The answer to the trivia question is “Jeff Arend. ” Only time will tell if the question is one for the ages, but all signs do point to its importance. The question: Who did Ashley Force defeat for her first NHRA Nitro Funny Car round victory? It happened on Sunday, March 18th, in sunny Gainesville, as the legend’s daughter tore away on a clean 4.780 run, leaving a tire-smoking Arend in her clutch dust. After two days of solid qualifying, it was not the sort of Sunday morning Arend was aiming for, and the historical footnote is one he was trying to avoid.
Arend drove his “special edition” K&N Filters Chevy to three solid laps in four qualifying attempts. The first, a 4.956 lap, came on Friday evening and left Arend in the provisional field, but sitting in vulnerable 16th position overnight. On Saturday, Arend simply went out and made the quickest lap of the session on his first attempt, lighting the scoreboard with a 4.800, which jumped him up to safety of the No. 4 spot. Not content with that, co-crew chiefs Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner then strapped Arend into a big 4.774 ride during the final run, and at the time of the pass it was good enough for the No. 1 spot. Although Robert Hight, Gary Scelzi, and Ron Capps ended up nudging Arend back into the 4-hole, it was still the season’s highest start for Arend, and it was one that gave the team a lot of confidence.
“We put three full laps on the board, and got better on each one of them, ” Arend said. “Chris and Marc had a great handle on it both days, and that last run was a huge one for us. We reset my career best speed (at 326.87 mph, ) for one thing, but the most important part of it was just how consistently well they had the car running. I know we all came out here on Sunday expecting to do very well, and I won’t deny the fact I really thought we had a good chance to not just go rounds, but win the race.
“I will admit that I didn’t think it was a good thing to have Ashley Force in the first round, though. She’s doing a great job driving that car, and it’s a very fast Funny Car. They have smart people working on it, they’re doing great, and they have all the resources of John Force Racing behind them. It truly was just a matter of time until she started reeling off wins, and I just wanted to make sure she got the first one off of someone else. It didn’t work out for us, and we’re all very bummed to have lost in the first round here, but we’re leaving Florida with a good car and some more good runs under our belt. “
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