Grubnic is anxious to return to Topeka

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, May 19, 2006 by Rick Peterson

By Rick Peterson

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

NHRA Top Fuel driver Dave Grubnic is so fond of Topeka he showed up a week early.

A year ago in the O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, the Brisbane, Australia, native notched his first career victory, becoming the first Top Fuel winner not born in North America.

The 43-year-old Grubnic will return to Heartland Park to defend his crown next Friday through Sunday, but stopped in town Monday and Tuesday for a brief media tour.

Not surprisingly, Grubnic, who posted win No. 2 earlier this year at Gainesville, Fla., has fond memories of Topeka and Heartland Park.

"It's always had some great memories and to come here and win my first event was fantastic," Grubnic said. "And because I was the first non-North American to actually win a national event, the publicity we got from that was absolutely fantastic.

"The two or three weeks after that race I was still doing interviews for magazines and radio and so forth here in the United States and in Australia. It was a great win."

Adding emphasis to his Topeka win was the fact that it came after he had lost the first seven final-round appearances of his career.

"At one point there it was like 'man, how many finals do I need to go to to get a win?' " Grubnic said. "It does effect you when you start wondering 'when is this going to happen?'

"It was concerning, but to finally break through it was like every other final was running into a brick wall and to see that win light come on it was like watching bricks fly everywhere because we finally broke through."

Grubnic went on to finish a career-high fourth in points last season and is third this year, 202 points behind Melanie Troxel.

"We'd obviously like to win every race we go to but that's a pretty tall order and it's not very realistic so our goal is to stay in the hunt," Grubnic said. "We want to be right there in the top two or three and have a shot at this championship."

KAHNE VISITS KC - Joining Grubnic for a media appearance Tuesday in Kansas City was NASCAR star Kasey Kahne, who is eighth in Nextel Cup points with two wins and four top-five finishes in 11 starts.

In addition to his racing exploits, Kahne has gone showbiz of late. His television commercials for Allstate Insurance - a carload of women destroying everything in their path while trying to get a glimpse of Kahne - run seemingly non-stop, particularly on race weekends.

Does Kahne get tired of seeing himself on TV?

"You just kind of get used to it now and kind of laugh as it goes by or get up and walk away and let other people watch it," he said. "I don't have a problem with it at all.

"I think it's kind of neat and kind of cool, especially when you're working with Allstate. They did it first class and made it really fun."

THUNDERHILL SPEEDWAY - The Thundersprints will headline Saturday's events at Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta.

The Thundersprints will be joined by Superstocks, USRA Stock Cars, USRA Hobby Stocks and Pony Stocks.

Chad Meinholdt has won two of the three events in the Thundersprint division this season.

Twins Leif and Eric Weyer hold the top spots in the USRA Stock Car point standings, while Travis Tenpenny holds the point lead in the Superstock class.

Tim Patch has moved into the lead in the USRA Hobby Stock class while Marty Grist holds the top spot in Pony Stocks.

Gates open at 5 p.m., with hot laps at 7 and races starting at 7:30. General admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for children 7-13. Ages 6 and under are admitted free with a paid adult.

Rick Peterson can be reached

at (785) 295-1129

or rick.peterson@cjonline.com.