Kirk Wolf delivered another strong qualifying performance for Dubbin Motorsports, securing the 6th position in the Top Alcohol Dragster field at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. The 4-wide eliminations ended swiftly for the team as the car lost traction almost immediately in the first round.
As It Happened:
The Dubbin team showed consistency throughout three qualifying sessions, with only one throwaway run in the opening round. The team steadily worked through the 5.30s in Q2 and Q3 before capping off qualifying with a solid 5.298-second pass at 269.56 mph on Saturday—setting the stage for what looked to be another strong weekend.
But less than a second into the first round of eliminations, any hope of victory evaporated in a cloud of tire smoke just off the starting line. In a scene reminiscent of the 2024 race, the team had set the car up for a safe lap under tricky track conditions. Yet once again, traction issues struck early, leaving the exact cause uncertain.
“We took a bunch out of it anticipating these conditions,” said team owner Dean Dubbin. “The car was set up soft, similar to the 2nd and 3rd sessions, where we got down nice and safe. But we didn’t take enough out, and we just overpowered the track. This track bit us the same way last year, I’m not sure it likes us very much. We won’t dwell on it, we’ll learn from it and move on to Norwalk — we love that track. It will be a good race to get this team back in a winning groove.”
Driver Kirk Wolf had similar thoughts. “I’m frustrated, and the whole team is frustrated with the way the season has started. This car is making fast laps, so we aren’t going to panic because of a bad run,” he said. “This team is much better than we’ve had the chance to show this season. We are a team with a lot of experience. We will regroup and go make some strong runs at Norwalk in a few weeks. We know that track well, it has been very good to us, and we have a lot of confidence going there.”
By the Numbers:
Q1: Lane 3: Kirk Wolf Runs 23.515 @31.30 mph– Smoked the tires at the hit — #14 Qualifier
Q2: Lane 2: Kirk Wolf Runs 5.307 @268.28 mph — Clean and Straight – moves up to #5 Qualifier
Q3: Lane 1: Kirk Wolf Runs 5.354 @268.81 mph — A Little Soft early, but good – drops to #6 Qualifier
Q4: Lane 4: Kirk Wolf Runs 5.298 @269.56mph — Much better through the middle – stays at #6 Qualifier
Round 1:
L1 Jackie Fricke (WIN) .073 5.262 280.08
L2 Kelly Kundratic (RU) .245 5.572 262.90 mph
L3 Tom Fox Jr. (4TH) NT-No Show
L4 Kirk Wolf (3RD) .054 12.765 57.84 mph
(Wolf – not in the top 2 – and does not advance)
Next Up:
The Dubbin Motorsports Team, with Kirk Wolf at the wheel, will be at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, OH., June 26th – 29th, for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
This story was originally published on April 30, 2025. 
