Follow A Dream Lebanon Valley Report

Marstons Mills, MA -June 18, 2013-At the Lucas Oil Series race at Lebanon Valley Dragway, Jay Blake’s Permatex/ Follow A Dream team turned in its most dominant performance in seven years, running the table by qualifying No. 1, setting low e.t. and top speed of every round of eliminations, and winning the race. Driver Todd Veney paced the field in qualifying with a 5.63 at 254 mph and ran 5.63, 5.65, and 5.63 – all at 253 mph – for the team’s first victory since one in Bowling Green, Ky., last August locked up the 2012 East Region championship.

“Every win is a team win, but the crew won this one for us,” Veney said. “The car was meticulously prepared when it got to the track, every guy on the team did a perfect job between rounds, and tuner Tom Howell had it running on rails all weekend.”

“This one is for my dad,” said Howell, whose father, Thomas Howell, passed away on July 6, 2012 at the age of 83.

“It was a total team effort,” said Blake, whose team scored at the upstate New York facility for the second time in four years. “Low e.t., top speed, win the race – what more could you ask for?”

Veney defeated John Headley in the first round with a 5.638 at 253.89 mph to the Pennsylvania driver’s 6.82 at 118.44. In the semifinals, he got around Eric Louie in a rematch of the 2010 Lebanon Valley final, 5.650, 253.84 to 5.790, 247.72. In the final, a consistent 5.637, overall low e.t. of the event, wiped out John Anderika, who finished second to the Permatex/Follow A Dream team in the East Region standings last year.

After a weekend off, the team returns to the track at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago, where Veney will represent the East Region in the prestigious Jegs Allstars event on Saturday and compete for the Route 66 Nationals title on Sunday.