(Photo: SR Driven Media)
The Dubbin Motorsports Team had a good weekend in Charlotte. When you look at the numbers and the way the team performed in every round, it was close to being a “great” weekend in Charlotte.
If you Drag Race long enough you will have stories about race weekends where nothing was going right and you were still holding the trophy at the end of the weekend. You will also have stories about weekends where things were rolling along nicely, the car was running well, you were driving well, and in the end all you had was heartbreak.
Kirk Wolf and the Dubbin Motorsports team had one of those.
The car was fast, Kirk Wolf was driving well, the crew was flawless in the pits, and the weather and track weren’t changing. It appeared that everything was in place for the team to contend for the win.
As It Happened
The Dubbin Motorsports dragster seemed poised to have a great weekend. In the opening qualifying session, Kirk Wolf took the Dubbin Motorsports A/Fuel Dragster to the number one spot. Then proceeded to string together an impressive set of runs in the low 5.20s throughout the other qualifying sessions to land in the number four qualifying position.
Round one was business as usual for Wolf and the Kentex – DMP Awnings sponsored team. A solid reaction time with the car driving right down the middle of the groove for another 5.22 – 277 mph pass to lead the quad to the finish line and close out a great Saturday of racing for the Dubbin team.
On Sunday the team’s confidence was high for the semi-final round, as the weather and the track seemed to be similar to the previous two days of competition. The four teams in the “Quad” were tough and had been running well all weekend. Wolf with a stellar .038 reaction to the green light would lead all cars early in the run, but would start to experience tire shake which forced him to slap the throttle to get the car to recover. Wolf would rebound to make a respectable run, but it wasn’t enough to finish in the top two and advance to the final round.
A weekend that started with the car consistently running ahead of most of the field had ended with everyone on the team searching for the cause. Tire shake (or chop) that far into a run is not something the Dubbin Team has encountered in 2024. Normally the Copeland Dragster will run to the finish line without issues after making it that far down track, but this time it didn’t, and there is a good chance the team may never find the reason.
By the Numbers
Q1: Lane 2: Kirk Wolf Runs 5.225 @ 277.72 mph — #1 Qualifier
Q2: Lane 3: Kirk Wolf Runs 16.198 @ 54.28 mph — Loose early – abandons the run – stays #1 Qualifier
Q3: Lane 4: Kirk Wolf Runs 5.215 @ 279.38 mph — Nice clean straight run but drops to #3 Qualifier
Q4: Lane 1: Kirk Wolf Runs 5.248 @ 276.97 mph — Another clean & Fast run but drops to #4 Qualifier
Round 1:
L1 Sarah Allen (RU) .084 5.345 269.19
L2 Madison Payne (4TH) .080 9.888 81.49
L3 Mike Lewis (3RD) .057 9.375 83.53
L4 Kirk Wolf (WIN) .087 5.229 277.49
Round 2:
L1 Kirk Wolf (4TH) .038 5.589 271.08
L2 Sarah Allen (3RD) .137 5.477 254.04
L3 Hunter Green (WIN) .042 5.292 270.64
L4 Megan Smith (RU) .038 5.330 281.71
Quotes:
Dean Dubbin:
“We are really disappointed. We had a great car and Kirk was driving a great race. In the semi-finals we went to the line confident we could repeat the 5.22s we had been running all weekend. The air was about the same and the track had been consistent all weekend. The car left great and looked strong early, but then began to chop the tire loose a long way out there and Kirk had to peddle it. He lost a lot of momentum and couldn’t recover in time to stay in the top two and advance to the finals.”
“The car had been so good and then that happened, it was a shock to all of us because we hadn’t changed a thing.”
“I’m so proud of everyone on this team, we had a fast and consistent car this weekend. It was strong every round and it did everything we asked it to do. We will take all the good things that we learned and move on to Norwalk in June – We can’t wait, we love that track!”
Kirk Wolf:
“I felt really good in the car and it had performed great all weekend. In the semi-finals, the car left great and l was shocked when I felt the car shake that far down track. I gave it a quick slap of the pedal, but just didn’t have enough to run the others down in time. It was definitely a heartbreaker because we had a great race car.”
“Everyone did a fantastic job all weekend. This was our first time at Charlotte and from the first qualifying session I was confident we could compete for the win.”
“We will head to Norwalk with a lot of confidence and see if we can’t repeat our win from last year.”
Next Up:
The Dubbin Motorsports Team, with Kirk Wolf at the wheel, will be at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, OH., June 27th – 30th, for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
Motorsports Media | Dubbin Motorsports | Photos: SR Driven Media
