NORWALK, Ohio - It wasn't the exactly the weekend Pro Stock Motorcycle rookie Dawn Minturn had planned when the NHRA Full Throttle tour visited her "home track" last weekend at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Friday turned out to be a complete washout, and the weather cost her more than just two laps down the track. Minturn said the shortened schedule kept her from her first national event field.
"We knew that we had our work cut out for us when we lost Friday because of the rain," Minturn said. "We ran a 7.12 right off the trailer and grabbed the bump spot after the first qualifier. We knew we had the tune up, but we had a brand new tire on the bike, so, it spun a little.
"We went out on the second pass ready to solidify our spot in the field, but when I rolled out of my burnout, there was a little puddle of water that we didn't know about it and it got on my back tire. When I launched it spun and fishtailed really badly, and it really affected my ET, so I got bumped out."
"I was disappointed because it was my home track and I really wanted to qualify and do well for my sponsors, but I'm not disappointed in my driving or my crew chief or his tuning because we just keep getting better and better," Minturn said.
"We're definitely going to be in the field this year, it just didn't happen this weekend. I think if we had those extra two passes it would have been a lot different," she said.
"Aside from the rain, it was a great weekend for our new sponsor, Schiets Motorsports of Freemont - a local motorcycle dealership. A lot of fans stopped by our pits and told us they had bought their bikes from Schiets. We have the best fans in the world, and the value and reach of marketing in professional drag racing is huge," she added.
Along with Schiets, Minturn carried the banner of her other faithful sponsors, Avitae Caffeinated Water, Mordarski Law Offices and Bully Dog Performance. Next up for the Columbus-based team is the NHRA U.S. Nationals Aug. 31 - Sept. 5.
"We knew that we had our work cut out for us when we lost Friday because of the rain," Minturn said. "We ran a 7.12 right off the trailer and grabbed the bump spot after the first qualifier. We knew we had the tune up, but we had a brand new tire on the bike, so, it spun a little.
"We went out on the second pass ready to solidify our spot in the field, but when I rolled out of my burnout, there was a little puddle of water that we didn't know about it and it got on my back tire. When I launched it spun and fishtailed really badly, and it really affected my ET, so I got bumped out."
"I was disappointed because it was my home track and I really wanted to qualify and do well for my sponsors, but I'm not disappointed in my driving or my crew chief or his tuning because we just keep getting better and better," Minturn said.
"We're definitely going to be in the field this year, it just didn't happen this weekend. I think if we had those extra two passes it would have been a lot different," she said.
"Aside from the rain, it was a great weekend for our new sponsor, Schiets Motorsports of Freemont - a local motorcycle dealership. A lot of fans stopped by our pits and told us they had bought their bikes from Schiets. We have the best fans in the world, and the value and reach of marketing in professional drag racing is huge," she added.
Along with Schiets, Minturn carried the banner of her other faithful sponsors, Avitae Caffeinated Water, Mordarski Law Offices and Bully Dog Performance. Next up for the Columbus-based team is the NHRA U.S. Nationals Aug. 31 - Sept. 5.
