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What goes around, comes around, or so the saying goes. Jeff Arend has been at the top of his reaction time game all year, establishing himself as one of the best leavers in the sport, but on this weekend, after a great qualifying effort, a momentary lapse of concentration cost Arend a round, and a big first round it was.
The best part of this hot and sultry weekend at the Motorplex, for Arend, was yet another strong qualifying performance, this time in his beautiful "special edition" Havoline Deposit Shield/CSK Impala. With three sessions run in bright sunshine, during which the track temperature was often over 130 degrees, and one session (Q2 on Friday night) run under the lights, every Funny Car competitor on the property knew the Friday night session was going to be critical.
"As soon as we got here and started sweating, we knew the Friday night thing could be the whole ball of wax," Arend said. "While you did need to make your best lap on that run, it also helped to make the best possible pass you could on Friday afternoon, so that you could be as far back in line as possible on Friday night. On that assignment, we totally messed up. We smoked the tires early in Q1 and had to basically run at the front of the field on Friday night, but we did pretty well anyway."
The term "pretty well" is fitting, if you consider a 4.788 pass at 320.36 mph to be "okay", and if you think the No. 2 qualifying spot is "not bad." Arend accomplished both of those things on his Friday night run, and went to bed that night knowing the only way he'd slip from the No. 2 position was if he forfeited his time and went home. With both Saturday runs scheduled for the heart of the afternoon, 4.90s were going to represent good laps, so Arend and his Havoline teammates were secure in knowing they'd run from the front on Sunday.
Those Saturday laps were important, since the race on Sunday was also run in the afternoon heat, but as expected the performance levels were well down from the "Friday Night Lights" spectacular here in football-crazy Texas. Arend made a full pass on his first Saturday run, dialing-in a race day set-up with a 4.956, then clicked his car off a little early in Q4. He did, indeed, enter the race from the No. 2 spot, but even that lofty position on the grid couldn't keep him away from a stout first-round opponent, as Tommy Johnson was the man who slid uncharacteristically into the 15th spot.
Sunday dawned with a slightly different feel, as high overcast moved into the area and a few morning sprinkles were felt. The heat and humidity were back, and the sun did peek out from time to time, but the conditions were clearly better than Saturday's.
"It was still pretty rough for racing, but it was way better than Saturday, so we knew we can step on it pretty hard," Arend said. "The object was to go out there and run a very low 4.80, and make them put a spectacular lap on the board to beat us. My guys did their part perfectly. They gave me a great 4.81 race car."
Arend and Johnson were the fourth pair in round one, heading to the line after watching teammate Del Worsham take out Jim Head with a solid 4.830. After the burn-outs, both cars pulled forward to stage and both lit the top bulbs nearly simultaneously. Both driver collected themselves, clearly going through their standard rituals, and when both pulled forward to stage, Johnson's car rolled slightly farther than normal, not quite taking out the top bulbs in a full "deep stage" roll-in, but instead flickering the top bulbs two or three times before settling in.
Jeff Arend admits he then made a critical mistake, one he'll never make again.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the blinking yellow lights and I just looked over there," Arend said. "It was just an odd thing, something you're not used to seeing, and it caught my attention. Tommy didn't do anything wrong, and even if he had done that on purpose it's all fair because it's my responsibility to stay focused in there. I messed up, big time, because as soon as I looked back to the vertical amber lights they flashed. He was out on me so bad all I could think was 'I hope he red lit, because I'm in a world of hurt here'."
Unfortunately, Johnson had not fouled at the start, but had simply left with a very solid .065 light. Arend, on the other hand, was simply late with a flicker-induced .153, and this race was nearly over at the start. To make matters more frustrating, Arend then streaked to a gigantic 4.813, the second quickest run of the first round, while Johnson clicked through the lights with a strong, but much slower, 4.867. Despite Arend's big E.T. advantage, the win light was on in Johnson's lane. The math was easy to do: 4.813 plus .153 equals 4.966, while Johnson's two numbers combined to equal 4.932. The Skoal car had beaten the Havoline Impala to the finish line, by .034 of a
second.
"Needless to say, I'm just sick about it because my guys gave me a winning car, and I let them down," Arend said. "I'm not down on myself, but I feel really badly for the Havoline people, for Checker, Schuck's, Kragen, and for my team. Marc Denner and Chris Cunningham have this car dialed in these days, and we are absolutely running at the front of the class. My crew guys, Larry Lush, Seth Randall, Danny Gilbert, and Travis Nicholson, bolt this baby together just right, and this time the driver let them down. It's nobody's fault but mine, and all I can do is try to make it up to them in Richmond."
Arend will get that chance in two weeks, when the POWERade tour reconvenes in Virginia. Until then, he'll keep his chin up and will remain the stand-up teammate he's always been. And he'll remember that saying, what goes around, comes around.
While waiting for Richmond, Arend and his teammates will remain concerned about their friend and fellow competitor, John Force, who suffered injuries in a wicked top-end crash during the second round.
"All of us are thinking about John, and frankly we're all talking about the fact he's hurt badly, but still with us," Arend said. "It was a nasty crash, and he's got a lot of work to do to get back out here, whenever that's possible, but you don't win as many races and championships as he has without having the ultimate amount of dedication. We're all with you and your whole family, John."
AREND'S BIG WEEKEND STOPPED BY RARE HOLE-SHOT LOSS
What goes around, comes around, or so the saying goes. Jeff Arend has been at the top of his reaction time game all year, establishing himself as one of the best leavers in the sport, but on this weekend, after a great qualifying effort, a momentary lapse of concentration cost Arend a round, and a big first round it was.
The best part of this hot and sultry weekend at the Motorplex, for Arend, was yet another strong qualifying performance, this time in his beautiful "special edition" Havoline Deposit Shield/CSK Impala. With three sessions run in bright sunshine, during which the track temperature was often over 130 degrees, and one session (Q2 on Friday night) run under the lights, every Funny Car competitor on the property knew the Friday night session was going to be critical.
"As soon as we got here and started sweating, we knew the Friday night thing could be the whole ball of wax," Arend said. "While you did need to make your best lap on that run, it also helped to make the best possible pass you could on Friday afternoon, so that you could be as far back in line as possible on Friday night. On that assignment, we totally messed up. We smoked the tires early in Q1 and had to basically run at the front of the field on Friday night, but we did pretty well anyway."
The term "pretty well" is fitting, if you consider a 4.788 pass at 320.36 mph to be "okay", and if you think the No. 2 qualifying spot is "not bad." Arend accomplished both of those things on his Friday night run, and went to bed that night knowing the only way he'd slip from the No. 2 position was if he forfeited his time and went home. With both Saturday runs scheduled for the heart of the afternoon, 4.90s were going to represent good laps, so Arend and his Havoline teammates were secure in knowing they'd run from the front on Sunday.
Those Saturday laps were important, since the race on Sunday was also run in the afternoon heat, but as expected the performance levels were well down from the "Friday Night Lights" spectacular here in football-crazy Texas. Arend made a full pass on his first Saturday run, dialing-in a race day set-up with a 4.956, then clicked his car off a little early in Q4. He did, indeed, enter the race from the No. 2 spot, but even that lofty position on the grid couldn't keep him away from a stout first-round opponent, as Tommy Johnson was the man who slid uncharacteristically into the 15th spot.
Sunday dawned with a slightly different feel, as high overcast moved into the area and a few morning sprinkles were felt. The heat and humidity were back, and the sun did peek out from time to time, but the conditions were clearly better than Saturday's.
"It was still pretty rough for racing, but it was way better than Saturday, so we knew we can step on it pretty hard," Arend said. "The object was to go out there and run a very low 4.80, and make them put a spectacular lap on the board to beat us. My guys did their part perfectly. They gave me a great 4.81 race car."
Arend and Johnson were the fourth pair in round one, heading to the line after watching teammate Del Worsham take out Jim Head with a solid 4.830. After the burn-outs, both cars pulled forward to stage and both lit the top bulbs nearly simultaneously. Both driver collected themselves, clearly going through their standard rituals, and when both pulled forward to stage, Johnson's car rolled slightly farther than normal, not quite taking out the top bulbs in a full "deep stage" roll-in, but instead flickering the top bulbs two or three times before settling in.
Jeff Arend admits he then made a critical mistake, one he'll never make again.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the blinking yellow lights and I just looked over there," Arend said. "It was just an odd thing, something you're not used to seeing, and it caught my attention. Tommy didn't do anything wrong, and even if he had done that on purpose it's all fair because it's my responsibility to stay focused in there. I messed up, big time, because as soon as I looked back to the vertical amber lights they flashed. He was out on me so bad all I could think was 'I hope he red lit, because I'm in a world of hurt here'."
Unfortunately, Johnson had not fouled at the start, but had simply left with a very solid .065 light. Arend, on the other hand, was simply late with a flicker-induced .153, and this race was nearly over at the start. To make matters more frustrating, Arend then streaked to a gigantic 4.813, the second quickest run of the first round, while Johnson clicked through the lights with a strong, but much slower, 4.867. Despite Arend's big E.T. advantage, the win light was on in Johnson's lane. The math was easy to do: 4.813 plus .153 equals 4.966, while Johnson's two numbers combined to equal 4.932. The Skoal car had beaten the Havoline Impala to the finish line, by .034 of a
second.
"Needless to say, I'm just sick about it because my guys gave me a winning car, and I let them down," Arend said. "I'm not down on myself, but I feel really badly for the Havoline people, for Checker, Schuck's, Kragen, and for my team. Marc Denner and Chris Cunningham have this car dialed in these days, and we are absolutely running at the front of the class. My crew guys, Larry Lush, Seth Randall, Danny Gilbert, and Travis Nicholson, bolt this baby together just right, and this time the driver let them down. It's nobody's fault but mine, and all I can do is try to make it up to them in Richmond."
Arend will get that chance in two weeks, when the POWERade tour reconvenes in Virginia. Until then, he'll keep his chin up and will remain the stand-up teammate he's always been. And he'll remember that saying, what goes around, comes around.
While waiting for Richmond, Arend and his teammates will remain concerned about their friend and fellow competitor, John Force, who suffered injuries in a wicked top-end crash during the second round.
"All of us are thinking about John, and frankly we're all talking about the fact he's hurt badly, but still with us," Arend said. "It was a nasty crash, and he's got a lot of work to do to get back out here, whenever that's possible, but you don't win as many races and championships as he has without having the ultimate amount of dedication. We're all with you and your whole family, John."
