Two years, two months, and ten days – that’s how long the car had been in the trailer. 

The Russo couple, Peter and Helen, were part of the NHRA racing community for several years, but things changed after the 2019 season.

The Russos, who live in Melbourne, Australia, couldn’t leave their country to the United States because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which became prevalent in March of 2020.

Well, the Russos are back.

Jeff Arend is driving the car this weekend. 

“Yeah, it is good to be back in the seat,” said Arend, who has driven on a limited basis for the Russos since 2016. “They've been stuck in Australia cause of the COVID stuff. So, they couldn't get out of there. The last time we ran the car was the end of 2019 at the World Finals here (in Pomona). It's been a long time. And then, of course, since then there's been a lot of updates. Had to put body tethers in the car, a titanium plate behind the seat, different ignition system and all that stuff. 

“They just got here a couple weeks ago, or a week and a half ago. And it has been a thrash. So,” it's been a thrash to get all the parts and get all the car up to date, and all that stuff.”

When Arend received the call from the Russos he went into inventory-mode to see if the team could compete at the Winternationals.

“When they decided they could come, because it was the last minute, (I) just had to make sure to get all the parts and all that stuff,” Arend said. “Then, they've all been busy at the shop getting the car together. So, it's one of those things, I think, we'll probably make one run on Friday and one run on Saturday. And if we qualify, great. And if we don't qualify, great. Let's give it our best shot.”

As for now, Arend said the Russsos don’t have any definite plans after competing in Pomona.

“Maybe if we do okay here, it might go to Phoenix (the next race on the NHRA circuit),” Arend said. “But nothing for sure yet. And then they'll probably come back at the end of the year like they usually do and run Vegas, Pomona, or something.”

Competing in the season opener made sense for the Russos since their United States race shop is in Colton, Calif., 45 minutes from Pomona. Arend lives in La Verne, a mile from the track.

The last time Arend, winner of four NHRA national events, competed in NHRA was in a nitro Funny car for owner Dexter Tuttle last October in Dallas.

“That was a brand-new car and we qualified, which was pretty good for a brand-new car,” Arend said. 

Arend, who has driven fulltime in the nitro Funny Car ranks for Kalitta Motorsports and Jim Dunn, has stayed active in the drag racing scene.

“I do more sales for (the Frank) Hawley Drag Racing School, but the last year and a half I was helping the Dunns, I guess you could say as a consultant on the crew. So, I have been at the races a lot.”

Arend said teaming up with the Russos is something he enjoys.

Yeah. It's fun because they give me free reign on everything,” he said. “So, I basically get to tune it and do all the stuff for it and drive it. Mike Smith gives me a hand on that. So, I say he's the car chief or the co-crew chief.

“Yeah, so it's fun. It's rewarding. They're not going to go up there and win races, but for us to qualify is a pretty big deal. That’s like winning a race for a big team. That's always our goal: come out and try and qualify and do our best.”

Arend said the quickest elapsed time he ran in the Russos Funny Car was a 4.04-second lap at the fall race in Las Vegas in 2016.

“That was the fastest field in the history at the time and we qualified,” he said. “I don’t know if we are going to get in the 3s this weekend, but we will try. The last time we were here (in 2019) we ran 4.09 and I had to lift early because we had a fuel leak, so I probably could have gone 4.07.

“We're going to try and run it a little bit harder than that. You never know what's going to happen. But like I said, we haven't done it so long that, we will just have to see how it goes. The driving part's not that bad. It's just making sure everything works on the car properly, and we don't have a full-time crew or anything, so you always have different guys. So, you just take your time and make sure everything's perfect as you can make it before each run. That's why I said we probably just make one on Friday and one on Saturday and see how it goes.

“Helen and Peter, my hat’s off to them because it is not like they’re rich or anything. They own this Funny Car and they put their heart and soul into it.”