8/26/2022
Bunker Hill Dragstrip
Denny Kobold's Special Win
Any racer that has spent time racing at Bunker Hill Dragstrip over the last 20 years, probably knows exactly who Top ET driver Denny Kobold is. Denny’s love of drag racing began at age 17 when he was cruising down Main Street in Elkhart. He attempted to race someone, without realizing a police officer was near. That night left him with a suspended license and a need for speed.
About 20 years ago, when he was working on a 69 Camaro for Nathan Webb, he took it to Bunker Hill Dragstrip for a test drive, and from that moment on, he knew he wanted to spend his weekends racing at the track.
It wasn’t long before Denny and his first wife Mary, who founded Denmar Automotive in Plymouth, IN, would consider Bunker Hill Dragstrip their second home. Mary took joy in doing anything that helped the track. She planted plants around the restaurant that to this day, still bloom every year. She would also help raise money for the track whenever she could. Once Mary organized a benefit race for Vern Cook, raising around $5000. She would also head up the track’s 50/50 drawing. Denny recalls her driving around with a golf cart full of kids selling tickets. In fact one of those kids is now grown, racing in the mod class, and engaged. Her name is Stephanie Burns and she recalls riding around with Mary, the same way Denny recalled Mary driving around with the kids. Bunker Hill was Mary’s playground, and she just loved spending her weekends at the track with Denny.
In 2018, Mary got sick. During this time, Denny spent most of his weekends at home with her. Every once and a while she would kick him out of the house and tell him to go race, but when he was there, his heart was always at home with her.
Sadly in February of 2019, the unimaginable happened, and Mary passed away. That spring, Denny started racing again. Though racing without her was difficult, it eventually became therapeutic. “I was racing in the big money brackets and taking time to heal. The Bunker Hill family had broken up and mostly had moved to another track with changes that were going on. I ran into a racer in Alabama that had raced at Bunker, that knew Mary. He made a comment to me that hit home. He said she would want you to keep racing.” Even though Bunker Hill didn’t feel like home the way it once did, those encouraging words led Denny to continue racing.
In Summer of 2019, Denny would meet a woman that would help him enjoy life again. He met Pat online, and their conversations eventually led to meeting in person. They have been together ever since.
“She has been extremely understanding and supportive of me healing. Pat is a God send.
She helped me enjoy life again.” Denny and Pat would eventually marry on August 20,2021.
It’s hard to believe that Pat didn’t know anything about drag racing prior to meeting Denny. He ultimately introduced her to it in Las Vegas, and she was hooked. She is with him every weekend and when you meet her, you can tell Denny isn’t the only love in her life. She loves racing too and she loves watching him do what he loves.
A week after Terry and Cori McMillen purchased Bunker Hill Dragstrip, Denny flagged them down as they were driving through the pit. With his supportive wife Pat by his side, he explained to the McMillen’s how much his late wife Mary loved Bunker Hill and the family atmosphere. He told them how Mary called this place her playground. It was then that in Mary’s memory, he gave the McMillens a donation to put towards the new playground they wanted to purchase. He said that Mary would have loved to watch the children play on a playground. There wasn’t a dry eye in that conversation, and though the McMillen’s were never fortunate enough to get to know Mary, when they left that conversation, they knew she was a special lady. They also knew the perfect place to put the playground, and that was near the restaurant and those plants that Mary planted so long ago.
On August 19th, 2022, Denny and Pat came out to Bunker Hill for a Test and Tune, like they would any other Friday night. There were 3 things that made this Friday different from the other Friday nights. One was that the track was hosting a gamblers race which Denny entered. Another thing that made this Friday different, was that this was the first day that the playground in Mary’s memory was open at the track. Lastly it was the eve of his one year anniversary with Pat, the woman who helped Denny enjoy life again.
In true story book fashion, you can probably imagine what happened next. For the first time in more years than Denny can remember, he parked his 1991 Camaro in the winners circle. On the day that Mary, his first love, was on all of our minds with the new playground, and the night before his anniversary with his second love Pat, he won the race.
For Denny the win was very gratifying. “I have been struggling with the performance of my car for most of the year. I need to thank Bruce Blake, John Johnson, John Nifong, Rex Amrbose and Shane Daugherty. This win was a team effort, from me asking questions, to someone helping with not only spare parts, but also under the hood. This is what Bunker Hill used to be and it’s great to see it coming back again.”
It’s no mistake this special win happened on the day it did. Pat was with Denny at the track. Mary was watching from above, and kids were lined up at the playground. Everyone was smiling and for Denny Kobold, Bunker Hill Dragstrip is finally starting to feel like home again.
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