Etchells Racing's Terry Manzer Arrives in
Sonoma in Dogged Pursuit of Success
(Note: The following is attached in text format for your convenience.)
Contact: Jon G. Knapp
Phone: (704) 662-3121
Fax: (704) 662-3021
www.etchellsracing.com
TERRY MANZER ARRIVES IN SONOMA IN DOGGED PURSUIT OF SUCCESS
Putnam, Conn., August 1, 2001 - It is ironic that in a sport involving racing
in a straight line, the last thirteen months have handed Sunoco/Matco Tools
Camaro crew chief Terry Manzer nothing but twists and turns. Since joining
the Etchells Racing Team last June, Manzer has experienced both the highs and
lows that NHRA Winston Drag Racing has to offer. In that time span, the
California native has dealt with four different drivers, a budget limited by
sponsorship issues, the addition of a second Funny Car and multiple team
reorganizations. As such, he arrives at his home track for this weekend's
Fram Autolite Nationals focused more on the big picture than the immediate
future.
"Quite honestly, this Etchells Racing Team is in the middle of a rebuilding
process," said Manzer. "It's a tough job to do during the middle of the
year, especially when you start out as far behind as we have. We're looking
to make progress at every race. If that includes winning a race or
establishing new performance marks, naturally we'd be thrilled, but I'd see
it as icing on the cake."
Manzer is not a stranger to the demands of racing. Growing up in nearby
Pleasant Hill, Manzer was immersed in the world of motorsports from a very
young age. With his family involved in sprint car and super modified racing,
one would have thought his career would have progressed into CART or the IRL,
much like his brother, Tony. However, while in college Manzer took a job
with a company whose owner was involved in drag boat racing, which quickly
captured his interest. Rising through the ranks, he ascended to the role of
crew chief. Moving onto dry land, he soon found himself tuning 6,000
horsepower, nitro-burning Funny Cars.
Approximately one year ago, Manzer took over a veteran Etchells team that was
used to winning but had stumbled in recent months. In only his second race,
they rebounded to "sweep" the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals in Denver,
capturing the No. 1 qualifying position, winning the race and recording the
first four-second Funny Car run in the history of that facility. This proved
to be the cornerstone of a second-half surge that included three final round
appearances, four No. 1 qualifying positions and a Top Ten finish in the
season's points standings.
"When I joined the team, the crew was beat-up and depressed, but they still
had their knowledge and their ability to work together," stated Manzer. "All
they needed was someone to help them gel again and do the right things. Even
though we lost a couple of people along the way, we had enough veterans to
shore up the new guys. The team doesn't get enough credit. Certainly the
crew chiefs make the decisions, but the crew did their jobs and even more."
But Manzer's work was just starting. In the off-season, the team underwent a
total reorganization, including the addition of a second race car.
Unbeknownst to those outside the team, the crew chief's efforts were
handicapped by severe sponsorship issues that limited the available budget
for acquiring parts and personnel.
"Most people didn't know it, but we went through the winter unable to buy the
parts when we needed them," explained Manzer. "Therefore we couldn't train
the new crew members because we didn't have everything we would be working
on. As a result, we were still building race cars in Tucson when we were
supposed to be testing. It all combined to put us behind from the very
start."
Even so, team owner Etchells managed an impressive semi-final finish in the
season-opening race in Pomona, and somehow the young crew seemed to be making
progress in the face of adversity. However, the sponsorship issues remained
unresolved, forcing Etchells to make the difficult decision of parking one
car following the Las Vegas race.
"We knew we couldn't run two cars without sponsorship, so Chuck had to make a
tough business decision," detailed Manzer. "In turn, we had to let some of
the crew go, including some veterans that were part of the glue holding
everything together. That was a big step backwards."
Fortunately, Sunoco stepped in and assumed the primary sponsorship role two
weeks later. Although some of the financial burden had been relieved, Manzer
once again found himself recruiting and training crew members while trying to
field two Funny Cars during the most competitive season in the class'
history.
"As of today, we are still trying to build a crew and establish a solid
foundation that we can build on," said Manzer. "I try to keep everyone on the
same page, not only through communication, but through honesty. I want
everyone on this team to know how hard it is going to be, because the guys
who make it to the end of the year will be a strong group, one that will be
better than most teams out here.
"Every team out here is going to go through hard times at one point or
another. It's how you make it through that period that determines how
successful you'll be. That's my goal for the rest of the season. If we can
get a good team together, and have a solid sponsorship package in place for
next year, we can work over the winter to get ourselves back on top where we
belong."
Etchells Excerpts: This will be Chuck Etchells' 7th appearance at Sears
Point Raceway … Chuck will be looking to improve upon his previous best
qualifying performance of 2nd from 1994…In his previous six appearances,
Chuck has qualified lower than fifth only once, starting 8th in 1996 … Chuck
will be looking to improve on his runner-up finish at this event in 1994...In
six previous appearances, Chuck has lost in the first round only once (1998),
and in addition to his 1994 final round finish, advanced to the semi-finals
three times.
Epler Exclusives: This will be Jim Epler's 5th appearance at SIR … Jim's
previous best qualifying performance in Sonoma came in 2000, when he was 5th
… Jim will be looking to move up from his 12th place position in the points.
This week, Jim will be displaying a special NAPA Auto Care Centers paint
scheme.
Fast Facts
WHAT: 14th annual FRAM Autolite Nationals, the sixteenth event on the
24-race 2001 NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series Schedule.
WHEN: August 2 - 5, 2001
WHERE: Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, California
SCHEDULE: Professional qualifying begins with two rounds on Friday, August
3 at 4:00 & 7:00 p.m., and concludes with two sessions at 2:00 & 5:00 p.m. on
Saturday, August 4. Final eliminations begin at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, August
5.
TV: There will be two hours of qualifying highlights on ESPN2 from Sears
Point Raceway on Saturday, August 4 from 10 p.m. - midnight. On Sunday,
August 5, there will two hours of early elimination round coverage from 4:00
- 6:00 p.m. on ESPN, followed by one hour of final elimination coverage from
11:00 p.m. - midnight on ESPN2. In addition, the weekly NHRA magazine show,
NHRA Heat, will air on ESPN2 from 6:30 - 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 2.
(Times given are Eastern. As always, please check your local listings.)
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