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Thursday, April 12
Changes brewing at Etchells Racing
By Chuck Etchells
Special to ESPN.com
I know there have been a lot of rumors circulating about our race team since last weekend's race in Las Vegas. Although I can't discuss the details, I can tell you we are dealing with some major sponsorship issues. However, as I write this Wednesday morning, nothing has been finalized. To put it simply we are fighting for our lives, doing everything we can to keep things together. To borrow a phrase from your local evening news -- stay tuned for further details.
|  | | Chuck Etchells, right, with Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil. |
As for our weekend in Las Vegas, we had both our high and low points. Vince Neil joined us for the weekend as expected, and was on hand when we debuted a new Mötley Crüe paint scheme. For those of you who didn't get to see it, let me tell you, it's pretty cool. While the hood focuses on the band's upcoming autobiography, The Dirt, the rest of the car gives visual references to the band's four CDs, from the turquoise tiles on the sides for Dr. Feelgood, to the dragon and tattoo pen on the escape hatch for New Tattoo.
Vince also accompanied Jim and I to the NHRA Fanfest at the Race Rock restaurant, which was an incredible event. We had close to 30 drivers from all the professional classes signing autographs for a solid two-and-a-half hours, with the line extending well around the corner. I hope all the fans who attended had as much fun as we did, and it was a great way to kick off the weekend.
On Friday, Jim started with a solid 4.95, 315-mph pass on his first attempt with Vince watching from the starting line. That was exactly what we were looking for, and had everybody on the team excited. Unfortunately, it proved to be the best run of the weekend for either car as we fought dropped cylinders and freakish part failures. Mother Nature did not help us any, as persistent showers forced us to wait until the early evening to make our runs. This produced conditions unlike anything we'd seen all season -- not exactly what you're looking for when you still searching for a workable set-up.
It just seemed like we didn't have enough power to take advantage of what were killer conditions. As a result, my Kendall Oil/Matco Tools Camaro missed the cut for final eliminations, snapping a string of 21 races. Without a doubt that was the lowest point of my season, and something I don't want to go through again.
Jim's weekend was only slightly better as his hopes for a repeat victory were cut short in the first round when he broke an input shaft. All in all, it was a very frustrating race.
As people who know me will tell you, when it comes to racing my philosophy is quite simple -- I race to win. It's not good enough to show up or even to qualify -- if an Etchells Racing entry is on the track, I want it to come out on top. We are in the middle of the most competitive season ever in the history of Funny Car, and quite honestly, I'm not sure we're at the level of being able to compete for the top spot on a weekly basis right now. That is something we have to correct.
There are many reasons for our struggles. Part of it can be attributed to inexperience or lack of working together. I know it's not for lack of effort or desire, because this crew has worked their tails off. For example, on Monday, the crew stayed and tested in Las Vegas, making four runs with Jim's car. We gathered a lot of information that we hope will come in handy.
In some way, this slump can be blamed on me, because I haven't necessarily been able give the team the necessary resources. As I've stated before, we're continually working on finding additional funding, and the team has done a remarkable job with what they've been given to work with. But recognizing the problems and fixing them are two different animals, and we need to get ours in line.
I met with the key members of my team for several hours Sunday, and we went over many things. For obvious reasons, I really can't tell you what we talked about, but we all agreed changes had to be made. We have less than two weeks before returning to Gainesville, Fla., and I suspect you'll be hearing some news from the Etchells camp.
No matter what happens, I can promise our performance is going to get better. After all, I'd like nothing more than to use one of these columns to tell you how well we ran at the last race. That, as they say, will be a very good day.
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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