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5.6.08 - BEHIND THE WHEEL WITH DUSTIN ECHOLS : Phoenix Recap
The weekend started off well with our first test session. The team worked in the off season to improve the handling of the boat. After two laps I was sure that the improvements worked. After I brought the boat back to the pits, the crew found a problem with the oil pump and our mood quickly changed. Then the race was on as we scrambled to get the engines swapped before the crane left for the day. The team worked together like a well oiled machine and they got a new engine in the boat in no time
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Saturday went well and we won both of our heats. Our back-up engine was made up of spare parts that we had around the shop so we didn’t really know what to expect. After we checked the boat over at the end of the day, we were relieved to find everything in the boat was perfect for Sunday.
Sunday was the day that we had all been waiting for, the boat still had untapped speed and everything was good to go. Our first heat was great. The boat ran fantastic and we had plenty of power left if we needed it. The crew gave the boat one last check over and we were ready for the final. On the warm up lap, all of the boats stayed side by side. As we were making our way down the straightaway for the start, I could see some big waves in turn one. The race course is very narrow and I didn’t want to move out and risk not leaving the other boats room. I decided to go through the rough water and try to make it through. As soon as the boat hit the deep swells, the bow went under water and I could feel the boat spinning. As soon as I could see through the windshield, I tried to restart the engine. Rick was telling me on the radio,”try to re-fire!” After trying to restart for a minute, it was clear that our weekend was over. When we got back to the beach the team looked over the broken boat and decided how they were going to fix it in time for the next race. Jason decided he wanted to get the boat back right away so that the repairs could begin. He left the races shortly after they ended and made it home early Tuesday.
This past week the crew has been working feverishly to get the engines and the boat ready for Richland. We had to make a new canard wing and fix the Spar. We have some other cosmetic damage also. If any group of guys can get it fixed in time, it’s our team. We’ll see you in Richland!
- Dustin Echols, Driver
4.21.08 - News Update
April 25-27 is Trafficade presents Unlimited Lights at Firebird Lake, Chandler, AZ (outside of Pheonix). The G-17 will be running under the sponsorship name of Checker Auto Parts a partner company of Schucks Auto Supply. Shockwave Racing will also be handing out 100 free t-shirts to fans at each of the race sites all year.
We tested last weekend at Moses Lake and won 2 out of 4 heats, the boat ran very well under the new engine combination for the G Class. Our best lap speed was 115.6 mph.
2.11.08 - Photos Added
The photo gallery has been updated with pictures of the crew busy at the shop on Saturday Feb 2nd building another gantry crane and checking one of the engines out. Gantry crane built by rudy.smith@capitalindustrialinc.com
1.27.08 - 2008 Season News
Shockwave Racing (17) is pleased to announce that we are joining the NACCS (G boat) class for 2008. Our team decided to make the change when an additional engine package (468 c.i. supercharged engines at 120%) was adopted by the ULHRA Board of Directors.
We would like to recognize and THANK our dedicated crew who have been with us since 2003, without them our team could not have built a new boat and rebuilt another one 3 times in 3 years, sometimes owners and drivers receive all the recognition and the crews are left in the shadows so fans do not realize how much work and dedication they put into a team.
Ed Preston Ed has worked very hard building our new hull with Ron Jones Jr at CLS and also rebuilding our former hull 3 times. He is a hull specialist with years of experience in composites and fiberglass and does all the gearbox changes at the race sites. |
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Jason Crawley Jason is the team truck driver driving the transporter and boat to all the race sites across the country. Jason also works for Ron Jones Jr and was one of the key builders of the new 17 hull, at the race site he is in charge of all propeller duties. |
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Earl Smith Earl is our Fuel System Specialist, he has been involved in drag boat racing for years and is very knowledgeable with all the latest fuel and injection technology. |
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Bill Thompson Bill is our communications expert, he is charge of all aspects of radio communications. |
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Larry Linn Larry is the team marketing representative. Larry has an extensive history in the world of finance and marketing, he also helps in all aspects as needed at the race site. |
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See you in Phoenix (April 25th-27th),
- Rick & Shawn Bridgeman
1.08.08 - Photos Added
Photos from Port Angeles, the November Dino Test, and Firebird Lake, AR have been added to the photo gallery.
1.2.08 - 2007 SEASON RECAP - Dustin Echols
2007 started off with the team working around the clock just to get the boat ready to race. We had a lot of problems to overcome but with the help of a ton of people, we made the first race. We were only able to get the boat on the water For Sunday of Desert thunder but we accomplished everything thing we could have hoped for. The brand new Ron Jones Jr hull finished every heat and we had a good base line on what we needed to make this a winning hull.
The second race of the season was Tastin’ and Racin’ in Issaquah. The team made some changes and we noticed a big improvement. The boat handled flawlessly and the engine ran great. We missed the set up on our gear ratio and had some bad calls by some officials but still finished well. I won the “Wyatt’s Watch” award for the best start of the weekend and the boat turned some impressive lap times.
The third race was in Valleyfield Quebec. This was a very hard course for me to learn to drive. With very rough water and the tightest corners I have ever seen, this was a challenge. The team hit the boat set up perfect the first time. The engine was running great and our fastest testing time was as fast as the GP boats. We ran well all weekend and made it into the final. We were set up perfectly for the start but two boats right in front of me took my lane. I chock this one up to a lesson learned and won’t let it happen again. We finished the final but were disappointed because the boat should have finished much better than it did.
Seattle Seafair was a chance for the team to run in front of our home crowd. The boat was running well but we had some major handling problems. I talked with the crew about what I was feeling and they made the changes that they thought would fix the problems. Every change they made put our boat closer to where it needed to be. We made the final and the boat was handling great. The final ran nine boats and it was almost a survival race. We finished fourth and noticed some more things we could change to make the boat faster in the future.
Silverdale was the fifth race of the series and we were excited. The boat qualified third fastest and everything looked great. Going into the final turn before the start, the boat on our outside cut across three lanes washing me and another boat down. The water that was sucked into the engine destroyed the engine and we were done for the day. The team worked well into the night putting the back up engine in the boat. The next day we were in the third heat and the boat ran great. We had an oil leak and I had to shut the boat down before the finish so we weren’t able to make the final.
Port Angeles was the final race of the regular season and we were hoping that we finally had all of our problems sorted out. We qualified second fastest and knew what changes we needed to make to run faster. We made the changes but unfortunately had another oil leak and I shut the boat down. Due to bad weather the race was cut short and we didn’t have a chance to make the final.
Phoenix was an exhibition for the series but we looked at it as a test session to make sure we are ready for next year. We ran some of the fastest laps of the weekend and this was the fastest the boat has ever gone. The team is confident that our new boat problems are behind us and we are ready for 2008. We have one of the most experienced teams on the circuit and the best boat. We have learned a lot from this past season and will use that knowledge to be the very best next year.
- Dustin Echols, Driver
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