Dubbin Motorsports and driver Kirk Wolf continued their push to build late‑season momentum and resolve lingering performance issues at the NHRA Brainerd Nationals, held this past weekend at Brainerd International Raceway. With two solid qualifying passes and a competitive showing in eliminations, the DMP Awnings / Kentex Roofing‑backed team demonstrated forward progress as they work toward the consistently quicker runs that have eluded them throughout 2026.
Wolf opened qualifying with immediate tire smoke, placing the team near the bottom of the ladder after Q1. The group rebounded sharply in the second session, posting a 5.435 at 267.75 mph to climb to 11th. In the final qualifier, Wolf delivered his best pass of the weekend – a crisp 5.37 at 270.0 mph – landing Wolf and the team in the No. 12 spot heading into Saturday afternoon eliminations.
“We’ve been working hard to get the car responding the way we know it can,” said Wolf. “We have had to start from scratch and work hard to get better every run, and the Q3 run showed we’re headed in the right direction.”
In round one of eliminations, Wolf lined up against No. 5 qualifier Mitch Kalitta, the son of two‑time Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta, who was making his national‑event debut in a Randy Meyer Racing A/Fuel dragster. The pair left nearly together – Kalitta cutting a .044 light to Wolf’s .056 – but the Meyer‑tuned machine quickly pulled ahead to post a winning 5.228 at 276.41 mph, holding off Wolf’s 5.373 at 263.56 mph to end Dubbin Motorsports’ Brainerd weekend.
The round‑one ET and speed closely mirrored the Q3 numbers, which was both discouraging and revealing for the team. While the expected performance still wasn’t there, the data made the limiting issue unmistakably clear, giving the team a definitive answer as to what is holding the car back.
“We learned a lot this weekend,” said Wolf. “We finally pinpointed the issue in the clutch. This problem has been an issue all year, and we found it. The data from the Indy test and the runs this weekend made the problem in the clutch very clear to us. I’m really looking forward to Michigan in a few weeks.”
Team owner Dean Dubbin had a similar view after the round one defeat.
“This car has been frustrating all year, and I think we finally found the problem in the clutch,” said Dubbin. “For a while now, the harder we leaned on the clutch to develop plate load, the worse the car would drive through the clutch. The car has been doing exactly the opposite of what we were telling it to do. After the three runs this weekend, I believe we have figured out what the problem is, so I agree with Kirk, Michigan should be fun.”
Looking ahead, Dubbin is confident the team will be ready for the Great Lakes Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
“We’re in a good place right now with everything we learned at the Indy test and the race this weekend,” said Dubbin. “The weather should start to get cooler by the time we get to Michigan. US 131 is about 700 feet in elevation, so if the weather is right, we may see sea-level type conditions, and if this car behaves the way we know it can, we should be in the mix with the fast cars.”
