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For Jeff Arend, the decision was not a difficult one to make. Facing his teammate, Del Worsham, in round one on Monday, Arend and his blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen team were able to watch Jim Head and Tony Pedregon face off as the pair directly ahead of them. Head, who could have clinched a spot in the Countdown with a win in that opening pairing, was well ahead and seemingly on his way to a victory when his car crossed the center line and took out the final timing block. His disqualification handed the win to Pedregon, and gave Worsham a glimmer of hope for the 8th spot in the Countdown To The Championship.
Arend and his team had already discussed the ramifications of such a turn of events, and they went to the starting line with a powerful tune-up in the car, ready to take out the boss if Head were to have won his race against Pedregon. As the two CSK Impalas came to the line, having seen Head lose his round, Arend knew what he planned to do, and that was to allow Worsham to launch well before him. Arend stayed at the starting line for 2 seconds after the amber lights flashed, while Worsham streaked down the track to a 4.828-second lap.
"Personally, I think we'd have to be the dumbest people in the world to let one Checker, Schuck's, Kragen car, that has absolutely no chance of making the post-season, take out the one that still has a chance," Arend said. "We are one big team here, all representing CSK and all of our great sponsors, so we made the decision on our side of the pit. Del never asked, never even brought it up, but Marc Denner, Chris Cunningham, and I talked about what we thought was the best thing to do, for the team and for our sponsors.
"We had an aggressive tune-up in the car, one we thought would give us a chance to beat Del if Jim Head locked the thing up, but when we saw him cross the center line, we went into our team mode. We weren't going to go out there and just mysteriously smoke the tires, or shut off early, or any of those moves that may fool some people, so I just did a big long burnout, to have some fun, and then when the lights flashed, I just let Del go. It was his lap to win, and his 4.828 was pretty huge. It was the quickest run of today's first session, by a long way. I did launch the car once he was gone, so that we could get some data out of the run, and it actually shook pretty hard. I doubt we would have been able to even be close to him, because I would've had to pedal the car out of all that shake."
The fact Arend and Worsham were paired in round one was both a matter of good performance and good fortune. Worsham qualified number one, lthough he and Jack Beckman had identical E.T.s of 4.800 seconds. Worsham got the nod on the basis of speed. Arend landed lucky 16th after qualifying ended, although he also matched another driver exactly in the E.T. department (Scott Kalitta) with a 4.904. Arend got in the show, and Kalitta was bounced, on the basis of speed. The No. 1 versus 16 match-up got people talking immediately.
"Like I said, if the lap meant something to Del and this team, we were not going to go out there and try to fool anybody," Arend said. "We just thought it was more up-front and honest to do what was right for our team, and our whole organization, right there in plain sight. Some people may not agree with it, but it was our decision and we stand by it.
"The only other time there has ever been something like this happen on Team CSK was in 2004, at the last race in Pomona, when Del was fighting for the No. 2 spot in points and the blue team had already locked up the 10th spot. Rather than try to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, they just announced they were giving Del lane choice, even though he never asked for it. This was an almost identical situation, and he never asked for it, but we knew what we wanted to do. I want everyone to know, this decision was made, completely, on the blue side of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen pit area. It was our choice, and as nervous as Del was before the run, I'm pretty sure he didn't know, for sure, if we were going to do this. Before the lap, all he and I talked about were tactics for getting down the track, where the groove goes, and stuff like that."
As of 3:00 pm on Monday, rain was again delaying the completion of the Toyo Tires Nationals. Del Worsham has advanced to the semi-finals, by defeating Tony Bartone in round two. He is due to face Tony Pedregon when racing resumes.
AREND TAKES THE LOSS IN RAIN-DELAYED FIRST ROUND
For Jeff Arend, the decision was not a difficult one to make. Facing his teammate, Del Worsham, in round one on Monday, Arend and his blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen team were able to watch Jim Head and Tony Pedregon face off as the pair directly ahead of them. Head, who could have clinched a spot in the Countdown with a win in that opening pairing, was well ahead and seemingly on his way to a victory when his car crossed the center line and took out the final timing block. His disqualification handed the win to Pedregon, and gave Worsham a glimmer of hope for the 8th spot in the Countdown To The Championship.
Arend and his team had already discussed the ramifications of such a turn of events, and they went to the starting line with a powerful tune-up in the car, ready to take out the boss if Head were to have won his race against Pedregon. As the two CSK Impalas came to the line, having seen Head lose his round, Arend knew what he planned to do, and that was to allow Worsham to launch well before him. Arend stayed at the starting line for 2 seconds after the amber lights flashed, while Worsham streaked down the track to a 4.828-second lap.
"Personally, I think we'd have to be the dumbest people in the world to let one Checker, Schuck's, Kragen car, that has absolutely no chance of making the post-season, take out the one that still has a chance," Arend said. "We are one big team here, all representing CSK and all of our great sponsors, so we made the decision on our side of the pit. Del never asked, never even brought it up, but Marc Denner, Chris Cunningham, and I talked about what we thought was the best thing to do, for the team and for our sponsors.
"We had an aggressive tune-up in the car, one we thought would give us a chance to beat Del if Jim Head locked the thing up, but when we saw him cross the center line, we went into our team mode. We weren't going to go out there and just mysteriously smoke the tires, or shut off early, or any of those moves that may fool some people, so I just did a big long burnout, to have some fun, and then when the lights flashed, I just let Del go. It was his lap to win, and his 4.828 was pretty huge. It was the quickest run of today's first session, by a long way. I did launch the car once he was gone, so that we could get some data out of the run, and it actually shook pretty hard. I doubt we would have been able to even be close to him, because I would've had to pedal the car out of all that shake."
The fact Arend and Worsham were paired in round one was both a matter of good performance and good fortune. Worsham qualified number one, lthough he and Jack Beckman had identical E.T.s of 4.800 seconds. Worsham got the nod on the basis of speed. Arend landed lucky 16th after qualifying ended, although he also matched another driver exactly in the E.T. department (Scott Kalitta) with a 4.904. Arend got in the show, and Kalitta was bounced, on the basis of speed. The No. 1 versus 16 match-up got people talking immediately.
"Like I said, if the lap meant something to Del and this team, we were not going to go out there and try to fool anybody," Arend said. "We just thought it was more up-front and honest to do what was right for our team, and our whole organization, right there in plain sight. Some people may not agree with it, but it was our decision and we stand by it.
"The only other time there has ever been something like this happen on Team CSK was in 2004, at the last race in Pomona, when Del was fighting for the No. 2 spot in points and the blue team had already locked up the 10th spot. Rather than try to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, they just announced they were giving Del lane choice, even though he never asked for it. This was an almost identical situation, and he never asked for it, but we knew what we wanted to do. I want everyone to know, this decision was made, completely, on the blue side of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen pit area. It was our choice, and as nervous as Del was before the run, I'm pretty sure he didn't know, for sure, if we were going to do this. Before the lap, all he and I talked about were tactics for getting down the track, where the groove goes, and stuff like that."
As of 3:00 pm on Monday, rain was again delaying the completion of the Toyo Tires Nationals. Del Worsham has advanced to the semi-finals, by defeating Tony Bartone in round two. He is due to face Tony Pedregon when racing resumes.
