www.nhra.com/2004/events/race13/reports/j_arend.htmlJeff Arend
CMKXtreme Machine
Funny Car
Reports:
Sunday
Saturday
Pre-race
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Arend's first visit to Thunder Mountain ends prematurely
Denver, Sunday: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend qualified for his eighth race of the season at the 25th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, but his weekend ended early after losing during the first round of eliminations. Arend remained solidly in the 16th position in the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series point's standings following the event.
Arend, a former NHRA Funny Car national event champion, entered Sunday's eliminations in the No. 11 qualifying position on the strength of a 5.038 at 300.46 mph. The Canadian born racer had trouble getting the CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car stopped on the top end during his final qualifying attempt and the special
Go Fast adorned Pontiac Firebird went into the sand trap at the end of the track. Although the damage to the body was minimal, crew chief Paul Smith elected to use the team's Corvette body during eliminations.
The weather greeting the racers and fans at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals on Sunday was beautiful, with cloudless skies and temperatures in 80-degree range. Arend and first round opponent, Tommy Johnson Jr., were the sixth pair of Funny Cars to go down the track. Johnson had lane choice due to a quicker qualifying time and he chose the right lane.
Arend drilled Johnson on the starting line with a .049 reaction time, the best light of the first round in Funny Car, but the CMKXtreme Machine shook the tires early in the run. Johnson roared by Arend to take the victory with low elapsed time of the first round, a 5.136 at 295.14 mph, to Arend's 8.743 at 101.26 mph.
"We went out there with the Corvette body today," said Arend, "so we weren't expecting the same down force at half track as we had with the Firebird. I got the jump on him off the starting line but the car started to shake a little bit and I pedaled it twice. When I saw him pulling away I just lifted off the throttle. We can't seem to catch a break in the first round this season."
Arend added, "I like it here in Denver, this is a great track and the fans were just fantastic. We had tons of CMKX shareholders here this weekend. Urban Casavant had a party for all of them on Friday and that was a lot of fun. Many of them have never been to a drag race and they were very excited. It's really neat to have my own little cheering section."
Arend qualifies 11th in first visit to Thunder Mountain
Denver, Saturday: Jeff Arend qualified for his sixth consecutive race and for the eighth time this season at the 25th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. In his first career appearance at Bandimere Speedway Arend qualified the CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car in the No. 11 position and will face Tommy Johnson Jr. in the first round on Sunday for the second consecutive race.
Arend and CMKX Pro Stock Bike rider Connie Cohen started the weekend with a visit to the pediatric wing of Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in downtown Denver on Friday morning. The pair went room to room visiting with children, signing autographs, posing for photographs and handing out CMKX souvenirs.
The CMKXtreme Machine is running the colors of the sports energy drink
Go Fast for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals. The
Go Fast company headquarters are based in the Denver area and the one-race graphics package will feature the company's logo on a bright red and blue background.
CMKX Diamonds Chairman of the Board, Urban Casavant, was on hand in Denver along with dozens of CMKX shareholders. "We're excited to be here in Denver with Jeff Arend driving the CMKXtreme Machine Firebird and Casavant Mining as a major associate sponsor on Jim Dunn's Funny Car. We plan to race the rest of the 2004 POWERade season and well into the future supporting both teams."
Unfortunately rain wiped out both rounds of professional qualifying on Friday, leaving everyone with only two chances to qualify for Sunday's eliminations. The pressure was on as Arend rolled to the starting line with the awesome
Go Fast graphics on the CMKXtreme Machine Firebird. In his maiden voyage with the Pontiac body, Arend roared to a 5.112 at 280.43 mph to finish the first session in the No. 9 qualifying position.
Arend improved to a 5.038 at 300.46 mph on his second qualifying attempt but the parachutes on the CMKXtreme Machine failed to deploy until the Canadian native was almost to the end of the track. The car went off the pavement and came to rest in the sand trap at the end of the track. Arend emerged unhurt with only minor damage to the Pontiac Firebird body.
"The Firebird has the chutes in a different location than on the Corvette we were running," said Arend. "Things happened so fast in these cars, I'm not sure if I reached up to where the parachute lever used to be or not. I hit them once and they didn't come out and by the time I hit them again and they deployed it was too late to stay out of the sand. The car doesn't look too bad and I'm sure we can fix it but we might go back to the Corvette body tomorrow. Right now I'm just happy to be racing tomorrow."
Arend changing body styles for Denver
Denver, pre-race: CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car driver Jeff Arend will be changing to a different body and for the 25th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. Arend will be switching from a Corvette body to a newer Pontiac Firebird shell with updated graphics. The Pontiac body was formerly owned by Schumacher Racing and should provide considerably more downforce than the slicker Corvette-style body. That should help Arend and crew chief Paul Smith deal with the extremely thin air they'll been competing in this weekend in Denver.
Arend has qualified the CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car at the last five national events on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series tour, but he's still hunting for his first round win of the season. The 41-year-old Canadian native is currently 16th in the POWERade Funny Car point's standings after qualifying for seven races in eight starts. With 11 races remaining on the schedule, it's important for Arend and the CMKX team to start earning points during the grueling three-race Western Swing if they hope to finish the year in the Top 15.
"I think the improved aerodynamic package on the Firebird body is really going to make a difference," said Arend, while on vacation in his hometown of Toronto. "Denver is the perfect place to try it out because you can use all the down force you can get at that altitude. Paul Smith has had some success up on the mountain over the years so I feel confident that with his knowledge and experience and the change to the Firebird body, we can turn the corner and start going rounds on Sunday."
The 25th running of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals will be Arend's first race at the beautiful Colorado facility. "I've never driven at Bandimere but I'm extremely excited to finally get a chance to compete there," said Arend. "We're expecting a lot of CMKX shareholders to visit us during the weekend and we want to put on a good show for all of the drag racing fans in Denver."