Michael Dokken | |||||||
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Dokken in 1996
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Born |
Clearwater, Florida, United States |
June 4, 1971 ||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
3 races run over 1 year | |||||||
Best finish | 100th (2001) | ||||||
First race | 2001 (Pikes Peak) | ||||||
Last race | 2001 Little Trees 300 (Charlotte) | ||||||
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
74 races run over 8 years | |||||||
Best finish | 20th (1996) | ||||||
First race | 1995 Western Auto 200 (I-70) | ||||||
Last race | 2003 Ram Tough 200 (Gateway) | ||||||
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Michael Dokken (born June 4, 1971 in Clearwater, Florida) is a retired American racing driver, and a former competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Dokken first achieved notice in 1990, when he won the first race he ever competed in at New Smyrna Speedway. He made his NASCAR Truck Series debut in 1995 at I-70, driving his own No. 64 Chevrolet he started the race in 25th and only completed 120 laps before his engine expired and finished 21st. Dokken made six other starts in 1995, his best finish being 15th at Flemington. His best start was third at Phoenix.
In 1996, Dokken competed in 20 of the 24 races. He started off by running 13th in points after Tucson, where he scored his first career top-10 of 9th, before missing several races. He earned a 7th in one of his last races for his team at Nashville Speedway USA, and then split the last part of the schedule with MB Motorsports, and Kurt Roehig.
In 1997, Dokken signed to drive Roehig's No. 18 Dana Holding Corporation Dodge Ram for the full season. At Tucson, Dokken won his first career pole, becoming the series' youngest pole winner until Kurt Busch in 2000, and led 95 of 200 laps, before late race problems relegated Dokken to 13th. Later on, Dokken would earn a 3rd at Evergreen Speedway and 5th at Nazareth. However, mechanical problems plagued the team, falling out of multiple races, and the team only ran one of the last thirteen races due to limited funding.
Dokken skipped 1998, but returned for five races in 1999, splitting races between three teams. He DNF'd in every start however, with his best finish being a 27th place showing at Las Vegas.