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BRISTOL, pre-race: Jeff Arend’s resurgent Funny Car career is in the midst of his second season running with the primary support of Urban Casavant, and the driver of the CMKXtreme Machine Monte Carlo is confident that the team is headed in the right direction. Arend will have a chance to make some noise when he fires up for his second career start at Bristol Dragway at the 5th annual NHRA O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, the sixth stop on the 23-race, 2005 POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule.

The CMKXtreme Machine team has been making steady progress since Arend qualified at the opening race of the season with a career-best 4.79 at the Winternationals. Two races later, the 42-year-old Canadian native won his first round of the year down in Florida at the Gatornationals. Arend qualified solidly at the most recent race, the SummitRacing.com Nationals Las Vegas, making the top half of the 16-car field in the No. 8 position. Arend went out in the first round in a tight first round battle, losing by less than five-hundredth’s of a second, but he is still feeling positive about his team’s efforts.

“We are remaining consistent and that’s the key,” said Arend. “Paul Smith is capable of getting the CMKXtreme Machine into the 4.70’s, but he also knows how to get the car down the track when the racing conditions are marginal. We want to continue to qualify in the top half of the field because it can be important to have lane choice going into the first round of eliminations. You need a little racing luck from time to time too. We’ve worked very hard to get the car running consistently and we will continue progress with that same kind of work ethic until the CMKXtreme Machine starts winning rounds.”

Arend will join CMKX Racing teammate, Tony Bartone, as the pair visit Wellmont Bristol Regional Medical Center on Friday morning, prior to the beginning of qualifying. Arend is currently 15th in the POWERade Funny Car point standings, qualifying for four out of the first five races of the season and advancing to the quarterfinals once.