PERMATEX/FOLLOW A DREAM TEAM SETS LOW E.T. AND TOP SPEED AT ATCO

Marstons Mills, MA-August 5, 2015-At the East Regional closer in Atco, N.J., Jay Blake’s Permatex/Follow A Dream Top Alcohol Funny Car team set low e.t. and top speed of three of the first four rounds before breakage in the final allowed Matt Gill to single for the win. Driver Todd Veney led after the first qualifying session with a 5.62 and claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot for good in the second session with a 5.55 at 264 mph that held up for overall low e.t. and top speed of the meet.

Scheduled opponent Marie Ferriolo broke in the first round, allowing Veney to shut off to a coasting 5.84 win at just 203 mph that projected to a 5.61. A 5.59 at 263 mph on a semifinal single set up a final-round matchup with Gill, who blew an engine on a winning 6.41 run in the semifinals. Both cars were ailing when the engines fired for the final, but only Gill was able to make it to the starting line under power. He took the green and coasted to a 25-second run not unlike Veney’s anticlimactic idle downtrack in the Norwalk final last month.

“That’s a disappointing way to lose, but we were on the other side of one of those just the other day at Norwalk,” Veney said. “The car ran great all year – I think we had top speed at all six regionals.”

“Now we can focus on national event competition and a shot at the national championship,” Blake said. “We’ve never been in a better position. It’s getting late in the year, and we’re number 3 in the whole country. We’ve got Indy, Maple Grove – my favorite race of the season – and Charlotte still on the schedule, and after that, who knows?”