Since the Checker, Schuck’s, Kragen Funny Car program expanded to two cars in 2000, there has always been a tendency for fans, announcers, and others to think in terms of the “A team” and the “B team” in the CSK camp. Not wanting to have his two cars be seen that way, Del Worsham made a conscious decision to call the squads nothing more than “red” and “blue. ” from the first day. This year, with Jeff Arend taking over the controls in the blue CSK machine, there should be little doubt that this group is one big team, with two strong cars.
Coming into this race, Arend and his group had been running well, had qualified at every race, and had held a spot in the all-important top eight since the first stop on the tour, although they had also not won a round since that opening weekend. The close losses might have been moral victories, but they were losses just the same, and Arend wanted to make sure that trend was reversed here in Georgia.
“We’ve been running well, and I think we’ve been running well enough to win, but we had been getting bit by the photo-finish bug a bit lately, ” Arend said. “There are so many great teams out here, there’s never a chance to squeak one out or take a breather. It seems like, every time you turn around you’re racing one of the best teams in the world. Coming in here, I know we all wanted to make it clear that we think we can run with all of these teams, and no one should be surprised to see us up here in the points, in the top half of any race field, or someday soon, in the Winner’s Circle. “
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