Jeff was born near Toronto, Canada on November 27, 1962. Arend’s hobbies as a kid were typical of those of most children growing up in “The Great White North”. He liked skiing and playing hockey, but eventually his interest in cars would supersede the traditional interests.   It was at age 17 that he entered his first drag race as a competitor and he officially got bit by the “bug” to be a professional drag racer.

From there, Arend started making more strides toward his straight-line racing career by progressively moving from quicker cars to even quicker cars over a series of years. Hoping to join the ranks of his racing heroes Prudhomme, McCulloch, Kalitta and Force, Arend ended up selling his race car and everything associated with it in 1994 and used the proceeds from his clearance sale to attend Paul Smith’s Drag Racing School to get a Nitro Funny Car license. He not only achieved his goal, but he did it in fine style in November of that year when he set the track record at Moroso Motorsports Park with a 5.57-second, 266-mph lap in only his second time at the controls of a Nitro Funny Car. In March of the following year with Smith tuning his school’s Funny Car and Arend driving it, the duo raced part-time in NHRA competition and qualified for every event they attended. In 1996, Arend got his first NHRA national event win when he took Smith’s Funny Car to the winner’s circle in Reading, Penn.

After his time with Smith, Arend went on to drive Funny Cars for Al Hofmann, Chuck Beal, and, most recently before joining Kalitta Motorsports, Chuck and Del Worsham. Then, after Scott Kalitta’s death came the chance to drive for Connie Kalitta, one of the most revered, and, sometimes, infamous names in auto racing.

Arend, who resides now in San Dimas, Calif., with his wife Windy and daughter Jenna, 10, thinks that he and the DHL team are close to making the next step in their racing journey together – contending for a NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car championship.

Career Highlights

• 2011: Won the event in Houston; Raced to runner-up finish in Chicago; Made semi-final appearances in Bristol, Denver, Reading, and Phoenix. Set new career best marks for elapsed time – 4.048 (Charlotte II) and for speed – 316.01 mph (Reading). Earned coveted spot in NHRA post-season, the Countdown to the Championship, for the first time in his career to solidify first top ten Full Throttle points finish (8th place)
• 2010: Raced to runner-up finishes in Houston, Topeka, and Pomona 2; Posted semi-final showing at Charlotte 2; Raced to quarterfinal finishes in Chicago, Englishtown and Norwalk
• 2009: Won his first race (Memphis) in 13 years and just his second career win; Raced to quarterfinal finishes at Reading, Indianapolis, Charlotte and Richmond
• 2008: Took over controls of Kalitta Motorsports Funny Car after death of Scott Kalitta in June; competed at seven events and qualified at six
• 2007: Earned two No. 1 qualifiers, including his first, in Indianapolis; Set career bests for time and speed
• 2006: Ran the special-edition Murray’s car in St. Louis for Del and Chuck Worsham; Named team's second driver in December
• 2005: Set career bests for time and speed; Advanced to second career final round, finishing runner-up to Gary Scelzi at Bristol; Qualified top-10 in eight of 15 events entered, including season-high second at Englishtown; Finished 16th in standings despite competing in abbreviated 15-event schedule; Category-best reaction time average
• 2004: Returned to full-time competition for first time since 2000; established career-best e.t. and speed; Signed CMKM Diamonds Inc., as a primary sponsor. Relicensed in Houston with career-best elapsed time to qualify third.
• 2000: First driver selected for a chance to win ‘The Winston’ No Bull $100.000 bonus.
• 1998: Kept his Funny Car license current by driving part-time for Chuck Beal and Al Hofmann.
• 1997: Moved to California in 1997 and got married. He worked for the next five seasons as an operations manager and instructor for Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School in Pomona.
• 1996: Defeated John Force in a match race at Arend’s home track at London Motorsports Park in Canada. Arend won the 1996 NHRA Keystone Nationals Funny Car title with current crew chief Paul Smith and finished the season 18th in the points. At the season ending World Finals Jeff became the first Canadian driver to eclipse the 300-mph barrier.
• 1995: Made his Funny Car debut by qualifying 10th at the Gatornationals and continued to race with Smith throughout 1995, qualifying at every race they attended and finishing 18th in his rookie season,
• 1994: Earned fuel Funny Car license in minimum of three attempts through Paul Smith’s Drag Racing School at Moroso Motorsports Park in Florida.
• 1993: Sold his car and began to work as crew chief for Canadian Alcohol Funny Car owner/driver Al Billes.
• 1990: Built and drove a 200-mph ’48 Fiat Topollino called “Bad to the Bone” which helped revive the match race concept in southern Ontario. He raced the car successfully for three years.
• 1985: Began organizing drag racing in 1985, driving faster and faster streetcars as his career evolved, culminating with a low 10-second ’70 Chevelle SS.

Personal

Wife: Windy
Daughter: Jenna (2/23/00)
Height/weight: 5´8´´, 175 lbs.
Notable: In 1997, the native Canadian moved to Southern California, where he worked as an instructor and the operations manager at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School; Earned Funny Car license in 1994 at Moroso Motorsports Park in Florida, meeting the required performance numbers in the minimum of three attempts; Worked as crew chief for Canadian Alcohol Funny Car driver Al Billes in 1993
Hobbies: Avid golfer