The Return of Rolex. No, the Return of Ron Swearingen

By Brian Losness

Many of us knew the name Rolex Ronnie Swearingen, who first came into the spotlight with C. K. Spurlock and his son KC in first the Purolator nitro funny car winning their first-ever race at the 1990 Winternationals.

Swearingen and Spurlock campaigned the Fruit of the Loom funny car teaming up with Bob Vandergriff in the Fruit of the Loom dragster.

“The Spurlocks are in the music business and they only had one way of doing things and that is wide open, and I let myself get sucked into that lifestyle as well,” said Swearingen.

One could gather from this that it was life as a rock star. The pair of Spurlock and Swearingen had a great deal of success on the NHRA trail until sponsor issues put a halt to the program.

After that Ronnie spent some time in Europe tuning fuel cars and working on other ventures.

For the past nine years Ronnie has been working as the head car tech for Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School.  However life does take some interesting turns and that is what has happened with Swearingen. 

“Just had to make some very tough decisions, some lifestyle changes,’ he says, “and I knew that I had to change the way I was doing things in my personal life.”

By making this decision to tackle his issues something else came to light. “I did not know just how many friends I did have and how many supported me and changing my lifestyle and to try to get positive again.” 

Then fate stepped in and Dan Horan called saying he needed some help with his nostalgia nitro funny car. This was the perfect opportunity for Swearingen to start making the step back into the world of fuel car racing and tuning again.

So far Swearingen has made his presence felt with the Horan camp as the car has once again become consistent and predictable (as predictable as a fuel car can be).

Unfortunately, Horan lost in first round at the March Meet.  But it is just one of many steps on the road back.

Car owner Dan Horan is happy with the opportunity to work with Swearingen.

“We are truly blessed to have Ron in our company and tuning this car,” he said. “This car has responded and Ron is just so meticulous with every little detail, and so detail-oriented that we are blessed to have him here.”

Swearingen is dealing with his issues in a professional and proper manner, and is focusing himself on staying positive and working hard for Horan and the team. His goal is to be back in the Big Show and be a part of a successful team, although he admits things have changed in the time he has been away. 

“It has gotten so specialized that you can’t have just one guy be the crew chief you need a team of specialized people, and I just want to be on a team again.”

Swearingen seems to be very genuine in his approach to dealing with the change in lifestyle and rejuvenating his career. He has a great support system from both new and old friends and we look forward to seeing Ronnie make those changes and fulfill his dreams of making back to the show again. He is trying to put “Rolex” Ronnie away and get back to being regular old Ron Swearingen, fuel car crew chief.

>> Click here to return to the March Meet Funny Car Story.