Jeff Arend, driver of the bright yellow, 8,000-horsepower DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car, and the DHL team are gearing up to salute the U.S. military with special activities prior to and during this weekend’s, May 1-3, annual running of the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Int’l Raceway in Madison, Ill., just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

Today, Wednesday, April 29, Arend and the DHL pit crew will make a special appearance at Scott Air Force Base, near Belleville, Ill., with their nitro-fueled, 300-mph coupe, from 11:00 a.m. (CT) ‘til 1:30 p.m. U.S. Air Force personnel, including special guests, Brig. Gen. S. Taco Gilbert III and Major General William Johnson, USTRANSCOM, will experience the Earth-rumbling power of the DHL Funny Car when its engine roars to life at noon.

Jeff Arend, driver of the bright yellow, 8,000-horsepower DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car, and the DHL team are gearing up to salute the U.S. military with special activities prior to and during this weekend’s, May 1-3, annual running of the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Int’l Raceway in Madison, Ill., just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

Today, Wednesday, April 29, Arend and the DHL pit crew will make a special appearance at Scott Air Force Base, near Belleville, Ill., with their nitro-fueled, 300-mph coupe, from 11:00 a.m. (CT) ‘til 1:30 p.m. U.S. Air Force personnel, including special guests, Brig. Gen. S. Taco Gilbert III and Major General William Johnson, USTRANSCOM, will experience the Earth-rumbling power of the DHL Funny Car when its engine roars to life at noon.

Also, for this weekend’s event, DHL and Kalitta Motorsports are extending a special invitation to members of the U.S. military. The first 25 active military personnel, plus one guest, who stop by the DHL/Kalitta Motorsports hospitality area on both Friday and Saturday, will be invited to enjoy a pit-side, V.I.P. experience with Arend and the DHL Funny Car team.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to give something back,” Arend, a 46-year old resident of San Dimas, Calif., said. “It’s easy to take for granted the freedoms that we all enjoy here in the U.S., but without the brave men and women that serve in our country’s military, we wouldn’t be allowed to enjoy those freedoms and do the things that we love, like NHRA drag racing. It’s an honor for me and our DHL team to show our gratitude to all of the great folks that help defend our country.”

Arend joined Kalitta Motorsports in August of last year to assume the driving duties of the DHL entry after the tragic death of Scott Kalitta as the result of injuries he suffered in a high-speed racing accident in June in New Jersey. Arend is a 14-year Funny Car veteran with one NHRA Funny Car national event win to his credit – Reading, Pa., 1996. He is married to Windy, and they have a daughter, Jenna, 9.


 

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