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<\/p>\nDubbin Motorsports and driver Kirk Wolf will make their first start at US 131 Motorsports Park this week, at the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals, Sept. 18-20 in Martin, Michigan. The event opens the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs for Mission Food Series competitors and marks the first NHRA national event held in Michigan in 66 years.<\/p>\n
The DMP Awnings \/ Kentex Roofing\u2011backed team arrives in Michigan following a productive Brainerd weekend, where Wolf qualified 12th after three steady qualifying sessions before falling to Mitch Kalitta in round one of eliminations during Kalitta\u2019s NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster National Event debut.<\/p>\n
Team owner Dean Dubbin says Brainerd delivered the data the team needed to address a persistent issue in the clutch\u2011can \u2013 one that has plagued the program throughout the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a good race in Brainerd,\u201d Dubbin said. \u201cWe\u2019re slowly correcting the problems that have plagued this car for almost a year. We finally have the data we need to get the car back where it needs to be to be competitive again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car is becoming more stable and predictable, which lets us focus on performance instead of just trying to make it repeat,\u201d added Dubbin. \u201cConsistency doesn\u2019t help you if it isn\u2019t paired with performance. With what we found in Brainerd, we expect to be more competitive this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team has also worked through a restructuring of crew roles in recent weeks, with personnel settling into new and expanded responsibilities heading into the Michigan race.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now we\u2019re doing the same amount of work with fewer people, but it seems to be working,\u201d Dubbin said. \u201cIt\u2019s always nice to have more hands on the car, but we\u2019re making it work with the good people we have. It\u2019s a solid group. We\u2019re working hard and having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dubbin is also tracking conditions for race day, eager to come out of the trailer with a strong showing early in qualifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been watching the weather closely, and I want the right combination for Q1 so we have the best chance of getting solidly into the show,\u201d said Dubbin. \u201cOnce we\u2019re comfortably in, that\u2019s when we can start leaning on it \u2013 making more power and getting the car to react more aggressively earlier in the run to give Kirk the best chance of turning on win lights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolf is just as eager to get to Michigan, hungry to finally put the clutch issues that have plagued the team for more than a year in the rear\u2011view mirror and get back to the business of winning rounds and winning races.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the Brainerd race we learned a lot,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a tough year chasing an issue we could never quite pin down, and it\u2019s been frustrating for everyone. But we believe we\u2019ve finally found and fixed the problem in the clutch. US 131 is a huge race for us, and we\u2019re going into it with a lot of confidence. When we make that first pass, we\u2019ll know for sure whether the clutch problems are truly behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always excited to run in cool conditions,\u201d Wolf continued. \u201cWe have a car that really responds well to the weather forecast for the weekend. If the track is in good shape and our clutch issues are truly behind us, I believe we can run near the top of the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooler fall conditions typically work in favor of the Dubbin Motorsports A\/Fuel dragster, and the team will make its first lap at US 131 Motorsports Park early Friday at approximately 10:30 a.m., with Q2 later Friday afternoon around 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
The unofficial event schedule features two qualifying sessions on Friday and one on Saturday, ahead of eliminations beginning Saturday afternoon and continuing through Sunday. All sessions and eliminations will stream live on NHRA.tv.<\/p>\n
Dubbin Motorsports also debuted its second Top Alcohol Dragster entry \u2013 the hybrid \u201cFunster\u201d \u2013 at Brainerd, with Dubbin himself behind the wheel. Issues in the drive unit kept the car from making a competition pass, but Dubbin says the program is already planning additional testing later in the year, weather and travel permitting.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have been anxious to see more of the \u2018Funster.\u2019 We had planned on going to Brainerd\u2019s last bracket race to get a few hits, but I will be out of town now, so we will have to travel somewhere to do some testing,\u201d Dubbin said. \u201cMaybe we can get that done before the end of the year, but we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story was originally published on September 14, 2026. <\/p>\n
The post Dubbin Motorsports, Kirk Wolf Head To Michigan Looking For Breakthrough Weekend At NHRA Great Lakes Nationals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dubbin Motorsports and driver Kirk Wolf will make their first start at US 131 Motorsports Park this week, at the Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals, Sept. 18-20 in Martin, Michigan. The event opens the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs for Mission Food Series competitors and marks the first NHRA national event held in Michigan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}