AREND GRABS No. 4 SPOT WITH BIG 4.774 AND RESETS CAREER BEST SPEED DOING SO

Jeff Arend made two terrific laps on Saturday, posting the best time for the first session, with a 4.800, before coming back to record a huge 4.774 in the nightcap. At the moment Arend crossed the finish line on his final run, he had actually vaulted into the No. 1 spot on the sheet. The pole was short-lived, however, as Gary Scelzi, Ron Capps, and Robert Hight eventually moved around him. Arend will race out of the 4th position (his highest start of the young season) and will face motorsports' best-known rookie, Ashley Force, in round one. Arend posted a speed of 326.87 mph on the run, easily outrunning his previous career best of 323.97.

"The first run was pretty incredible, really," Arend said. "Almost nobody was getting down the track in the middle of the afternoon, but we went right down there with the 4.80 and that was low E.T. of the session. In those conditions, we were better than Hight, Ashley Force, and everyone else. By the time we ran in the final session, we knew we had been knocked back a bunch of spots, but we were safe for the race field. It was kind of hard to keep track of where we were on the grid, actually, because so many cars were bumping in, getting bumped out, and changing the order so much, but when I got to the other end and they said we were number one, at the time, that was cool. I knew all those other guys were back there still to run, though, so I really didn't think it would stick for the top spot. It didn't, but
we're thrilled to be 4th.

"The other drama was the fact Tim Wilkerson was in the other lane when we ran, and he was the only guy who had a chance to knock Del (Worsham) out. Del has been just a hair short so far this year, and that's just not right, so we were all thrilled to see his last lap make the show. That was clutch, and now we both get to race on Sunday. We have to race Ashley Force, who is going to win a lot of rounds and a lot of races in her career. With all due respect, we'd just like to make her wait at least one more race before either of those things happen."