Ken Dobson Wins Shortened Race at Infineon Raceway

Sonoma, CA -- Ken Dobson won at the Infineon Raceway round of the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship on June 27, 2010. Dobson, who was driving the Cobb Tuning/FLI Mazdaspeed 3, took the early lead and won but it was not that easy. Pete Bovenberg, driving the MBO Racing Honda Civic, had a strategy to let Dobson go at the start in the hopes of Dobson's turbocharged four cylinder losing power on a very hot day. "We knew that the potent turbo engine in Dobson's car would probably run very hot and when they run hot, the computer brings down the power in order to save the motor. That's when I was going to make my move," said Bovenberg afterwards. The plan seemed to work as Bovenberg started going faster after a few laps and was making up time to Dobson. Unfortunately, a crash by one of the lapped cars brought out a lot of debris which was going to take a long time to clean up and the race ended early. That did not allow Bovenberg's plan to work and he had to settle for second place. Finishing a strong third place was Curt Simmons in the Stevens Creek Dodge SRT-4.

Larry Bani, driving the Orange County Internet Exchange BMW 325i, was the highest placing rookie in the race, earning him the Dupli Color Top Rookie Award.
Ron Valtierra won the Mothers Clean Car award and received a professional Mothers car care kit for having the cleanest car.
Ken Dobson won the Go Pro Hero award and won a Motorsports Hero camera for his outstanding drive to victory circle.
Larry Bani won the AEM award for a great performance in his brand new car.
Pete Bovenberg won the Stri Gauge Your Performance award for a good strategy and strong performance in the race. Bovenberg won a Stri boost gauge for his efforts.
Curt Simmons won the Team DI Impressive Drive award for a solid third place performance, earning him a Team DI helmet bag and balaclava.
Optima Batteries, the Ultimate Power Source, presented a special award to the top three finishers on the podium presenting each of them with a brand new Optima battery.
Ironclad gloves and Performance Wear presented each of the podium winners with a pair of Ironclad gloves.
Skyy Vodka helped with the celebrations at the podium.