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Although it should never really be considered an upset when any car tuned by Paul Smith takes a win light, there is no escaping the fact Jeff Arend was the No. 1 qualifier in Indy, while his first-round opponent, Jon Capps, got into the field on the bump spot. Any way you sliced, diced, or chopped the result, it was an upset, and Arend's day was done far too quickly.
It had all started so well for Arend, who jumped out to a dramatic No. 1 spot during the Friday night session. His 4.754 matched Ashley Force's time to the thousandth, but Arend's class-best 327.51 mph speed earned him the top spot, and his first-ever visit to the media room to meet with the press as the top dog.
"For us, that started the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals about as well as you can do it," Arend said. "I had never even spent a night as number one at an NHRA event, so it was very cool to not only get interviewed at the end of the day, but to even see my name at the top of the sheet. It was all great, and I told everyone up there I hoped to see them a bunch more before this long event was over."
Arend was able to do just that, as his stellar run held through Saturday afternoon and the Saturday night session, which is where most people figured the pole position would be apt to change. Instead, Arend himself made another great run, a 4.778, and no one was able to outrun his earlier number. For the second night in a row, and the second time in his career, Arend met with the media and spent the night atop the leader board.
On Sunday, under a bright sun and on a rapidly warming track, Arend was fairly certain the deed was done, as the best times were likely to be in the high 4.80s. Sure enough, even though he failed to make a full pass on either Sunday attempt, he returned to media center once again, and this time left the assembled group of journalists with a specific thought.
"I told them what an honor it was to be number one, but I really wanted one more trip up there," he said. "At the end of the day on Monday, the winners get to make the trip to meet with the reporters, so I definitely wanted a shot at that honor. The only bad news about the whole thing was who we were racing in the first round. Paul Smith was the guy who got me licensed and basically taught me how to drive one of these things. He's as crafty as a fox and one of the best I've ever seen when it comes to tuning a Funny Car. The fact they were 16th didn't mean a thing.
"I've said this before, and I'm not the only one who has said it. If a promoter put together a $10 million one-lap match race, and you had to pick someone to tune your car for that one lap, you'd pick Paul. He's that good."
Though Jon Capps (brother of Ron) is a relative newcomer to the Nitro Funny Car class, he did enter this race with the Smith advantage, and he acquitted himself brilliantly during each qualifying session. By any measure, it was going to be a tough first round on Monday morning.
At the flash of amber, Arend was away first, grabbing a slight 6-thousandths edge. The blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala was ahead at 60 feet, but Capps had made up the difference by 330 and then never trailed. The margin of victory was 25-thousandths of a second, as Capps clicked through the beams with a 4.896 to Arend's 4.927. Just like that, Arend's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals experience was over.
"Three trips to the media center, and then one quick exit," Arend said. "But you know, other than just not quite running quickly enough, we didn't blow that race by any means. We ran well enough to win, it just mowed through the clutch more than we thought it would. It's not like we went up there and fouled out, or blew the tires off at the hit, or something dumb like that. We just got beat, plain and simple, by a crafty fox who has done it before."
It's a black and white sport full of numbers, but the numbers don't care. All that matters is crossing the finish line first, and on this day Jon Capps tripped the timers before Jeff Arend.
AREND UPSET IN ROUND ONE
Although it should never really be considered an upset when any car tuned by Paul Smith takes a win light, there is no escaping the fact Jeff Arend was the No. 1 qualifier in Indy, while his first-round opponent, Jon Capps, got into the field on the bump spot. Any way you sliced, diced, or chopped the result, it was an upset, and Arend's day was done far too quickly.
It had all started so well for Arend, who jumped out to a dramatic No. 1 spot during the Friday night session. His 4.754 matched Ashley Force's time to the thousandth, but Arend's class-best 327.51 mph speed earned him the top spot, and his first-ever visit to the media room to meet with the press as the top dog.
"For us, that started the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals about as well as you can do it," Arend said. "I had never even spent a night as number one at an NHRA event, so it was very cool to not only get interviewed at the end of the day, but to even see my name at the top of the sheet. It was all great, and I told everyone up there I hoped to see them a bunch more before this long event was over."
Arend was able to do just that, as his stellar run held through Saturday afternoon and the Saturday night session, which is where most people figured the pole position would be apt to change. Instead, Arend himself made another great run, a 4.778, and no one was able to outrun his earlier number. For the second night in a row, and the second time in his career, Arend met with the media and spent the night atop the leader board.
On Sunday, under a bright sun and on a rapidly warming track, Arend was fairly certain the deed was done, as the best times were likely to be in the high 4.80s. Sure enough, even though he failed to make a full pass on either Sunday attempt, he returned to media center once again, and this time left the assembled group of journalists with a specific thought.
"I told them what an honor it was to be number one, but I really wanted one more trip up there," he said. "At the end of the day on Monday, the winners get to make the trip to meet with the reporters, so I definitely wanted a shot at that honor. The only bad news about the whole thing was who we were racing in the first round. Paul Smith was the guy who got me licensed and basically taught me how to drive one of these things. He's as crafty as a fox and one of the best I've ever seen when it comes to tuning a Funny Car. The fact they were 16th didn't mean a thing.
"I've said this before, and I'm not the only one who has said it. If a promoter put together a $10 million one-lap match race, and you had to pick someone to tune your car for that one lap, you'd pick Paul. He's that good."
Though Jon Capps (brother of Ron) is a relative newcomer to the Nitro Funny Car class, he did enter this race with the Smith advantage, and he acquitted himself brilliantly during each qualifying session. By any measure, it was going to be a tough first round on Monday morning.
At the flash of amber, Arend was away first, grabbing a slight 6-thousandths edge. The blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala was ahead at 60 feet, but Capps had made up the difference by 330 and then never trailed. The margin of victory was 25-thousandths of a second, as Capps clicked through the beams with a 4.896 to Arend's 4.927. Just like that, Arend's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals experience was over.
"Three trips to the media center, and then one quick exit," Arend said. "But you know, other than just not quite running quickly enough, we didn't blow that race by any means. We ran well enough to win, it just mowed through the clutch more than we thought it would. It's not like we went up there and fouled out, or blew the tires off at the hit, or something dumb like that. We just got beat, plain and simple, by a crafty fox who has done it before."
It's a black and white sport full of numbers, but the numbers don't care. All that matters is crossing the finish line first, and on this day Jon Capps tripped the timers before Jeff Arend.
