(Photos: SR Driven Media)
As the 2023 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series enters its final races, the championships in both Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car have already been decided. But that doesn’t mean teams aren’t geared up and eager to hit The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the NHRA Nevada Nationals on Oct. 26-29.
Race Notes:
- This is the first visit to “The Strip” (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) for the DMP Awnings – KENTEX A/Fuel Dragster Team.
- Kirk Wolf is coming off his second final-round appearance of the season, scoring a win at Norwalk and a runner-up finish at Dallas just a week ago.
- Wolf, driving the Dean Dubbin owned A/Fuel Dragster set a new personal best ET and Speed of 5.168 Seconds and 278.10 mph at the Dallas race.
Last Time Out:
Just days before the Dallas Race, Chase Copeland, the team’s co-crew chief installed a new front half on the Dubbin Dragster after the wheel stand in Brainerd damaged the chassis. Clay and Chase Copeland, the tuning duo for the team, were pleased to see that the new front end did not slow the car down and did not affect the tuning or handling of the dragster in any way.
What To Expect:
“With the Championship already decided, look for teams to be trying new things and experimenting with their tune-ups”, explained Team Owner Dean Dubbin. “If the air is right in the morning or even later in the evening, this could produce some amazing runs, maybe even some track records in both ET and speed”.
The forecast for The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is very favorable for the Injected Nitromethane (A/Fuel) and the Supercharged Methanol combinations. This should produce track-record performances in a similar fashion to the competition witnessed at the Texas Motorplex a week ago. The cool and dry air found in Las Vegas this time of year can produce sea-level-type performances even though the starting line at “The Strip” sits two thousand feet above sea level
“Every time out this season the car has gotten better and we have performed better as a team, said Dubbin. We have no plans in changing any of that”.
“The drivers and cars in this class continue to get better every race”, continued Dubbin. “This weekend in Las Vegas will be no different. With the championship already decided, everyone will be loose and relaxed. This could produce even faster runs and better performances by the teams testing for next season. We will have to perform at our best to be in the final rounds on Sunday, and I’m confident we can do that”.
Kirk Wolf recalled the last time he raced at “The Strip”. “2017 was the last time I raced in Las Vegas, and I was driving Brandon Booher’s car. It was one of the very few Torque Converter Dragsters competing in Top Alcohol Dragster at that time. It was very unique and fast and we made it to the semi-finals where we lost to Joey Severance who seemed to own the Las Vegas race for almost a decade.
“The A/Fuel car is much different to drive but the DMP / KENTEX crew has this thing flying right now, and I’m looking forward to a great weekend of racing”, said Wolf.
Qualifying for the Top Alcohol Dragsters is set to get underway on Friday around 11 am and again at 5 pm. On Saturday the TADs are again on track for the third qualifying session around 10:30 am with round one of eliminations to follow later in the day scheduled for 5:30 pm. Final Eliminations are slated for early Sunday morning with the semi-finals and finals scheduled for later in the afternoon.
If you can’t be at the track you can follow all the action live on NHRA.tv
Dubbin Motorsports | Motorsports Media | Photos: SR Driven Media
