PERMATEX/FOLLOW A DREAM TEAM TIES ALL-TIME BEST WITH 7TH PLACE FINISH IN NATIONAL STANDINGS

Marstons Mills, MA-November 17 2015-At the last event of 2015, the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., Jay Blake’s Permatex/Follow A Dream team suffered its worst race in years but held on for seventh place in the national Top Alcohol Funny Car standings, tying its highest finish ever.
Driver Todd Veney failed to qualify for just the second time in four years and was passed by resurgent Mickey Ferro, who won two of the season’s last four races and reached the semifinals in Pomona. “That was a huge disappointment, a total letdown,” said Veney, who missed a Top 5 finish by four points. “One more round-win anywhere all year, and we would have had our first Top 5, but everyone except the world champion looks back on the season and wishes they’d won one more round somewhere.”
Veney shut off to a 5.97 at just 202 mph in the first qualifying session when a wire inside the ignition box shorted out. A decent 5.68 at 252 mph on the second run, also plagued by ignition problems, had the Follow A Dream team 16th in the 16-car field with one shot to go.
“When you have no computer data to go off of, you’re just guessing, and we had no data from that first run,” said Blake. “[Tuner] Tommy [Howell] had information to go off of from the second run, immediately figured out what the problem was, and had everything fixed for our last shot, but with the ignition working like it should, the engine made way more power than it’s had since the first run at Las Vegas, and the car went up in smoke.”
The team finishes 2015 with three victories, tying its highest season total ever, and its biggest win – Norwalk – since 2006. Veney led the national standings in July and the East Region standings for much of the year and ends the season with a fourth Top 10 finish since 2010.