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Wednesday, February 21
Earnhardt's passion made him special
By Chuck Etchells
Special to ESPN.com
My original plan was to devote this week's column to a discussion about John Force's recent announcement that he was adding a third car. Obviously, that pales in comparison to the tragic events that unfolded last Sunday in Daytona, where the worldwide racing community lost probably the best driver the sport has ever seen in Dale Earnhardt.
|  | | Etchells' team improved its performance at Phoenix, but still has a long way to go. |
Although I don't consider myself a big fan of NASCAR racing, you naturally knew when there was race going on. Whenever people talked about it, the only driver I would ask about, including last Sunday, was "Ironhead," because to me, he was the sport. Even though I never followed it that closely, he was one of my heroes. He had everything he wanted, but for Dale Earnhardt, it wasn't about the money.
In today's society, we've gotten used to reading about pro athletes in basketball and baseball holding out for more money. They'll make a ton of cash and retire, because they don't want to go through the effort necessary to stay on top. But Dale Earnhardt was different -- he was a racer. He had as much as anybody in the world, but he didn't want to give it up. He always had that passion.
Every week, he was driven to the checkered flag, chasing that eighth championship. Racing was more important to him than anything except his family. You simply don't see many people with that commitment, desire, and dedication to keep working as hard as he did every year, even though he didn't have to. That's what made him a champion.
I know I speak for everyone at Etchells Racing in saying our thoughts and prayers go out to the Earnhardt family and the Richard Childress Racing team. I hope they take some comfort in knowing he went doing what he loved to do, and that he is now in a much better place.
The drag racing world also lost one of their greats last week when Dave Schultz lost his battle with cancer. Much like Earnhardt, Dave was a true champion, who showed his true passion for the sport, when last October he returned after chemotherapy for what turned out to be one last race, and rode right into the winner's circle. I am sure these two great men will never be forgotten.
Although I don't know what's going on at Childress racing, I can only assume they're getting ready for their next race. That is the sport of racing -- as difficult as it may be, we have to move forward. We have a commitment to our sponsors, our teams and our fans to go on. I'm sure this will be an impossible weekend for the Earnhardt family, and Dale Jr. in particular, but I'm sure they are going to be out there racing.
For our part, the Etchells team is doing the same thing. We just left Phoenix a few days ago, where we had a better outing than we did in Pomona. Both cars qualified and we ran in the 4.80s, which made us happy, but we have a tremendous amount of work to do.
For example, one of our trailers had to be returned to Featherlite in Iowa to be completed. For these first two races, we were staring at blank wooden walls, and the lack of cabinets in Jim's trailer made for a real Chinese fire drill with crewmembers running back and forth to the Kendall trailer where most of the tools and parts were being stored.
While that is going on, we have the new team guys working at a shop in Phoenix taking the car and motor apart and putting it back together, practicing so everything becomes second nature. They know that is what they need to do to become the best, and that is what we demand here at Etchells Racing.
Meanwhile, Terry Manzer, Larry Meyer and my wife Shelley are putting the finishing touches on an employee manual that defines exactly what is expected of our team, so we always display the professionalism our sponsors deserve. I'm writing the cover letter for it, and it should go out this week.
So, even though we're spread out all over the country, everyone on the Etchells Racing Team is working hard getting ready for the next race. I think Dale and Dave would approve.
Chuck Etchells, driver and owner the Kendall Oil/Matco Tools Camaro Z28 Funny Car, will provide a diary to ESPN.com throughout the NHRA season.
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