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NORWALK, Ohio (June 26, 2007) -- Jeff Arend and his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen team put on a clinic this past Sunday in New Jersey. They defied the odds on a tricky race track to post three consecutive strong Sunday runs, with E.T.s ranging no more than 16-thousandths of a second from lap to lap. Arend kept his car right in the middle of the lane on a weekend when many of the sport's best drivers were out of the groove or over the line. He left the starting line with nearly identical reaction times all day on Sunday, and those lights nearly mirrored his season average. In all, it earned him a semi-final finish, but Arend and his group were not satisfied with the result and they're ready to get back at it this weekend in Norwalk.
Driving the special "Madman Murray" car, flying the colors of Murray's Discount Auto, Arend will join the rest of the NHRA tour this weekend, by making his first competitive lap at the huge northern Ohio facility, which will be hosting its first-ever NHRA POWERade Drag Racing event. The latest addition to the NHRA National Event tour has long hosted a mid-summer match race, featuring some of the biggest NHRA Funny Car stars, but this weekend will mark the venue's initial venture into the major league realm of NHRA racing.
"It's going to be great to bring the NHRA tour to Norwalk, because I know the fans in the area have always supported the track and the events they've held," Arend said. "We're going there with a lot of excitement, and a lot of determination, because the Englishtown weekend was a huge one for us. We were all really disappointed to be barely edged out in the semi-final, by Tommy Johnson who went on to win the race of course, but we can't let that get us down and we won't. We had such a great car on Sunday, and we could have just as easily won that race.
"Instead, we came up just a bit short but all of us see that as just one more step in the process. It was more like 'Okay, we were that close, so now let's find a way to make the other team come up a little short when they run us.' A little bit here, a little bit there, and we could've beaten everyone. This weekend, we'll just focus on getting in the field and then we'll go from there."
Arend's record for being able to get in the field remained unblemished in Englishtown, and for a while it looked as though he might come out of New Jersey as the only survivor in the Funny Car "No DNQ Club." Gary Scelzi is the only other FC driver to make every show in 2007, and he needed a dramatic final-session charge to bump his way into the E-town field. Arend is now 10-for-10 on the season.
"Gary is a great driver and he has one of the best teams in the sport behind him, but once again it goes to show you that the DNQ thing can bite anyone and it almost got him there," Arend said. "We weren't completely comfortable going into Sunday in the 13th spot, but that's exactly where we ended up and we were happy to be in the show.
"You know, we pride ourselves on our consistency here, and we've been more focused on that than on big hero runs. We've qualified all over the board so far, as high as 3rd and as low as the 13th spot, but usually we're right in the middle of the pack. I'd rather be in the middle and racing on Sunday, than go from No. 1 one week, to out of the show the next. After we started the season with a No. 3 spot in Pomona, we qualified 7th, 8th, or 9th at the next seven races in a row, so I think that shows we have a pretty strong car, and a very good team."
Arend's consistency, both on the track this past Sunday and throughout the years has always given him a chance to win. The difference between his current 9th place spot in the points, and a higher ranking, mostly lies in a series of very tight losses, including the photo-finish against Johnson in Englishtown.
"There's no doubt we've been in some close losses, but we've also won some tight ones," Arend said. "What that tells you is that we have a car that ranks right up there with all the best cars in the class. If you're going to be running the big boys side-by-side, you're going to have the results go both ways on you. We're just hopeful that the pendulum is ready to swing our way this weekend, and maybe we can get over that close loss in the semi's by earning a trip to the final."
Mission No. 1 for the Madman team is to run that qualifying streak to 11. Mission No. 2 is win rounds. If this team continues to do just that, as consistently as they have been doing it, good things await for Mr. Arend and his colleagues.
"MADMAN" AREND TO BRING TRADEMARK CONSISTENCY TO NORWALK
NORWALK, Ohio (June 26, 2007) -- Jeff Arend and his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen team put on a clinic this past Sunday in New Jersey. They defied the odds on a tricky race track to post three consecutive strong Sunday runs, with E.T.s ranging no more than 16-thousandths of a second from lap to lap. Arend kept his car right in the middle of the lane on a weekend when many of the sport's best drivers were out of the groove or over the line. He left the starting line with nearly identical reaction times all day on Sunday, and those lights nearly mirrored his season average. In all, it earned him a semi-final finish, but Arend and his group were not satisfied with the result and they're ready to get back at it this weekend in Norwalk.
Driving the special "Madman Murray" car, flying the colors of Murray's Discount Auto, Arend will join the rest of the NHRA tour this weekend, by making his first competitive lap at the huge northern Ohio facility, which will be hosting its first-ever NHRA POWERade Drag Racing event. The latest addition to the NHRA National Event tour has long hosted a mid-summer match race, featuring some of the biggest NHRA Funny Car stars, but this weekend will mark the venue's initial venture into the major league realm of NHRA racing.
"It's going to be great to bring the NHRA tour to Norwalk, because I know the fans in the area have always supported the track and the events they've held," Arend said. "We're going there with a lot of excitement, and a lot of determination, because the Englishtown weekend was a huge one for us. We were all really disappointed to be barely edged out in the semi-final, by Tommy Johnson who went on to win the race of course, but we can't let that get us down and we won't. We had such a great car on Sunday, and we could have just as easily won that race.
"Instead, we came up just a bit short but all of us see that as just one more step in the process. It was more like 'Okay, we were that close, so now let's find a way to make the other team come up a little short when they run us.' A little bit here, a little bit there, and we could've beaten everyone. This weekend, we'll just focus on getting in the field and then we'll go from there."
Arend's record for being able to get in the field remained unblemished in Englishtown, and for a while it looked as though he might come out of New Jersey as the only survivor in the Funny Car "No DNQ Club." Gary Scelzi is the only other FC driver to make every show in 2007, and he needed a dramatic final-session charge to bump his way into the E-town field. Arend is now 10-for-10 on the season.
"Gary is a great driver and he has one of the best teams in the sport behind him, but once again it goes to show you that the DNQ thing can bite anyone and it almost got him there," Arend said. "We weren't completely comfortable going into Sunday in the 13th spot, but that's exactly where we ended up and we were happy to be in the show.
"You know, we pride ourselves on our consistency here, and we've been more focused on that than on big hero runs. We've qualified all over the board so far, as high as 3rd and as low as the 13th spot, but usually we're right in the middle of the pack. I'd rather be in the middle and racing on Sunday, than go from No. 1 one week, to out of the show the next. After we started the season with a No. 3 spot in Pomona, we qualified 7th, 8th, or 9th at the next seven races in a row, so I think that shows we have a pretty strong car, and a very good team."
Arend's consistency, both on the track this past Sunday and throughout the years has always given him a chance to win. The difference between his current 9th place spot in the points, and a higher ranking, mostly lies in a series of very tight losses, including the photo-finish against Johnson in Englishtown.
"There's no doubt we've been in some close losses, but we've also won some tight ones," Arend said. "What that tells you is that we have a car that ranks right up there with all the best cars in the class. If you're going to be running the big boys side-by-side, you're going to have the results go both ways on you. We're just hopeful that the pendulum is ready to swing our way this weekend, and maybe we can get over that close loss in the semi's by earning a trip to the final."
Mission No. 1 for the Madman team is to run that qualifying streak to 11. Mission No. 2 is win rounds. If this team continues to do just that, as consistently as they have been doing it, good things await for Mr. Arend and his colleagues.
