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ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 18, 2007) -- Those old enough to remember television in the 1950s and '60s will instantly associate a number of popular programs with the sponsors who backed them, as well as the jingles that often anchored those commercials. With that nostalgic thought in mind, one couldn't fault Jeff Arend for humming along to the classic "See the USA, in your Chevrolet," as the popular driver of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Chevy Impala Funny Car gets set to tackle eight races in the next nine weeks, all over the United States, starting this weekend in Englishtown, N.J.
Arend will arrive at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in 11th place on the POWERade points sheet, having slipped a couple of notches from 9th at the most recent race in Chicago. The backward move was greeted with consternation in the CSK camp, but it also prompted a new dose of motivation and determination, from top to bottom on the blue side of the CSK pit.
"We ran great there, but we just got beat by a faster car in round one," Arend said. "And for that we went from ninth to 11th, but the truth is we're still no further out of the top eight. Right now, we're only three rounds out of seventh and six rounds out of sixth place, so if we keep going down the race track and making good laps, there's no reason to think we can't end up right in the middle of the playoff field. We have eight races to do that, but the best place to start earning those points is Englishtown, this weekend."
As an avid golfer, Arend knows that the mission to break par begins on the first tee, and that shot is just as important as the final putt on 18. His season, as a whole, got off to a great start, with a semi-final finish in Pomona, and now that this final crunch of eight races is upon him, the key to accomplishing his goals begins with the first qualifying lap in E-town.
"Make good laps, get in the show, and be consistent on Sunday, that's the mantra," Arend said. "We've done a great job doing all three of those things, especially making the show which is an epic battle every week, so we just have to trust ourselves that the results will start to come on Sunday. We've lost some really tight ones this year, but losses are losses and it's time to get on the good side of it again.
"We stayed around in Chicago to test after the last race, and that was really encouraging. We made two laps and the car did just what we wanted it to do. We'll take that data and try to step up our qualifying deal in Englishtown, although everyone knows how tough the whole 16-car field is. It's a 'pick your poison' type of thing, because no matter where you qualify you're going to be racing a great team in round one."
Arend's qualifying consistency has generated quite a bit of media attention as of late, for reasons both well-earned and somewhat amazing. Having made the field at every race this year, Arend is part of a very small group to earn that distinction. "Small" means "two" in this case, as only Gary Scelzi is also nine-for-nine on the year.
If that piece of news isn't the perfect example of how difficult it is to qualify in 2007, the second oddity about Arend's consistency perfectly drives the point home. Since Arend also qualified at his last race in 2006, his current qualifying streak sits at 10 consecutive races. Not a big deal? Maybe not, in years gone by, but it currently ranks as the second longest streak in the class, coming in behind that Scelzi character, who has made the show at 28 straight events.
"That's really pretty amazing, and I'm not talking about us having 10 in a row," Arend said. "A year ago, there were guys all up and down the class with much longer streaks, but one by one they've all fallen this year, including John Force and his ridiculous streak of 395 races. It was always easy to say that Force's streak would never be matched, but now we look around this sport and you wonder if anyone will ever get to 100 again. It's hard to imagine, as tough as it is out here now.
"For us, I know it's a cliche' but we're just taking it one lap at a time. We want to come out of the box strong in Englishtown, to set ourselves up to make a really big run on Friday night. One lap at a time, one day at a time, and one race at a time. If we stay with our plan and run like we should, we can be right there in the playoffs when this massive road trip, all around America, is over in two months."
Cue Dinah Shore for verse number three: "Make a date today, to see the USA. And see it in your Chevrolet..."
AREND READY TO START AN EPIC SUMMER ROADTRIP
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 18, 2007) -- Those old enough to remember television in the 1950s and '60s will instantly associate a number of popular programs with the sponsors who backed them, as well as the jingles that often anchored those commercials. With that nostalgic thought in mind, one couldn't fault Jeff Arend for humming along to the classic "See the USA, in your Chevrolet," as the popular driver of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Chevy Impala Funny Car gets set to tackle eight races in the next nine weeks, all over the United States, starting this weekend in Englishtown, N.J.
Arend will arrive at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in 11th place on the POWERade points sheet, having slipped a couple of notches from 9th at the most recent race in Chicago. The backward move was greeted with consternation in the CSK camp, but it also prompted a new dose of motivation and determination, from top to bottom on the blue side of the CSK pit.
"We ran great there, but we just got beat by a faster car in round one," Arend said. "And for that we went from ninth to 11th, but the truth is we're still no further out of the top eight. Right now, we're only three rounds out of seventh and six rounds out of sixth place, so if we keep going down the race track and making good laps, there's no reason to think we can't end up right in the middle of the playoff field. We have eight races to do that, but the best place to start earning those points is Englishtown, this weekend."
As an avid golfer, Arend knows that the mission to break par begins on the first tee, and that shot is just as important as the final putt on 18. His season, as a whole, got off to a great start, with a semi-final finish in Pomona, and now that this final crunch of eight races is upon him, the key to accomplishing his goals begins with the first qualifying lap in E-town.
"Make good laps, get in the show, and be consistent on Sunday, that's the mantra," Arend said. "We've done a great job doing all three of those things, especially making the show which is an epic battle every week, so we just have to trust ourselves that the results will start to come on Sunday. We've lost some really tight ones this year, but losses are losses and it's time to get on the good side of it again.
"We stayed around in Chicago to test after the last race, and that was really encouraging. We made two laps and the car did just what we wanted it to do. We'll take that data and try to step up our qualifying deal in Englishtown, although everyone knows how tough the whole 16-car field is. It's a 'pick your poison' type of thing, because no matter where you qualify you're going to be racing a great team in round one."
Arend's qualifying consistency has generated quite a bit of media attention as of late, for reasons both well-earned and somewhat amazing. Having made the field at every race this year, Arend is part of a very small group to earn that distinction. "Small" means "two" in this case, as only Gary Scelzi is also nine-for-nine on the year.
If that piece of news isn't the perfect example of how difficult it is to qualify in 2007, the second oddity about Arend's consistency perfectly drives the point home. Since Arend also qualified at his last race in 2006, his current qualifying streak sits at 10 consecutive races. Not a big deal? Maybe not, in years gone by, but it currently ranks as the second longest streak in the class, coming in behind that Scelzi character, who has made the show at 28 straight events.
"That's really pretty amazing, and I'm not talking about us having 10 in a row," Arend said. "A year ago, there were guys all up and down the class with much longer streaks, but one by one they've all fallen this year, including John Force and his ridiculous streak of 395 races. It was always easy to say that Force's streak would never be matched, but now we look around this sport and you wonder if anyone will ever get to 100 again. It's hard to imagine, as tough as it is out here now.
"For us, I know it's a cliche' but we're just taking it one lap at a time. We want to come out of the box strong in Englishtown, to set ourselves up to make a really big run on Friday night. One lap at a time, one day at a time, and one race at a time. If we stay with our plan and run like we should, we can be right there in the playoffs when this massive road trip, all around America, is over in two months."
Cue Dinah Shore for verse number three: "Make a date today, to see the USA. And see it in your Chevrolet..."
