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Wednesday, March 7  Checkbook is as mighty as engine By Chuck Etchells Special to ESPN.com This is my fourth column for ESPN.com, but it wasn't until last week that I found out just what kind of coverage my diaries receive. I have to say I'm pretty impressed. To give you an idea, the article we did last week on John Force's third Funny Car generated such an incredible amount of interest that two nights ago I was invited to participate in a chat session on one of the drag racing boards, nitromater.com. To make a long story short, I was on there for about two-and-a-half hours, and the site experienced a record level of participation – all as a direct result of the column. To all of you who stop by to read this, we thank you for your interest, and we hope to keep you coming back every week. The month-long gap we've had between Phoenix and Gainesville is the longest I can remember, short of the times between seasons. As such, it gives you time to focus on other areas of the race team, which we won't be able to do when we're in the middle of back-to-back races. You have to take advantage and make as much hay as you can. This week, I'd like to take our discussion in a different direction. Throughout the coming year, I'll be talking a lot about our crew chiefs and the members of our crew, or about the tune-up and how the car ran, or even about our competitors. Today, however, I'm going to take a brief glimpse into the business side of NHRA Winston Drag Racing. At any given stop on the NHRA tour, you can walk by any of the teams' pit areas and they all look pretty much the same. You'll see the same type of cars sitting there, with the same kind of engine, parked next to a truck and transporter that looks pretty similar to all the others. What you don't see, however, is the checkbook. I am extremely proud of what my teams have been able to accomplish year after year on the budget they've been given to operate with. We've always found a way to pull it in and be competitive, and our record speaks for itself. But now we want to take the next step and go to the level of John Force, and that takes cubic dollars. Money not only buys parts, it funds additional crew members, each of whom is crucial to success on race day. However, the competition for sponsor dollars is just as tough as it is on the racetrack. Not only do you have to be able to show potential sponsors that you will be able to return value for every dollar invested, you have to come up with fresh, effective ways to do it. We feel we have a very unique marketing program to offer on Jim Epler's car. We are selling two-race primary sponsorship packages at what we feel is a low cost. This will offer companies interested in the NHRA and its Winston Drag Racing Series an affordable – yet highly visible – way to get involved with a very competitive team and test the waters in our sport. We're confident that once they see the value NHRA Winston Drag Racing has to offer, they are going to jump right in. So, while we're still about a week away from heading back to the racetrack, things are still buzzing at Etchells Racing. The crew is continuing to practice on servicing the race cars in Arizona, and in the two weeks since Phoenix, they've made some good progress, cutting their time virtually in half. Meanwhile, Jim Epler, Bob Brown – our director of sales and marketing – and I are beating the bushes trying to find additional sponsorship that will make us more competitive on the racetrack. It's all part of the big picture of being a successful Funny Car team. Well, that's it for this week. I just hope this column generates as much interest on Madison Avenue as last week's John Force article did with the readers! 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.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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