Close Quarter Finish at Mile High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway for Jeff Arend

Team Worsham’s Jeff Arend had a solid run at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Colorado.

Jeff Arend and Team CSK use K&N Engineering Products
Jeff Arend and Team CSK use K&N Engineering Products
Arend managed to advance one round further than Del Worsham, who happens to be Arend’s Checker, Schuck’s, Kragen teammate and his boss. However, Arend felt the sting of defeat at Bandimere and lost a close side-by-side thriller in round two against Jack Beckman, after having won in round one where he defeated Kenny Bernstein.

Jeff Arend's Funny Car at Bandimere Speedway Jeff Arend's Funny Car at Bandimere Speedway
Arend was in the No 10 spot for race day. “We went to the line with the intent of going end-to-end with all eight lit, and even though our 4.92 wasn’t perfect it was a strong lap,” said Arend. “We had a lot of confidence going into the main event.”

Arend and his opening round opponent, Bernstein, were the first to take the track in the Funny Car class. Bernstein was up in smoke early on his pass. Arend had a clean 5.153 to take the win light and move past Worsham in points. We know, with our K&N Engineering Oil Filters on our cars, that we can have confidence in our lubrication system, and that’s critical to success in this high-performance sport, said Team Manager Bob Wilber.

“I never saw Kenny after we left the line, so I just kept my foot down and hoped he wasn’t going to come roaring by me at the finish line,” said Arend. “It was a nice solid lap and a big win for us over one of the greatest drivers who ever strapped into one of these cars. When you beat Kenny Bernstein, you’ve earned the right to smile.”

Worsham and Ron Capps fought out a side-by-side battle as the second pair, with Capps beating Arend’s CSK teammate.

Round two brought Arend next to Jack Beckman. Both teams went to the line aware of the skittish nature of the hot Denver track. At the flash of the tree, Arend was ahead at 60 feet and seemed to be pulling away. Just before the half track the Chevron Techron Impala dropped a cylinder on the right side and began to lose its momentum. Beckman was able to pull away to win with a 5.121 to Arend’s 5.180. The margin of victory was 49-thousandths of a second.

“We wanted to win more than anything,” said Arend. “You can be mad, you can even be depressed about it if you want to, but it’s just the nature of the sport and all you can do is do what you’ve been doing. What we are doing right is running very well. Our day will come. Remember I said that.”

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