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SEATTLE (July 18, 2006) -- Phil Burkart knows how to make a splash. Driving yet another in the long line of "special edition" Funny Cars produced by Checker, Schuck's, Kragen and Worsham Racing, Burkart will wheel a new Chevron Techron Monte Carlo this weekend in Seattle, at the newly named Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals. Representing one of his major associate backers, at a race sponsored by his team's primary marketing partner, should give Burkart all the notoriety he could want, though he's the first to admit he won't be needing any additional motivation.
Burkart will pilot the Techron Chevy at both Seattle and Sonoma, and is excited to put the car on public display this weekend at Pacific Raceways. While doing so, he'd also like to give his fellow Funny Car competitors a good look at the tail lights and parachute packs on his new ride, as he pulls away from them near the finish line.
"The people at Chevron have been huge supporters of our program for many years, and all of us have always appreciated everything they've done for our team," Burkart said. "As the guy who gets to drive so many of these special edition cars, I'm honored to put the Techron name and this great new design on the track. I don't think I have to spell out what would be the greatest way to celebrate this design, and our many years of association. It has to do with winning rounds and celebrating on Sunday.
"The fact that he Seattle race is now the Schuck's Nationals makes it all the better. As a group, our two Checker, Schuck's, Kragen teams have done well in Phoenix at the CSK Nationals, so we were all excited to see CSK pick up the title sponsorship of the Seattle race. If we do as well in Washington as we've done in Arizona, we may start lobbying CSK to sponsor more events."
Racing this weekend in a city known as a home for many "high tech" corporations, ranging from Boeing to Microsoft, Burkart's "high Techron" car has come to fruition in a decidedly more personal way. No product of computerized imaging, the new Techron body was actually conceived by 16-year old Danny Rubin, the son of CSK executive Paul Rubin. A budding artist and a longtime fan of Team CSK, Danny had drawn numerous Funny Car creations for the walls in his father's office (or possibly the door on the family refrigerator,) when his knack for innovative designs finally caught the eye of CSK's Chris Bowen, who has been responsible for most of the team's great special edition cars over the years. Bowen put out the challenge, allowing Danny to put ink to paper for a new Techron design, and the results are likely to impress fans from coast to coast.
"Danny has been such a big fan, and he's really creative, so I thought it would be great to give him a shot at this," Bowen said. "He nailed it. This car is going to look great on the track, while it will also pop off the TV screen. That's one of the great challenges of car design, to make it look good in person and on television. Danny should be proud of his work, because this is a great looking car."
Burkart's sole goal this weekend will be to take this Danny Rubin creation and make it a blur. Running a series of laps over 300 mph, streaking to the finish line out in front of the competition, might make it tough for the fans in the stands to get a good look at the Techron Monte Carlo, but by doing just that Burkart could guarantee them a close-up look at the end of the weekend.
"We've had some ups and downs this year, but our car has been showing us signs of a resurgence lately," Burkart said. "Believe me, we analyze every ounce of data, in increments down to tens of thousandths of a second. We know the results are black-and-white, because you either win or lose, but after every run (co-crew chiefs) Marc Denner and Chris Cunningham dissect every possible piece of information, and we build from that. We see the car coming around in some areas we've been working on, and we all think we're about ready to bust loose.
"If we can keep qualifying well, we're going to break through on Sunday one of these weeks. Winning rounds is always good, and winning races is the ultimate high, but doing well in the Techron car, at the Schuck's Nationals, would be pretty epic. Hopefully, we'll be going too fast to let the Seattle fans see too much during the race, but the car sits still in the Winner's Circle. I'd love for everyone to get a close-up view of it there. Everyone on this team would love that."
BURKART GOES "HIGH TECHRON" IN SEATTLE
SEATTLE (July 18, 2006) -- Phil Burkart knows how to make a splash. Driving yet another in the long line of "special edition" Funny Cars produced by Checker, Schuck's, Kragen and Worsham Racing, Burkart will wheel a new Chevron Techron Monte Carlo this weekend in Seattle, at the newly named Schuck's Auto Supply Nationals. Representing one of his major associate backers, at a race sponsored by his team's primary marketing partner, should give Burkart all the notoriety he could want, though he's the first to admit he won't be needing any additional motivation.
Burkart will pilot the Techron Chevy at both Seattle and Sonoma, and is excited to put the car on public display this weekend at Pacific Raceways. While doing so, he'd also like to give his fellow Funny Car competitors a good look at the tail lights and parachute packs on his new ride, as he pulls away from them near the finish line.
"The people at Chevron have been huge supporters of our program for many years, and all of us have always appreciated everything they've done for our team," Burkart said. "As the guy who gets to drive so many of these special edition cars, I'm honored to put the Techron name and this great new design on the track. I don't think I have to spell out what would be the greatest way to celebrate this design, and our many years of association. It has to do with winning rounds and celebrating on Sunday.
"The fact that he Seattle race is now the Schuck's Nationals makes it all the better. As a group, our two Checker, Schuck's, Kragen teams have done well in Phoenix at the CSK Nationals, so we were all excited to see CSK pick up the title sponsorship of the Seattle race. If we do as well in Washington as we've done in Arizona, we may start lobbying CSK to sponsor more events."
Racing this weekend in a city known as a home for many "high tech" corporations, ranging from Boeing to Microsoft, Burkart's "high Techron" car has come to fruition in a decidedly more personal way. No product of computerized imaging, the new Techron body was actually conceived by 16-year old Danny Rubin, the son of CSK executive Paul Rubin. A budding artist and a longtime fan of Team CSK, Danny had drawn numerous Funny Car creations for the walls in his father's office (or possibly the door on the family refrigerator,) when his knack for innovative designs finally caught the eye of CSK's Chris Bowen, who has been responsible for most of the team's great special edition cars over the years. Bowen put out the challenge, allowing Danny to put ink to paper for a new Techron design, and the results are likely to impress fans from coast to coast.
"Danny has been such a big fan, and he's really creative, so I thought it would be great to give him a shot at this," Bowen said. "He nailed it. This car is going to look great on the track, while it will also pop off the TV screen. That's one of the great challenges of car design, to make it look good in person and on television. Danny should be proud of his work, because this is a great looking car."
Burkart's sole goal this weekend will be to take this Danny Rubin creation and make it a blur. Running a series of laps over 300 mph, streaking to the finish line out in front of the competition, might make it tough for the fans in the stands to get a good look at the Techron Monte Carlo, but by doing just that Burkart could guarantee them a close-up look at the end of the weekend.
"We've had some ups and downs this year, but our car has been showing us signs of a resurgence lately," Burkart said. "Believe me, we analyze every ounce of data, in increments down to tens of thousandths of a second. We know the results are black-and-white, because you either win or lose, but after every run (co-crew chiefs) Marc Denner and Chris Cunningham dissect every possible piece of information, and we build from that. We see the car coming around in some areas we've been working on, and we all think we're about ready to bust loose.
"If we can keep qualifying well, we're going to break through on Sunday one of these weeks. Winning rounds is always good, and winning races is the ultimate high, but doing well in the Techron car, at the Schuck's Nationals, would be pretty epic. Hopefully, we'll be going too fast to let the Seattle fans see too much during the race, but the car sits still in the Winner's Circle. I'd love for everyone to get a close-up view of it there. Everyone on this team would love that."
