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One would have to excuse Jeff Arend if, on the way to the race track Sunday, he had stopped at every convenience store in suburban Richmond, searching the aisles for the shelf were "breaks" were stocked, hoping to buy one for himself and his Havoline Deposit Shield Funny Car teammates. Had Arend found a store that sold that elusive product, it's likely the shelf would have been empty. "Sorry sir, no breaks for you today!"
All that separated Arend from a stellar weekend was an inch here, or maybe a half-foot there. Instead, what he got was a first-round loss so narrow it did appear that he had won, until the stop-action replay froze the image of his car alongside Jack Beckman's, with the Beckman machine a solid 8 to 10 inches ahead at the end of a 1,320-foot race track.
"This was one you could really only shake your head over and just walk away from, because it's just ridiculous to lose by that little," Arend said. "We had a good race car, we qualified fine, and we ran great in round one. In the end, we got nothing for it, and it is pretty impossible to not notice other guys winning laps because their opponents broke, or red-lit, or smoked the tires. You'd think we'd catch a break, but we can't seem to, but you know what they say. That's drag racin'."
Arend's qualifying effort ended up being a Saturday-only affair, as he shook hard during Friday's lone session (under the lights on Friday night) but then came back with a big 4.862 during Saturday's first run, which effectively moved him back into the race field. He then followed that with a solid, if slightly pedestrian, 4.902 during the final lap.
In the end, he took the 12th spot in a tough race field, and was destined to face one of the best Countdown competitors, Beckman, in round one.
"It was a really weird qualifying deal here, because we only got the one Friday run in, and even though a few guys made huge laps, almost everyone else didn't make it down the track. Of the 18 cars here, I think at least 14 came out of Friday with runs they either knew or figured wouldn't make the field. We were one of those teams, and all we were focused on was getting down the track to a good number on the first Saturday lap. We did great, and we came back for the last one and put another full pass on the board, so there was no reason to think we couldn't come out here and be strong on Sunday.
"It really didn't affect us to be in the bottom half, other than the lousy break of having to run Jack in the first round. The lanes were pretty much even, and their team chose to be first pair, which is probably what we would have chosen if we had been doing the picking, so it was good to go. We just needed to outrun them."
Arend got the team off to a quick head-start, reacting with a .080 light to Beckman's .102, putting nearly two-hundredths in the bank at the hit of the throttle. On the big screen replay, it was clear that Arend was away first, and then ahead at every marker. As the two cars neared the finish line, the Havoline car led until the last few feet of race track, where Beckman's car edged ahead to take the win by inches.
"Needless to say, I never saw him and thought I won," Arend said. "I'm pretty tired of finishing laps that I thought I won, only to find out I didn't. It's happened a lot this year, and it's not any fun to have your emotions shoot up and then get knocked down like that. Like I said, this one was about as close as it gets, but they got there first and we go home. It may not seem fair, but it's drag racing."
With a two-week hiatus now built into the schedule, prior to the next event in Las Vegas, Arend may be able to get on-line and find a cyber version of The Break Store, where he can order a few with the click of a mouse button. Hopefully, they will be delivered in time for Vegas.
AREND SUFFERS FRUSTRATING PHOTO-FINISH LOSS IN ROUND ONE
One would have to excuse Jeff Arend if, on the way to the race track Sunday, he had stopped at every convenience store in suburban Richmond, searching the aisles for the shelf were "breaks" were stocked, hoping to buy one for himself and his Havoline Deposit Shield Funny Car teammates. Had Arend found a store that sold that elusive product, it's likely the shelf would have been empty. "Sorry sir, no breaks for you today!"
All that separated Arend from a stellar weekend was an inch here, or maybe a half-foot there. Instead, what he got was a first-round loss so narrow it did appear that he had won, until the stop-action replay froze the image of his car alongside Jack Beckman's, with the Beckman machine a solid 8 to 10 inches ahead at the end of a 1,320-foot race track.
"This was one you could really only shake your head over and just walk away from, because it's just ridiculous to lose by that little," Arend said. "We had a good race car, we qualified fine, and we ran great in round one. In the end, we got nothing for it, and it is pretty impossible to not notice other guys winning laps because their opponents broke, or red-lit, or smoked the tires. You'd think we'd catch a break, but we can't seem to, but you know what they say. That's drag racin'."
Arend's qualifying effort ended up being a Saturday-only affair, as he shook hard during Friday's lone session (under the lights on Friday night) but then came back with a big 4.862 during Saturday's first run, which effectively moved him back into the race field. He then followed that with a solid, if slightly pedestrian, 4.902 during the final lap.
In the end, he took the 12th spot in a tough race field, and was destined to face one of the best Countdown competitors, Beckman, in round one.
"It was a really weird qualifying deal here, because we only got the one Friday run in, and even though a few guys made huge laps, almost everyone else didn't make it down the track. Of the 18 cars here, I think at least 14 came out of Friday with runs they either knew or figured wouldn't make the field. We were one of those teams, and all we were focused on was getting down the track to a good number on the first Saturday lap. We did great, and we came back for the last one and put another full pass on the board, so there was no reason to think we couldn't come out here and be strong on Sunday.
"It really didn't affect us to be in the bottom half, other than the lousy break of having to run Jack in the first round. The lanes were pretty much even, and their team chose to be first pair, which is probably what we would have chosen if we had been doing the picking, so it was good to go. We just needed to outrun them."
Arend got the team off to a quick head-start, reacting with a .080 light to Beckman's .102, putting nearly two-hundredths in the bank at the hit of the throttle. On the big screen replay, it was clear that Arend was away first, and then ahead at every marker. As the two cars neared the finish line, the Havoline car led until the last few feet of race track, where Beckman's car edged ahead to take the win by inches.
"Needless to say, I never saw him and thought I won," Arend said. "I'm pretty tired of finishing laps that I thought I won, only to find out I didn't. It's happened a lot this year, and it's not any fun to have your emotions shoot up and then get knocked down like that. Like I said, this one was about as close as it gets, but they got there first and we go home. It may not seem fair, but it's drag racing."
With a two-week hiatus now built into the schedule, prior to the next event in Las Vegas, Arend may be able to get on-line and find a cyber version of The Break Store, where he can order a few with the click of a mouse button. Hopefully, they will be delivered in time for Vegas.
