Fresh off a championship effort and years of consistent success with Dan Horan Jr., noted crew chief Ronnie Swearingen has been announced as the guy turning the screws on the California Hustler 1977 Firebird in 2015. This is big news for the team that has great parts and pieces and now has one of the most talented wrench-men in the pits. This addition to the team makes the California Hustler operation one of the leading contenders for the 2015 Heritage Series Championship. They’ll have some tough customers to deal with as the number of stout west coast nostalgia funny cars continues to swell, if at a slightly slower pace than it has in years past.
If nothing else, the fact that this is news lends credence to the idea that the nostalgia funny car movement has become a far more serious business in recent years than it ever has been in the past. Gone are the days of teams showing up just to mess around with a car for the fun of reliving their youth. Today’s world of nostalgia nitro funny car racing demands high level performances, near professional levels of knowledge in every aspect of the operation, and the kinds of money the founders of this movement railed against when they set about running funny cars like they did in the old days. We’re not saying that this is a bad thing but it sure is hardcore!
Nitro Crew Chief Ronnie Swearingen Joins Nelson Racing
Paso Robles, California, December 3, 2014 – – Don Nelson, owner of the California Hustler 1977 Pontiac Firebird nitro funny car, announced today that veteran crew chief Ronnie Swearingen has joined the team in their quest for the 2015 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Championship.
In making the announcement, Nelson said of Swearingen’s addition to the head tuner position, “I’ve gotten to know Ronnie over the past racing season, he’s a winner and that is the company we want to be in. He’s got a great history in the sport of professional drag racing as well as tuning the Championship winning funny car, I’m excited!”
Most recently, Swearingen was crew chief on Dan Horan’s Patriot Mustang nitro funny car, winning the 2014 NHRA Heritage Series Championship. The team won three events in the Championship season, racing to eight final rounds in eleven events since joining the team in 2010. He also tuned nitro funny cars for KC Spurlock in the 1990’s to multiple event wins, set NHRA national records there and tuned top fuel dragsters for Vandergriff Racing as well as a stint in European drag racing.
Second year California Hustler driver Robert Overholser finished third in 2014 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series points, said of the change, “I’m thrilled about Ronnie coming aboard, we get along really great. When I was a kid I watched him on TV, while he was tuning in the NHRA “Big Show”. I was after Ronnie all this year and thanks to Don Nelson, he is now my crew chief! He’s got some new ideas for us and has already made major changes to the car. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel and stand on the throttle!”
Wanting to remain in California, Swearingen has completed a move from Los Angeles to be near the team’s shop in Paso Robles, near the Central Coast. He’s already begun to make improvements and go over everything from the ground up, the cool Kenny Youngblood designed paint scheme on the Firebird’s carbon fiber body and the Victory Racecars chassis will remain the same.
The California Hustler team begins testing Swearingen’s new combination in February prior to the 57th Annual Good Vibrations March Meet on March 5 – 8 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield and has tentatively set a ten-race schedule for the 2015 season. They’ll finish the season in October at the 24th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion.
