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The answer to the trivia question is "Jeff Arend." Only time will tell if the question is one for the ages, but all signs do point to its importance. The question: Who did Ashley Force defeat for her first NHRA Nitro Funny Car round victory? It happened on Sunday, March 18th, in sunny Gainesville, as the legend's daughter tore away on a clean 4.780 run, leaving a tire-smoking Arend in her clutch dust. After two days of solid qualifying, it was not the sort of Sunday morning Arend was aiming for, and the historical footnote is one he was trying to avoid.
Arend drove his "special edition" K&N Filters Chevy to three solid laps in four qualifying attempts. The first, a 4.956 lap, came on Friday evening and left Arend in the provisional field, but sitting in vulnerable 16th position overnight. On Saturday, Arend simply went out and made the quickest lap of the session on his first attempt, lighting the scoreboard with a 4.800, which jumped him up to safety of the No. 4 spot. Not content with that, co-crew chiefs Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner then strapped Arend into a big 4.774 ride during the final run, and at the time of the pass it was good enough for the No. 1 spot. Although Robert Hight, Gary Scelzi, and Ron Capps ended up nudging Arend back into the 4-hole, it was still the season's highest start for Arend, and it was one that gave the team a lot of confidence.
"We put three full laps on the board, and got better on each one of them," Arend said. "Chris and Marc had a great handle on it both days, and that last run was a huge one for us. We reset my career best speed (at 326.87 mph,) for one thing, but the most important part of it was just how consistently well they had the car running. I know we all came out here on Sunday expecting to do very well, and I won't deny the fact I really thought we had a good chance to not just go rounds, but win the race.
"I will admit that I didn't think it was a good thing to have Ashley Force in the first round, though. She's doing a great job driving that car, and it's a very fast Funny Car. They have smart people working on it, they're doing great, and they have all the resources of John Force Racing behind them. It truly was just a matter of time until she started reeling off wins, and I just wanted to make sure she got the first one off of someone else. It didn't work out for us, and we're all very bummed to have lost in the first round here, but we're leaving Florida with a good car and some more good runs under our belt."
The on-track specifics included the standard Arend jump at the tree, as he pulled away first by nearly 6-hundredths of a second. That lead, however, evaporated before the 60-foot timer, as Arend's K&N/CSK car smoked the tires almost instantly. At the starting line, A&E cameras focused on the winning driver's proud parents, as John and Laurie Force celebrated the win. Arend's crew could only shake their heads and wonder why this one got away.
"We just didn't back it down enough," said co-crew chief Cunningham. "The air was incredible this morning, as unlike Florida air as you'll ever see, meaning it was cool and dry. This was exactly the type of air the cars just love, and it really adds power to the tune-up. The hard part is knowing how much to take out of the tune-up to compensate for the better air. If you de-tune it too much, you'll either be slow, or you could shake. Either way, you're probably going to lose. If you don't take enough out, you'll probably smoke the tires.
"We thought we took more than enough out, and that it would go right down there, but obviously we didn't. We learn something on every lap, but it's tough when you learn a hard lesson in round one. What really disappoints all of us is that we had a stout car here, and on Saturday we were right there, running right with the best. To come out on Sunday and not give her a fight is very disappointing for us."
Arend joined in the disappointment his teammates felt, but still sees the big picture potential of his team.
"We really do have a fast car, and it's getting better every week," Arend said. "Other than Robert Hight, who seems to be racing in a different league so far, we're not giving away anything to anyone. We can race with everyone out here. We made a mistake this morning, and we'll learn from it, but our heads are high. We know we can compete, and we're going to.
"And now, if we keep an eye on the "Driving Force" show on A&E, I imagine we'll get to see the K&N car a few times. I bet they run the footage of her winning that lap for all it's worth. That's just not how I wanted to be on TV, and it's not the trivia question I wanted to be the answer to."
AREND PART OF HISTORY IN FIRST-ROUND LOSS
The answer to the trivia question is "Jeff Arend." Only time will tell if the question is one for the ages, but all signs do point to its importance. The question: Who did Ashley Force defeat for her first NHRA Nitro Funny Car round victory? It happened on Sunday, March 18th, in sunny Gainesville, as the legend's daughter tore away on a clean 4.780 run, leaving a tire-smoking Arend in her clutch dust. After two days of solid qualifying, it was not the sort of Sunday morning Arend was aiming for, and the historical footnote is one he was trying to avoid.
Arend drove his "special edition" K&N Filters Chevy to three solid laps in four qualifying attempts. The first, a 4.956 lap, came on Friday evening and left Arend in the provisional field, but sitting in vulnerable 16th position overnight. On Saturday, Arend simply went out and made the quickest lap of the session on his first attempt, lighting the scoreboard with a 4.800, which jumped him up to safety of the No. 4 spot. Not content with that, co-crew chiefs Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner then strapped Arend into a big 4.774 ride during the final run, and at the time of the pass it was good enough for the No. 1 spot. Although Robert Hight, Gary Scelzi, and Ron Capps ended up nudging Arend back into the 4-hole, it was still the season's highest start for Arend, and it was one that gave the team a lot of confidence.
"We put three full laps on the board, and got better on each one of them," Arend said. "Chris and Marc had a great handle on it both days, and that last run was a huge one for us. We reset my career best speed (at 326.87 mph,) for one thing, but the most important part of it was just how consistently well they had the car running. I know we all came out here on Sunday expecting to do very well, and I won't deny the fact I really thought we had a good chance to not just go rounds, but win the race.
"I will admit that I didn't think it was a good thing to have Ashley Force in the first round, though. She's doing a great job driving that car, and it's a very fast Funny Car. They have smart people working on it, they're doing great, and they have all the resources of John Force Racing behind them. It truly was just a matter of time until she started reeling off wins, and I just wanted to make sure she got the first one off of someone else. It didn't work out for us, and we're all very bummed to have lost in the first round here, but we're leaving Florida with a good car and some more good runs under our belt."
The on-track specifics included the standard Arend jump at the tree, as he pulled away first by nearly 6-hundredths of a second. That lead, however, evaporated before the 60-foot timer, as Arend's K&N/CSK car smoked the tires almost instantly. At the starting line, A&E cameras focused on the winning driver's proud parents, as John and Laurie Force celebrated the win. Arend's crew could only shake their heads and wonder why this one got away.
"We just didn't back it down enough," said co-crew chief Cunningham. "The air was incredible this morning, as unlike Florida air as you'll ever see, meaning it was cool and dry. This was exactly the type of air the cars just love, and it really adds power to the tune-up. The hard part is knowing how much to take out of the tune-up to compensate for the better air. If you de-tune it too much, you'll either be slow, or you could shake. Either way, you're probably going to lose. If you don't take enough out, you'll probably smoke the tires.
"We thought we took more than enough out, and that it would go right down there, but obviously we didn't. We learn something on every lap, but it's tough when you learn a hard lesson in round one. What really disappoints all of us is that we had a stout car here, and on Saturday we were right there, running right with the best. To come out on Sunday and not give her a fight is very disappointing for us."
Arend joined in the disappointment his teammates felt, but still sees the big picture potential of his team.
"We really do have a fast car, and it's getting better every week," Arend said. "Other than Robert Hight, who seems to be racing in a different league so far, we're not giving away anything to anyone. We can race with everyone out here. We made a mistake this morning, and we'll learn from it, but our heads are high. We know we can compete, and we're going to.
"And now, if we keep an eye on the "Driving Force" show on A&E, I imagine we'll get to see the K&N car a few times. I bet they run the footage of her winning that lap for all it's worth. That's just not how I wanted to be on TV, and it's not the trivia question I wanted to be the answer to."
