NHRA News: Cannon corrals Cerny as crew chief (12/08/2000)

Cannon corrals Cerny as crew chief

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
12/08/2000

"I was thinking, 'What's the best I can do from here?' The best I could do just happened. I hired Wes Cerny."
-- Scotty Cannon

Funny Car wildman Scotty Cannon has signed crew chief Wes Cerny to a multi-year deal to tune his powerful Oakley flopper. As a result of the agreement, which was made just after Thanksgiving, Cerny and Cannon will join forces immediately as preparation for the 2001 season progresses.

"It would be hard to get more excited than I am right now," Cannon said. "I've had my eye on Wes Cerny for a long time. Ever since he worked at KB (Keith Black Racing Engines), and we have always run KB blocks, I've always liked the way he's handled himself.

"He would have been my choice a long time ago but he's always been working for someone else and I don't like stealing people. I remember when I was at Pomona in my very first race a couple years ago, he came up to me at the starting line and shook my hand and welcomed me to the NHRA. No other crew chief did that. He said his door was always open and that if I needed anything to stop on by. I thought he was an awfully nice guy to do that."

A winning history
The 52-year-old Cerny grew up near Chicago before moving to Southern California in the mid-1960s. He first rose to drag racing prominence in the early 1970s as part of the Walton-Cerny-Moody Top Fuel dragster driven by Don Moody. He then concentrated on engine development as manager of Keith Black's engine shop, where he worked for 14 years.

The thrill of the racetrack called again in 1991 when Cerny became crew chief of Roland Lelong's Hawaiian Punch Funny Car driven by Jim White. Cerny tuned the car to four national event wins, including a victory at the U.S. Nationals, and set five national speed records.

Cerny's tuning prowess eventually led to stints with legendary drivers Kenny Bernstein and Don "the Snake" Prudhomme before he landed his most recent job with Joe Gibbs' organization in 1998. While working for Gibbs, Cerny tuned the Funny Car of Cruz Pedregon and Tommy Johnson Jr., and, in 2000, the Top Fuel dragster of Cory McClenathan. He collected numerous national event wins and elapsed time records along the way and was even named the Parts America Mechanic of the Year in 1998.

Cannon wasted no time
"As soon as that last team he was on folded up I called Wes to see what his plans were," Cannon said. "I heard that he was going to retire but the first thing he said was he wanted to win a championship and join a team that had a chance of doing it real quick. I told him if he came over here I'd give him anything he needed. Then I called my sponsor and it didn't take more than a minute to convince them that Wes was the man we needed.

"This is a multi-year deal and I hope it lasts forever. Wes isn't too bigheaded like some crew chiefs. He just wants to win and one of the first things he said was that he wants input from me. I appreciate that a lot.

"I went from 11th place to sixth this year basically by myself. I was thinking, 'What's the best I can do from here?' Because, to be honest, I just don't have the experience. The best I could do, the very best I could do, just happened. I hired Wes Cerny."

Current Cannon assistant crew chief Phil Schuler will remain in that capacity under Cerny. The two men have already spent several hours strategizing their next moves. Cannon says the hiring of Cerny also has reopened his desire to field a second Oakley car.

Two-car team an option again
"Having two cars is a real possibility again," Cannon said. "We're already talking about it and Wes already has someone in mind that we're going to hire to run the second team. It might not come around until 2002 but once that happens we'll be one badass team. I get excited just thinking about it.

"This will be our best year ever. I can spend all my time with the fans, which is what I love to do and what I'm good at, and I can also take care of my sponsors the right way.

"People have called me and said, 'Scotty Cannon and Wes Cerny? Ain't that right backwards?' But you know what? They said that about me and my girlfriend a long time ago and we've been together for six years."

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