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Friday, June 15  Technology is a high priority By Chuck Etchells Special to ESPN.com This week, I'm going to discuss something you rarely hear other Funny Car teams talk about -- technology development. The simple reason this subject is never mentioned is that I believe we are the only team other than my good friend John Force that employs one person whose primary assignment is to research and develop new technology. This is one area I feel very strongly about. The way I see it, if we are going to make a serious run at derailing the Force juggernaut and challenge for wins on a weekly basis, we have to have every advantage at our disposal. That is why we have kept working on that aspect of our team through all the ups and downs we have documented at length in this column every week. In our case, we are very fortunate to have Larry Meyer as a member of the Etchells Racing Team. Larry joined us during the off-season and in a very short period of time has come up with some pretty incredible things we think could pay some big dividends, a couple of which I'd like to tell you about. The first item is a clutch disc evaluation machine. As you probably know, the clutch is one of the most crucial areas in a Funny Car, a vital link in effectively transferring the 6,000 horsepower our engines put out to the ground. One problem teams are constantly fighting is finding clutch discs that will perform at the same level. That is precisely what Larry's invention will do. With this machine, we will have the ability to check each disc to make sure it will wear uniformly, therefore eliminating one of the variables in setting up the clutch. I guess you could look at it as a high-powered quality control device. Ironically, this machine can also double as a blower dyno, but as of now we haven't had the chance to really use it as such. Another machine Larry has come up with is a track surface adhesion tester. What this does is measure the coefficiency of the rubber on the track, which will help us to better determine just how much power the track will take. Obviously the goal here is to avoid smoking the tires, which at the very least can kill a good run, and at the worst can cost you the race. Needless to say, there are other things Larry is working on. For example, he is working on a project to develop what I believe could be a major tuning aid for Terry Manzer. Of course, I could describe exactly what that is in great detail, as well as the other things he's tinkering with, but as the old saying goes, if I told you about them, I'd have to kill you. Rather than doing that, I invite you to watch the Pontiac Excitement Nationals from Columbus, Ohio, this weekend to see how we do at turning all this new technology Larry and the team have created into on-track performance. Chuck Etchells, driver and owner the Sunoco/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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