PERMATEX/FOLLOW A DREAM TEAM UP TO 4TH IN NATIONAL STANDINGS

Marstons Mills, MA-September 23, 2015-Jay Blake’s Permatex/Follow A Dream team climbed to fourth in the national standings, the highest the team has ever been this late in the season, despite a disappointing first-round loss at the Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway.

The race got off to a promising start when driver Todd Veney ran a 5.53 – just a hundredth of a second from his career-best – in the opening qualifying session, but traction problems set in after that. A tricky surface that confounded teams in all classes led to tire-shake at the top of low gear on the remaining qualifying runs, but the team still began eliminations from a strong position, solidly in the No. 4 spot.

In a first-round battle of 2015 national event champs, Veney lost to Sweden’s Ulf Leanders, who won the Gatornationals, 5.68 to a shutoff 12.74. “The car went up in smoke about 100 feet off the line, and when that happens, you’re usually done,” he said. “I tried to get back in it, but Ulf was long gone. You know the track was tough for everybody when a 5.68 like he ran is one of the best runs of the whole round.”

“That wasn’t what we were looking for, especially after how well the car ran for so long, but it happens,” Blake said. “The good part is, since all the national events lately have been out west and everybody was passing us in national points while we were running regional events back east, we now have a chance to catch up.”

The next chance comes next