Canadians Come Close at NHRA Finals
By: Bruce Biegler
Canadian drag racers Jeff Arend and Shawn Cowie both ended their 2010 seasons on very high notes with strong efforts during last weekend’s final NHRA event of the season…
Arend (originally from Toronto) and Cowie (from Delta BC) each placed runner-up during the season-concluding AAA Auto Club Finals held at fabled Pomona.
Jeff Arend, driving the Kalitta Motorsports/DHL Toyota just missed winning his biggest title to date – losing a very close match in a very high profile battle versus John Force in the Funny Car final round. Jeff ran his quickest ET of the event (4.109 secs at 307.65 mph) driving the Jon Oberhofer/Nick Boninfante tuned machine, but was ultimately turned back by Force’s quicker 4.085 secs at 310.41 mph.
Jeff Arend came very close to winning FC at Pomona
Arend, who now lives in nearby San Dimas, CA, had defeated Paul Lee, Ashley Force Hood and Bob Tasca III in earlier competition to advance to his 6th career NHRA FC final round.
For Jeff, the strong Pomona showing helped solidify a 12th place finish in final NHRA Full Throttle Series FC points.
B.C.’s Shawn Cowie also lost a heartbreaker final round at Pomona — in Top Alcohol Dragster competition. Cowie, who won at Las Vegas earlier this year and was also runner-up at Indy driving the super potent Mundies Towing dragster, was beaten on a holeshot by England’s Michael Manners in the final round. Manners scored his first career NHRA TAD title with a run of 5.347 secs at 270.64 mph compared to Cowie’s quicker 5.333 secs at 263.00 mph.
Shawn Cowie finished 3rd in final Lucas Oil TAD points
Using the expert tuning of crew chief Bill Moore, Cowie had qualified #6 and had beaten fellow Canadian Don St. Arnaud (from Edmonton), Chris Demke and Jim Whitely to make the final round.
Cowie’s final race success helped him finish a superb 3rd in final NHRA Lucas Oil TAD season points. The talented Western Canadian team had finished 4th in final points last season.
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
