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News
Releases CMKXtreme Machine beaten by a nose ST. LOUIS, Sunday: Jeff Arend came within a few feet of winning his first round of the season on Sunday at the 8th annual Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals at Gateway International Raceway. Arend lost to Tommy Johnson, Jr. in an epic first round Funny Car battle that was decided by only nine-thousandths of a second at the finish line. The CMKXtreme Machine Racing team had their work cut out for them when they arrived at track early in the morning for Sunday evening’s eliminations. Arend had qualified the CMKXtreme Machine Funny Car 15th for the race with a 4.97, but unfortunately he hit the centerline cones on his final qualifying run Saturday night. The impact caused body damage to the right front corner of the CMKX Corvette. The team arrived early Sunday and immediately began making repairs to the body in preparation for Arend’s first round race against Tommy Johnson, Jr. After using pop rivets to attach some new sheet metal to the damaged area, the world’s fastest Corvette was ready for action. While repairs were being made to the body, the remainder of the crew preformed their normal race day maintenance on the CMKXtreme Machine. The weather was beautiful once again on Sunday, and as the sun went down the clouds moved in and the racing action heated up. Johnson had lane choice and chose the left lane in his race against Arend. The CMKXtreme Machine left first at the flash of green with a .083 to .088 reaction time and Arend stayed in the lead until past the 1000-foot mark when the CMKX car began hazing the tires. Johnson passed Arend right at the finish line and barely took the victory with a 4.951 at 308.85 mph to Arend’s 4.965 at 307.37 mph. The margin of victory was a mere nine-thousandth’s of a second, which translates to about two feet. Arend’s run was also the quickest Funny Car pass in the right lane during the first round. “To tell you the truth, it was so close I thought we won the race,” said Arend afterwards. “I didn’t see him the whole run until I hit the chutes and he went by. We had the third quickest run of the first round and the quickest run in the right lane but we still lost. Things are progressing for the CMKX team. We’re running well and not hurting any parts and even though I keep saying it, I know that first round win is coming. We plan to run a new body in Denver that should provide us with more down force and better aerodynamics.” The next national event for Arend and the CMKXtreme Machine Racing team will be the 25th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver, Colorado July 23-25. CONTACT | |
