Danielle Dobczyk arrived Saturday at Grundy County Speedway with a very different feeling.
She was the new points leader in the 4-cylinder division.
It was a first for the Minooka resident, who has been racing at the speedway since 2013.
No one had to tell her. She figured it out for herself.
“After last week I was kind of looking through the results,” Dobczyk said. “I was like, ‘Wait a second. I might have a shot at this.’ So I did some math, and it seemed like I was going to be on top.
“Then as soon as it came out, some of my friends sent it to me. It felt really good.”
Dobczyk has had third and fourth-place feature finishes among her early season highlights. She set fast qualifying time on May 14 for the second time in her career.
“This is a brand-new car and we didn’t know how well it would do,” Dobczyk said. “To have fast time only the third night out, we’re happy with it.”
Dobczyk, 26, works full time as an aircraft dispatcher. She was in line to become a pilot when her plans took a detour during her senior year at Southern Illinois.
“I was in the middle of my commercial pilot training when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes,” Dobczyk said. “I was instantly grounded, pilot license taken.”
Dobczyk switched gears and graduated with an aviation management degree.
“I can still fly recreationally for fun,” Dobczyk said. “The FAA is working on it. I have my application in to get back to flying.”
Dobczyk had a great start to her racing career, finishing third in points in the 4-cylinder class as a rookie. While at school, she stepped back to only racing occasionally.
“We sold the car my senior year so I could focus on flying,” Dobczyk said. “Two weeks later I was diagnosed. Right away, my dad called the guy we sold the car to try to get it back, but we ended up buying a new car.”
Dobczyk has finished in the top 10 for points the past two seasons. She has championship aims in 2021.
“I sure hope so,” Dobczyk said, laughing. “It has always been a big dream of mine to get a championship. That feeling would just be unbelievable. I’d just like to do it for my mom and dad who do so much for me.”
Wild ride: Mayhem ensued with two laps remaining in the street stock feature when Kolton Eckes blew a tire going into Turn 1.
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Running in close quarters, Eckes and Michael Gerike collided. Gerike’s No. 8 car became airborne and smashed heavily sideways into the wall.
The damage to Gerike’s car was massive. Neither driver was injured.
“I didn’t even realize I was going over until I looked down and saw the racetrack,” Gerike said. “I was like, ‘Uh-oh. This might not end well.’ In all the years of derbies and 4-cylinders and crashfests, this was the first time I’ve been this close to being upside down.”
Hanging tough: Kristi Odom earned $500 for winning the special 20-lap 4-cylinder feature event. She had touring 4-cylinder and enduro standout Ryan Lagestee on her bumper most of the way.
“He was knocking on my back door,” Odom said. “I was like, ‘Hold on buddy. I’m trying, I’m trying.’ I think he was a smidge faster than me. It was fun.”
Breakthrough: After two second-place finishes, Ricky Baker left no doubt in the 30-lap late model feature, beating Eddie Hoffman by 1.226 seconds.
“Finally,” Baker said, smiling. “I kept working on the car all night. It was so bad I didn’t know what to do. After the heat, I looked at the right rear tire and it had a bunch of chunks missing. I wish Shafer was here, so we could have beat him.”
Three-time winner Paul Shafer Jr. was at Jefferson Speedway in Wisconsin, competing in an ARCA Midwest Tour event.
Blake Brown was a runaway winner in the Mid-American feature, beating Aaron Shelton by 3.087 seconds. Randy Weese won for the third straight week in the street stocks. After the race, a $200 bounty was announced for the June 4 feature.