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After Chance Meeting, Dulabhan-McDonald Connection Hope Stars Align for Allen Turner PLM Season

By Chuck Corder

A gas station isn’t high on the list of places to purchase serendipity.

But a few steps away from the bags of chips and honey-roasted peanuts, with a lottery ticket in hand, Bryce Dulabhan scratched off his destiny and scored himself a ride.

That didn’t think to be a problem at the end of 2013.

The 18-year-old Fairhope, Ala., native captured the Sunoco Gulf Coast Pro Late Model championship between Five Flags Speedway and Mobile International Speedway, and finished a single point shy of the Allen Turner PLM title last year in Pensacola.

But because of some private family issues surrounding his old No. 28, Dulabhan will climb aboard a PLM in which he has zero seat time when the 2014 season kicks off Friday night at Pensacola’s high banks with a 100 lapper.

Modifieds, Super Stocks and Sportsmen all begin their respective seasons with 25-lap features Friday while the Bombers will run 20 when the gates open at 4 p.m.

“I never been without a ride, ever in my life,� he said. “Racing is all I know. This whole situation has been a strain on the whole family. But they’re better things to come.�

Even in line at a gas station.

Three weeks ago, Five Flags hosted a preseason practice. Dulabhan didn’t drive that day, but he did stop by the famed half-mile asphalt oval.

On his way home, less than a mile from the track on Pine Forest Road, he stopped at a BP and purchased a lottery ticket.

Little did Dulabhan known that the T-shirt he had on would be the ticket to the next stage of his career.

“I’m not sure I would’ve known who he was until I had seen his shirt,� said 60-year-old Ron McDonald, who has been a Five Flags fixture since the late 1980s. “It had his car and name on it. We got to talking and he told me he had lost his ride. I told him to call me and I’d see about getting him in one of my cars.�

Seven. That’s the number of late models — four pros, three supers — McDonald has in his stable.

In fact, when a stranger tracked him down for a few minutes Tuesday, McDonald was purchasing a Super Stock with visions of running it Friday.

What is perfectly clear is McDonald’s vision for Dulabhan.

“I took a liking to him right off the bat,� McDonald said of Dulabhan. “He’s got all this talent and it was terrible he didn’t have a ride.�

Now, though, he does. Dulabhan will drive the No. 4, formerly owned by Eddie Craig and driven last year by Jeremy Pate.

“I’m thankful to Mr. Ron that he’d want to do this,� Dulabhan said. “It’s on us to make it happen.�

Friendly rivals last year, Pate and Dulabhan ran door-to-door for most of the season.

Pate has moved up to the Blizzard Series and will drive one of McDonald’s SLMs, and also will help with Dulabhan’s setup.

“Ron has invested a lotta time and money in the sport over the years,� Pate said. “We can be a really competitive team with all of our resources pooled together.

“I was very impressed with (Dulabhan) last year,� he continued. “He’s got the desire, and he’s out there working at it. You have to put in your time at the shop, and that hasn’t be problem with Bryce. In fact, he’s wearing me out to spend time with the cars.�

The time and effort seems to already be paying off. Dulabhan’s first round in a McDonald-owned car came last week at the Rattler 125.

In McDonald’s old No. 92, Dulabhan started dead last in a 25-car field and climbed through half the field and finished 14th.

“That told me right there we made the right decision,� McDonald said. “(Dulabhan) is a phenomenon. I’d never seen it before. I’ve been doing it since 1988, and I couldn’t do what he did in that car.�

Dulabhan knows it might take awhile for the team’s chemistry to come together.

But, driven by his God-given gifts and, perhaps, a chip on his shoulder after a three-month offseason that stretched forever, Dulabhan hopes fate shines on him just like it did in the gas station checkout line a few weeks ago.

You don’t want to miss it. Admission is as follows: $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, students and military; $5 for children, ages 6 to 11; free for kids 5-under.

“We want to bust off that first win in the very first 100 lapper of the year,� Dulabhan said. “I hope to make a team outta this and learn a lot. I wanna win it.�

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