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Wednesday, March 28  Tough racing followed by good test By Chuck Etchells Special to ESPN.com Our trip to Houston turned out to be a disappointment for the Etchells Racing team. After testing so well in Dallas a few days before the race, we had gone in with high hopes of doing well. Needless to say, we were not happy with the way things turned out. Throughout the test session and qualifying, we had used a different approach to tuning our two race cars, looking to better match our power to how we run our clutch. Our goal in Houston was to try to first set a good baseline and then work at improving on what we had. After running a safe 5.01 the first qualifying session, I thought we were right on track. Unfortunately, no matter what Terry and the crew did to the car, it did not change the car's performance. Their job was further complicated by Jim's car dropping cylinders on three of its four qualifying attempts. As a result, my Kendall/Matco Camaro ended up 14th while Jim was edged out of the show in the last session. Facing my buddy Force in the first round, we knew we would have to step up in order to have a chance. Therefore, we went in with a completely new approach on Sunday morning, and we produced the best 330-foot times of the entire event in Funny Car, and best of my entire career. I also tried to help things by getting a jump on him at the start. Unfortunately, with the clutch working the motor harder, the engine started to run a little bit lean, which burned a piston before half-track. I knew right away that we were in trouble, but stayed in it. At 800 feet, I felt another cylinder go away, followed by another at the 1000-foot mark. At that point, I was just praying we would hold on, but right near the end he motored on by. It was pretty tough to take, knowing that we had the 10-time champion by the throat and let him get away. The team stayed in Houston on Monday to test with Jim Epler's Mötley Crüe/Matco Tools Camaro. On their first run, they put in essentially the same set-up that my car had on Sunday, and it made the identical run without hurting itself, which is a great result because it shows repeatability, a word those of you familiar with this column have seen me use quite a bit. After that, they made a few more runs trying different things in the clutch, legitimately testing instead of trying to refine the tune-up. Terry had the chance to experiment and we learned what not to do in a couple areas, gathering some good information. They wrapped things up by putting the car back to where it was on the first attempt except for a few changes in the engine, and again ran some good numbers. Everybody left feeling pretty happy and I'd call it a successful test. The added benefit to testing is that the team gets valuable experience. A few short weeks ago, Jim's crew would take fifty-two minutes to service the car. With all the practice they've had since then, they've now got it down to just over thirty. It's really great to watch them come together. Now, we head to Las Vegas for a race we are looking forward to for several reasons. First, we're racing in one of the most exciting cities in the country at one of our best tracks. Next, Jim is returning as the defending champion in Funny Car, and we'd like nothing better than to help him repeat. This race will also be the culmination of our three-race deal with Mötley Crüe on Jim's car, and there are several exciting developments. As of last Friday, the die-cast version became available for pre-order, either through the Racing Champions, Mötley Crüe or Etchells Racing websites. Next Wednesday, we will be unveiling a special, one-race Mötley Crüe paint scheme for the Vegas event. Finally, Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil will be joining us for the entire weekend, participating in various events throughout the race. It's pretty cool to see someone who is legitimately classified as a rock and roll superstar come out to the drag races and see the racers as stars. He's really down-to-earth and a fun guy to be around. So, with the pieces in place to have a really good time in Vegas, I say it's time to let it roll! Chuck Etchells, driver and owner the Kendall Oil/Matco Tools Camaro Z28 Funny Car, provides a diary to ESPN.com throughout the NHRA season.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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