<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/j_arend07_343561.jpg" alt="j_arend07_343561" align="left"borders="0"/>
Although Jeff Arend would be the first person to tell you he hasn't won as many rounds as he would have liked, to this point in the 2007 NHRA POWERade season, he has managed, through a mix of good performance and good fortune, to hold onto a spot in the top eight since day one. He has been a rather immovable object in the POWERade standings, and being one of only four Funny Car drivers to have qualified at all seven races hasn't hurt the cause.
On this day in the St. Louis metro area, he was edged out of the way in the first round by an overwhelmingly irresistible "Force" named John. It was Force's first round win of the year. By the end of the day, Arend sat 9th in the points, after both Ashley Force and his teammate, Del Worsham, moved past him.
This entire event consisted of one day of sitting around, and two days of frantic racing. With Friday's qualifying cancelled due to early rain followed by evening dew and humidity, it all came down to a pair of runs on Saturday, which only added to the intense drama that has been accompanying Funny Car qualifying all year. With 19 full-time/big-time teams currently on the full tour, the DNQ bug has no choice but to bite three major hitters every week. Stripping the qualifying to two daylight runs only made it more exciting, and nerve wracking.
"Honestly, it's still gut wrenching with four runs, especially when only one of them is a night lap," Arend said. "In effect, with those Friday night runs, it can be more like a one-shot qualifying deal, because that's where all the good numbers are run. But with just two laps on Saturday, it was all about getting at least one clean lap on the board. If you could go A-to-B with all eight cylinders lit, you'd run well enough to get in. What you had to avoid was any kind of glitches or gremlins, and we did that."
Arend posted a soft 5.059 on his first qualifying lap, which kept him above the cut line in 12th place going into the final session. He knew he and his team would have to step up.
"If you go into the last lap hoping your 5.05 is going to get you in, you're either really naive or just plain dumb," he said. "We knew we needed something better, and we got it. We ran a 4.91 and jumped ahead of Del, by a hair, on the chart. By the time it all ended, though, we were right back in the same 12 spot, so that's what we had to go to work with on Sunday."
Heading "to work" on a cloudy Sunday morning, Arend knew he'd be facing a certain John Force in the opening round. That would be the same John Force who entered this event in 20th place, the same John Force whose inconceivable qualifying streak had been broken in Las Vegas, and the same John Force who had not yet won a round at any 2007 race. Yep, that John Force.
As round one neared, the clouds began to move away and the track began to heat up. Upsets and thrilling tire smokers were the norm in Top Fuel, and Arend could see car after car spin the tires in the less-favored right lane (the one he'd be saddled with.) After seeing Worsham out-pedal Tony Pedregon for a big win, Arend lined up next to Force with confidence, knowing his crew would give him every chance to get to the finish line running hard.
The blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala did leave the starting line first, by a hundredth of a second. Both cars stayed stuck to the surface beyond the worst of the tricky spots, and Force's green and white Ford paced the blue and white Chevy down track, with Arend's mount bucking the trend by not losing traction on the right side.
In the end, Force's winless streak ended with his 4.824, and Arend's day was over, with his "strong but not strong enough" 4.948. Perhaps it was just a matter of time for Force to break out of his slump.
"I promise you the guy was not going to go 0-for-the season, and they look like they're about ready to start reeling off wins," Arend said. "We knew they'd be loaded up, and we just figured we needed to find a way to get down that right lane. If we did that, and they bobbled at all, we had a chance to win. It went just that way for us, but they didn't make any mistakes over there. Maybe that's why they've won all those championships.
"We're fine, though. We ran well here, we just got steamrolled by the champ in round one. We would have won a bunch of other parings, but we weren't running those guys. We were running Force, and that's racing. Del won his lap, so we're busy and we're all pulling for him now."
For the record, the Force was not so irresistible in round two. A certain Mr. Worsham ended his day.
IMMOVABLE AREND OVERWHELMED BY IRRESISTIBLE FORCE
Although Jeff Arend would be the first person to tell you he hasn't won as many rounds as he would have liked, to this point in the 2007 NHRA POWERade season, he has managed, through a mix of good performance and good fortune, to hold onto a spot in the top eight since day one. He has been a rather immovable object in the POWERade standings, and being one of only four Funny Car drivers to have qualified at all seven races hasn't hurt the cause.
On this day in the St. Louis metro area, he was edged out of the way in the first round by an overwhelmingly irresistible "Force" named John. It was Force's first round win of the year. By the end of the day, Arend sat 9th in the points, after both Ashley Force and his teammate, Del Worsham, moved past him.
This entire event consisted of one day of sitting around, and two days of frantic racing. With Friday's qualifying cancelled due to early rain followed by evening dew and humidity, it all came down to a pair of runs on Saturday, which only added to the intense drama that has been accompanying Funny Car qualifying all year. With 19 full-time/big-time teams currently on the full tour, the DNQ bug has no choice but to bite three major hitters every week. Stripping the qualifying to two daylight runs only made it more exciting, and nerve wracking.
"Honestly, it's still gut wrenching with four runs, especially when only one of them is a night lap," Arend said. "In effect, with those Friday night runs, it can be more like a one-shot qualifying deal, because that's where all the good numbers are run. But with just two laps on Saturday, it was all about getting at least one clean lap on the board. If you could go A-to-B with all eight cylinders lit, you'd run well enough to get in. What you had to avoid was any kind of glitches or gremlins, and we did that."
Arend posted a soft 5.059 on his first qualifying lap, which kept him above the cut line in 12th place going into the final session. He knew he and his team would have to step up.
"If you go into the last lap hoping your 5.05 is going to get you in, you're either really naive or just plain dumb," he said. "We knew we needed something better, and we got it. We ran a 4.91 and jumped ahead of Del, by a hair, on the chart. By the time it all ended, though, we were right back in the same 12 spot, so that's what we had to go to work with on Sunday."
Heading "to work" on a cloudy Sunday morning, Arend knew he'd be facing a certain John Force in the opening round. That would be the same John Force who entered this event in 20th place, the same John Force whose inconceivable qualifying streak had been broken in Las Vegas, and the same John Force who had not yet won a round at any 2007 race. Yep, that John Force.
As round one neared, the clouds began to move away and the track began to heat up. Upsets and thrilling tire smokers were the norm in Top Fuel, and Arend could see car after car spin the tires in the less-favored right lane (the one he'd be saddled with.) After seeing Worsham out-pedal Tony Pedregon for a big win, Arend lined up next to Force with confidence, knowing his crew would give him every chance to get to the finish line running hard.
The blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Impala did leave the starting line first, by a hundredth of a second. Both cars stayed stuck to the surface beyond the worst of the tricky spots, and Force's green and white Ford paced the blue and white Chevy down track, with Arend's mount bucking the trend by not losing traction on the right side.
In the end, Force's winless streak ended with his 4.824, and Arend's day was over, with his "strong but not strong enough" 4.948. Perhaps it was just a matter of time for Force to break out of his slump.
"I promise you the guy was not going to go 0-for-the season, and they look like they're about ready to start reeling off wins," Arend said. "We knew they'd be loaded up, and we just figured we needed to find a way to get down that right lane. If we did that, and they bobbled at all, we had a chance to win. It went just that way for us, but they didn't make any mistakes over there. Maybe that's why they've won all those championships.
"We're fine, though. We ran well here, we just got steamrolled by the champ in round one. We would have won a bunch of other parings, but we weren't running those guys. We were running Force, and that's racing. Del won his lap, so we're busy and we're all pulling for him now."
For the record, the Force was not so irresistible in round two. A certain Mr. Worsham ended his day.
