<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/j_arend07_343561.jpg" alt="j_arend07_343561" align="right"borders="0"/>
SEATTLE (July 17, 2007) -- Seattle, the next stop on the seemingly never-ending NHRA summer swing, is famous for many things. There's the Space Needle, a remnant from the 1962 World's Fair and a direct "real world" link to the cartoon environment of The Jetsons. There's the first-ever Starbucks coffee shop, from which one of most widespread and ubiquitous brand names in the world has sprung. In addition, the Pike Place Fish Market, the birth of grunge rock, the production of Boeing jets in all shapes and sizes, and the stunning beauty of both Puget Sound and Mount Rainier, are all linked to Seattle and make up much of its allure. Funny Car driver Jeff Arend, however, has another landmark in mind when thinking of what he'd like to see in Seattle this weekend. Arend simply wants to visit the Winner's Circle at Pacific Raceways.
Along with teammate Del Worsham and his squad, Arend and his talented team usually make up one half of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car program. And, with this weekend's race being the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals, one might be excused for doing a series of double-takes when seeing the Arend and Worsham cars pull to the line. For the second consecutive week, Arend will be wheeling a stunning Chevron Techron Impala, instead of his standard blue CSK Chevy, while Worsham will be piloting the blue car, rather than his standard red CSK Impala SS.
"The Techron car was always set for Seattle and Sonoma," Arend said. "It's a program put together by CSK and Chevron, so even though it's the Schuck's Nationals, we had always planned to have the Techron car running here. When Del blew up his red Impala in Norwalk, though, we shifted gears and gave him my blue body, and we just moved the Techron car to a three-race deal, instead of two. We may have the big Techron graphics on my car this weekend, but we still have the word 'Schuck's' on the rear quarter panel, so it's an honor to be driving this car at the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals.
"For us, winning our sponsor's race would be the ultimate goal, but going rounds here is the number one priority. We were guessing, all along, that the fight for the last few slots in the Countdown playoff system would be a huge dog fight, and here we are, right in the middle of it with the fur flying. We're in 12th place right now, but only 42 points out of the 8th spot. With a good qualifying effort and a couple of round wins, we could be leaving Seattle in 8th place. If we make that tourist trip to the Winner's Circle, it would be all good."
Arend has been as high as 3rd in the POWERade points this year, and he spent the first six races of the season in the top eight. Since the current six-race swing around America has started, he has slipped to 12th, but has produced a 3-3 record (along with one DNQ) during that time. This past weekend, Arend put a solid string of good laps on the board in Denver, then managed to take out legendary driver Kenny Bernstein in round one before losing to eventual race winner, Jack Beckman, in a side-by-side battle during the quarterfinals.
"We broke some stuff in Denver, but the mountain has been known to do that to a lot of good teams," Arend said. "But really, we ran well there and got a big win over Kenny in round one. How close were we to winning that race? Well, we were ahead of Beckman for the first half of the track, but he got around us and beat us by a few feet. He went on to win the race, and I think we would have done the same thing had we been able to hold him off there in the second round. We're close, very close, to ripping off some big wins."
To do just that in Seattle, at the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals, would probably provide all the sightseeing Arend needs. Starbucks, a ferry ride, and the sight of Pike Place Market workers flinging large fish through the air, can all be put on hold. As far as the Techron/CSK driver is concerned, the rest of the classic "Seattle stuff" can wait for another day, on another trip.
"If all we did was race and go to the hotel to sleep, and we won the chuck's Nationals, I'd be the happiest guy in the world. Seattle is beautiful, and we love being in the Great Northwest, but all I care about is winning rounds. We'll focus only on getting in the show, and then we'll shift our attention to round one. If we get that one, we might just go all the way. That's all I care about."
Perhaps not what the Seattle Board Of Tourism wants to hear, but it's Jeff Arend's reality.
AREND'S AIM IS TO PUT TECHRON ON THE SEATTLE MAP
SEATTLE (July 17, 2007) -- Seattle, the next stop on the seemingly never-ending NHRA summer swing, is famous for many things. There's the Space Needle, a remnant from the 1962 World's Fair and a direct "real world" link to the cartoon environment of The Jetsons. There's the first-ever Starbucks coffee shop, from which one of most widespread and ubiquitous brand names in the world has sprung. In addition, the Pike Place Fish Market, the birth of grunge rock, the production of Boeing jets in all shapes and sizes, and the stunning beauty of both Puget Sound and Mount Rainier, are all linked to Seattle and make up much of its allure. Funny Car driver Jeff Arend, however, has another landmark in mind when thinking of what he'd like to see in Seattle this weekend. Arend simply wants to visit the Winner's Circle at Pacific Raceways.
Along with teammate Del Worsham and his squad, Arend and his talented team usually make up one half of the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car program. And, with this weekend's race being the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals, one might be excused for doing a series of double-takes when seeing the Arend and Worsham cars pull to the line. For the second consecutive week, Arend will be wheeling a stunning Chevron Techron Impala, instead of his standard blue CSK Chevy, while Worsham will be piloting the blue car, rather than his standard red CSK Impala SS.
"The Techron car was always set for Seattle and Sonoma," Arend said. "It's a program put together by CSK and Chevron, so even though it's the Schuck's Nationals, we had always planned to have the Techron car running here. When Del blew up his red Impala in Norwalk, though, we shifted gears and gave him my blue body, and we just moved the Techron car to a three-race deal, instead of two. We may have the big Techron graphics on my car this weekend, but we still have the word 'Schuck's' on the rear quarter panel, so it's an honor to be driving this car at the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals.
"For us, winning our sponsor's race would be the ultimate goal, but going rounds here is the number one priority. We were guessing, all along, that the fight for the last few slots in the Countdown playoff system would be a huge dog fight, and here we are, right in the middle of it with the fur flying. We're in 12th place right now, but only 42 points out of the 8th spot. With a good qualifying effort and a couple of round wins, we could be leaving Seattle in 8th place. If we make that tourist trip to the Winner's Circle, it would be all good."
Arend has been as high as 3rd in the POWERade points this year, and he spent the first six races of the season in the top eight. Since the current six-race swing around America has started, he has slipped to 12th, but has produced a 3-3 record (along with one DNQ) during that time. This past weekend, Arend put a solid string of good laps on the board in Denver, then managed to take out legendary driver Kenny Bernstein in round one before losing to eventual race winner, Jack Beckman, in a side-by-side battle during the quarterfinals.
"We broke some stuff in Denver, but the mountain has been known to do that to a lot of good teams," Arend said. "But really, we ran well there and got a big win over Kenny in round one. How close were we to winning that race? Well, we were ahead of Beckman for the first half of the track, but he got around us and beat us by a few feet. He went on to win the race, and I think we would have done the same thing had we been able to hold him off there in the second round. We're close, very close, to ripping off some big wins."
To do just that in Seattle, at the Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals, would probably provide all the sightseeing Arend needs. Starbucks, a ferry ride, and the sight of Pike Place Market workers flinging large fish through the air, can all be put on hold. As far as the Techron/CSK driver is concerned, the rest of the classic "Seattle stuff" can wait for another day, on another trip.
"If all we did was race and go to the hotel to sleep, and we won the chuck's Nationals, I'd be the happiest guy in the world. Seattle is beautiful, and we love being in the Great Northwest, but all I care about is winning rounds. We'll focus only on getting in the show, and then we'll shift our attention to round one. If we get that one, we might just go all the way. That's all I care about."
Perhaps not what the Seattle Board Of Tourism wants to hear, but it's Jeff Arend's reality.
