PERMATEX/FOLLOW A DREAM TEAM REACHES CHARLOTTE SEMI’S, CLINCHES REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

PERMATEX/FOLLOW A DREAM TEAM REACHES CHARLOTTE SEMI’S, CLINCHES REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Marstons Mills, MA –September 19, 2012-With a second consecutive semifinal finish in national event competition, Jay Blake’s Permatex/Follow A Dream team moved up another spot in the national Top Alcohol Funny Car rankings. Driver Todd Veney beat former national event champions Clint Thompson and Paul Gill at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals in Charlotte before falling in the semifinals to eventual winner Frank Manzo, who ran low e.t. of the event, 5.54, against Veney’s 5.66.

The late-round finish elevated Veney to ninth in the national standings, and when no one at the penultimate regional event of the season, in Noble, Okla., passed him, it clinched the East Region championship, a first for the Permatex/Follow A Dream team.

“We qualified high and ran well for the second week in a row,” said Veney, who was fifth in the 16-car field with a 5.66 and ran in the 5.60s in two of three rounds of eliminations. “The best part was clinching the championship. Winning Cecil County and Bowling Green back to back last month put us in the driver’s seat, but it wasn’t official until now. I want to thank Jay, Permatex, and everybody at Follow A Dream for the best season I’ve ever had.”

            “That’s two wins in a row at regional events and two semifinals in a row at national events,” Blake said. “The whole team pulled together after we had a few bad races this summer, and here we are. It’s like I always say: a total team effort.”