PERMATEX/FOLLOW A DREAM TEAM HITS 265 MPH IN GAINESVILLE

Marstons Mills, MA-March 19, 2015-At the NHRA Gatornationals in its first national start of 2015, Jay Blake’s Permatex/Follow A Dream team upped its all-time best speed twice, first to 264.13 mph and ultimately to 265.22. Driver Todd Veney qualified No. 4 in the 16-car field and defeated former U.S. Nationals winner Chris Foster in the first round of eliminations before falling to eventual winner Ulf Leanders of Sweden in the quarterfinals.

“That’s the best the car’s run since we won Lebanon Valley last year,” Veney said. “You could really feel the power. I knew it was fast, but I didn’t know it was that fast. There are only a handful of cars in the world that have ever been over 265. It pulled hard all the way to the finish line every time.”

Veney qualified 4th with back-to-back 5.56s and set top speed of the first round of eliminations with a 5.57 at 263.98 mph opposite Foster’s 5.64 at 234.45. A backpedaling 5.73 at 262.18 mph wasn’t enough against Leanders’ 5.54, 254.66 in the quarters.

“The car ran great all weekend, and it’s a testament to the entire Follow A Dream crew,” said Blake, who’s speaking this week in Lakeland, Fla., at ITW, parent company to Permatex. “The slowest we ran all weekend was 262.18 mph, and our all-time best coming into this event was 262.85.”

It was the third race in a row in which the team improved on its all-time best speed. The event will be televised Saturday, March 28, at 10 a.m. The team’s next appearance will be next weekend in Charlotte, N.C., at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.