| SONOMA, CA (July 19, 2026) — Rising star Dylan Winefsky rolled into Sonoma Raceway with his Nitro Moose Funny Car team looking to continue to develop as a professional driver. The up-and-coming driver from El Mirage, Arizona, made his first appearance at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals and through four qualifying passes he found himself just on the outside of the 16-Funny Car qualified field. This was Winefsky’s third NHRA national event of the 2026 season and the first time he would not be competing on race day. For a team that does not compete every race the race-to-race challenges are real. “This weekend we learned that it’s hard to go from real tough conditions to extremely phenomenal conditions without having any type of data to go back and look at,” said Winefsky. “We were starting from square one this weekend. We got behind the eight ball on Q1 and just fell off from there. I said in all the interviews the week before the race if you get behind the eight ball, you’ll never get caught up.” The Nitro Moose Funny Car team and driver Dylan Winefsky made the most of their four qualifying runs, photo credit SR Driven MediaThe Nitro Moose Funny Car team and the rest of the Funny Car field had two qualifying runs on Friday and in the first session Winefsky’s team had a mechanical issue that robbed him of valuable horsepower. In the second run of Friday night, recognized as the biggest opportunity for teams to run low elapsed times, new issues impacted the success of the team. “In Q1 we went out, had some pan pressure early in the run, that that got us behind the eight ball,” said Winefsky. “In Q2 we had clutch issues, and then Q3 and Q4, we just we kept detuning it and detuning it, but it just made it more violent. The good news is now we have more data, and we know next time what we have to do.” While Winefsky didn’t improve on the two Saturday qualifying runs, the memory of the Friday night qualifying session was not lost on the young driver. A sellout crowd packed the Sonoma Raceway grandstands all weekend, but Friday night was especially exciting. “To be honest with you, I think that was one of the largest crowds we have raced in front of,” said Winefsky. “When you roll up before they start it and you look around. It’s pretty cool. There are a lot of people, but as soon as they say they’re going to start it, all that just goes away. As a driver you have one job to focus on, and that’s getting down the track. Everything else just goes away at that point.” Dylan Winefsky will leave Sonoma Raceway with valuable experience and data for future runs, photo credit SR Driven MediaEven without runs on race day Winefsky made significant improvements as a driver. He has now made over a dozen runs this season and with every trip down the track he feels more comfortable and more confident. The sponsor’s support has been a huge element for their success off the track. This weekend the Nitro Moose team was supported by Robert’s Car Care, Stith Printing, Bob Jackson Auto Body and Sterling Homes. “All these runs just give me more seat time,” said Winefsky. “Every run this weekend I learned something new because each run it went and it did something different. In Q4 I experienced a little bit of death wobble. I had never experienced that before, so now I have that under my belt and I know what to do and what not to do.” When a 12,000-horsepower Funny Car experiences death wobble the load on the front tires gets uneven and the front tire starts to shake and shimmy. A severe vibration moves from the front of the chassis all the way through the race car up through the steering column. Winefsky and the Nitro Moose Funny Car team will head back to their Arizona shop and prepare for the historic U.S. Nationals Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis. Fans interested in more information on Dylan Winefsky can follow his social media on Facebook and Instagram. Qualifying Results Q1: 4.445 sec, 196.93 mph; Qual. 11 Q2: 11.767 sec, 78.50 mph; Qual. 17 Q3: 8.910 sec, 101.79 mph; Qual. 18 Q4: 9.504 sec; 96.24 mph; Qual. 18 Bonus points: 0 |
