports, disparaging stories are often tacked on the locker room bulletin board, to fire up the troops, but this bit of a jab was posted on the internet, and can be attributed to nearly 20,000 people.
A recent NHRA.com poll asked readers to pick the one Funny Car driver,of the four to make all seven race fields to this point, who would DNQ next. Granted, Tony Pedregon, Gary Scelzi, and Ron Capps are all driving outstanding race cars, and are all ahead of Arend in the points, but the fact 60 percent, of the more than 19,000 people who voted, tabbed Arend as the next to miss a race, did not go unnoticed in the Team CSK camp.
"Hey, I have one win in my career, and I scuffled along for years before earning this ride, so when you look at our four names together, it's a wonder to me that thousands of people actually picked one of those guys," Arend said, with a chuckle. "Still, you know you want to prove all those people wrong, and we aim to do that. Believe me, each and every one of us saw that poll, and we were text messaging each other about it. We'll just prove them all wrong. That's all there is to it. We'll prove them wrong."
Now that would be a just reward, for a driver and a team who have raced better than their results have shown.
AREND CONFIDENT TOPEKA WILL PROVIDE HIS JUST REWARDS
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 29, 2007) -- Jeff Arend is now seven races into his first season behind the wheel of the blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car, but he's already learned one valuable lesson: Nothing comes easy out here. Taking over a fast running car, Arend did manage to get off to a great start, advancing to the semi-finals at the season opener in Pomona. Since then, he's run as well as the majority of drivers in the NHRA Funny Car class, and better than many, but close losses are a part of the game and Arend's results haven't always been commensurate with his performance.
This weekend, as the POWERade tour fires back into action after an unexpected three-week halt, Arend and his team will travel to Topeka to continue their strong 2007 effort, and they all remain confident that those who consistently put a strong car on the race track will eventually earn the results they deserve.
"We're one of only four Funny Car teams to make the field at all seven races so far, and we've run well at most of them," Arend said. "But, in this game there's a guy on the other side of the track, and you can't control what they do. All you can do is your best, work as a team, and keep fighting the fight, and if you do that you will earn your just rewards. It's like teeing it up and shooting the round of your life sometimes, putting a 68 on the scorecard, but another guy birdies the last hole and shoots 67 to beat you. You know you played great, but you didn't win.
"We haven't quite shot that kind of score this year, but I know we're completely capable and very ready to do that. So far, we've been shooting par, I'd say, making the shots you have to make, but we're getting better and I think we're about ready to bust out. Put it this way, I don't look forward to this weekend's race in Topeka, or any other race on the schedule, and think 'We can win some rounds there.' I look ahead and think we can win the race."
A clear illustration of Arend's year, to this point, can be made by simply comparing his numbers to those of his CSK teammate, Del Worsham. With a well-earned runner-up finish in St. Louis, Worsham nudged Arend out of the top eight in the points, despite the fact Worsham failed to qualify at the season's first two events. Arend, meanwhile, has qualified at every race, yet five first-round losses, many of which were extremely close and frustrating, have seen him slip down the chart into the 9th spot.
"We opened up great, in Pomona, and the new driver even contributed to that one with a hole shot over Ron Capps in round two," Arend said. "After that, we went on a streak of races where we did a lot of things right, and were good enough to win a lot of the other first round match-ups, but we just couldn't beat the car we happened to be running. In Houston, we lost by 25-thousandths of a second. In Las Vegas, I think it was about 11-thousandths. And in St. Louis, we were one of only three teams to make it down the right lane in round one, but we drew John Force and he beat us.
"So, all of us take a lot of strength from the fact we've been running well, and we've been very consistent. You can't let the close losses get you down, and so far they haven't at all. Our guys are fired up and the chemistry on this team is the best I've ever been a part of. That starts at the top, with Del and Chuck Worsham, and it gets amplified by my crew chiefs, Marc Denner and Chris Cunningham. All four of those guys are great leaders, great racers, and great people. It's just an honor to be driving this car."
Arend and his group also got an added bit of motivation during the time off, not that they needed to be amped up any more than they have been. In other sports, disparaging stories are often tacked on the locker room bulletin board, to fire up the troops, but this bit of a jab was posted on the internet, and can be attributed to nearly 20,000 people.
A recent NHRA.com poll asked readers to pick the one Funny Car driver,of the four to make all seven race fields to this point, who would DNQ next. Granted, Tony Pedregon, Gary Scelzi, and Ron Capps are all driving outstanding race cars, and are all ahead of Arend in the points, but the fact 60 percent, of the more than 19,000 people who voted, tabbed Arend as the next to miss a race, did not go unnoticed in the Team CSK camp.
"Hey, I have one win in my career, and I scuffled along for years before earning this ride, so when you look at our four names together, it's a wonder to me that thousands of people actually picked one of those guys," Arend said, with a chuckle. "Still, you know you want to prove all those people wrong, and we aim to do that. Believe me, each and every one of us saw that poll, and we were text messaging each other about it. We'll just prove them all wrong. That's all there is to it. We'll prove them wrong."
Now that would be a just reward, for a driver and a team who have raced better than their results have shown.
