Chuck etchells drag racer magazine

Chuck Etchells notched his name into the stone tablet of funny car history back in when he became the first driver to punch his way into the four second zone in a nitro funny car. On a weekend in Topeka, Kansas when the world was waiting for John Force to do the inevitable, it was Etchells who swooped in for the glory and the historical recognition.

Sadly, we got word yesterday at Etchells has passed away at age

His funny car career began in the late s with an ex-Jungle Jim car that had also been campaigned by Bruce Larson. He named the car Future Force and it proved to a prophetic move because over the span of his career Etchells won 13 national events and was considered one of the hardest runners of his day.

With backing from Kendall Oil, Etchells made his first &#;full pull&#; of the NHRA tour in and his presence was felt. Between the historic moment in Topeka to being the runner up in the championship points chase, he was right there. During that season, Etchells became a fan favorite for the fact that his team was running on a lighter budget than many others.

Tuned by Tim and Kim Richards, running on lots of Joe Amato &#;gently used&#; parts, and running hard enough to scare the grizzled veterans in the sport, they were popular with the people.

On a more personal note, being a New England guy, Etchells was always kind of a hero to many of us. We didn&#;t have lots of people out there on the professional level mixing it up on a week in and week out basis and he was special on that level.

A regular match racer at New England Dragway when his schedule allowed, Etchells&#; car was among the first funny cars I ever saw in person.

He had the respect of his peers and the performance to back it up. Chuck Etchells may be gone but his name will live in eternity on the pages of drag racing history books the world over.

There&#;s only one first and Chuck&#;s was big one.

Press play below to relive the moment when Chuck Etchells made drag racing history

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