2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes Winner Stephanie Dunn Ready for the Open Road
- Jul 14, 2010
For 2010, K&N announced that the K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes would continue and this year not only would eight lucky finalists be swept off to Norwalk, Ohio for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, but the one lucky fan who had been paired with the Challenge winning Pro Stock driver would be driving their very own 2010 Harley-Davidson Street Bob Motorcycle. The eight lucky finalists arrived for the event and were paired at random with a Pro Stock driver as follows: Frank A. Santos (Q1 - Mike Edwards), Alan Rickert (Fan Pick Q8 - Warren Johnson), James L. Hasch (Q5 - Jeg Coughlin), Charles R. Burgoon (Q6 - Ron Krisher), Joe Soucek (Q7 - Roger Brogdon), Geoffrey B. Dana (Q3 - Allen Johnson), Robert A. Foos (Q4 - Jason Line) and the only lady in the competition Stephanie J. Dunn (Q2 - Greg Anderson). Stephanie wasn't the one who first found out about the K&N HPC Sweepstakes. "Actually it was my husband, Curt," she admitted. "He saw the contest in a magazine he was reading and said 'oh you have to enter this contest right now', so I ran down and got on the computer and entered." While Stephanie's husband Curt drag raced many years ago, she herself had never seen a drag race let alone ever attended an event. That was all about to change for the Northeast Ohio resident, when a FedEx envelope arrived announcing that she had been selected as one of the eight finalists. "I couldn't believe it," she said of receiving the notice from K&N. "I was like what, are you serious? I told my mom and step-dad and they didn't seem to believe it and said well you're definitely not going to win the Harley." "The whole experience was just awesome," she continued. "The folks from K&N treated us all like royalty the entire weekend. It was so exciting. I may not have ever seen a drag race before, but I am certainly a fan now." Once the finalists had been paired with their driver, Dunn noted that Frank Santos who had been paired with Mike Edwards, was feeling quite good about his chances of winning the Harley. "Whenever we were waiting for the cars to run in the shootout, Frank would tell me he wasn't a bit worried since Edwards has been running pretty good, I think we've got this one in the bag," she laughed. Dunn was paired with number two seed and previous K&N Challenge winner, Greg Anderson and he reflects on meeting the eight finalists, including Dunn and Santos. "Before we started first round of the challenge, we all met the lucky people who had the chance to win the Harley. I met my girl Stephanie there, and she's all excited. Then I meet this guy who is representing Mike Edwards and this guy is just smiling ear-to-ear," he pauses. "I mean he knows he's got her in the bag. That he's going to be the one that will be driving that Harley home at the end of the day." "I already wanted to apologize to my girl," Anderson laughed. "I mean she got me, she drew the short straw." As luck would have it, it came down to number one Edwards and number two Anderson for all the glory and cash in the final round of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, with their respective paired finalists, Santos and Dunn. Unlike the previous rounds of the competition, for the final round, the finalists were not at the starting line, but taken to the top end of the track where they could watch the race and greet there driver as soon as the rounded the corner, hopefully to congratulate them and begin the victory celebration. "I was pretty nervous," Dunn said of her state of mind before the final. "Frank was cool as a cucumber. We waited what seemed like forever for our race to come up and we were going to watch on the monitor that ESPN set up for us. There were so many cars before our race and I don't know, I must have missed ours because I looked at one of the other guys down there with us, I don't know, it could have even been my husband, it was all so much and they said he won." It took a moment for it to sink in that Anderson had won the Challenge over Edwards which meant she had won the 2010 Harley-Davidson Street Bob Motorcycle in the K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes. "I said 'what, my guy? He won?' I just stood there for a second and then it was all over," she giggled. "I started jumping up and down and then Greg came around and he was jumping up and down." "Greg was really sweet," she continued. "He said that he had been having a rough go lately and that I must have been his good luck charm." "The entire experience was unbelievable. The people at K&N are just wonderful people. We had so much fun and met some really nice people, including the others in the contest," she added. Dunn may not have previously been a fan of drag racing, but she and her family have been long time fans of K&N and all of their filter products. "My husband, Curt has been using K&N products for years from when he was in auto repair to even now that he works in aviation," she noted. "We know that K&N air filters not only increase fuel mileage and horsepower, but they are also environmentally friendly since you can reuse them for a very long time." Dunn doesn't currently have a motorcycle endorsement on her driver's license, but she assured that will change very soon. "My parents all ride. My dad and my step-dad both have Harleys and I will absolutely learn to ride it and get my license," she said. With the 2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge and Sweepstakes in the books, the excitement has already started to build for the 2011 edition. Keep watching www.knfilters.com for weekly qualifying updates and how your favorites NHRA Pro Stock driver is doing and all the latest news on how you can enter for a chance to take part in the next K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
