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Mark Dobmeier – Back Row Challenges!

It was a weekend of “back row challenges” at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota for Mark Dobmeier. One was intentional, and one was not. A Friday charge from 24th to 6th with the World of Outlaws highlighted the weekend, with a second place at Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota capping things off. This weekend, the Lunstra/Dobmeier #13 team does their normal triumvirate of races for the last time beginning with River Cities on Friday, continuing at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on Saturday and concluding at Huset’s on Sunday.

The Outlaws were in the house at River Cities on Friday. Mark timed in a disappointing 24th quick, but made it through his heat by finishing fourth. “We struggled with qualifying and the heat,” he shares. “We had some motor issues. We had to change motors before the feature.”

Starting 24th, Mark roared to a sixth place finish. “We had a pretty good charge there,” he says. “It seems I’m the fan of a back row challenge. It probably wasn’t the night to do it with the Outlaws there. We had a great car. I wish we would have started tenth instead of 24th. I think things would have ended up a little different.”

On Saturday, a special program at River Cities did see Mark elect to take the Back Row Challenge after finishing second in his heat. “We were trying to iron out our motor issues,” he says. “We put the one back in that we started the Outlaws night with. We took a back row challenge for $3,000.”

The challenge didn’t last long. “We made it up to 14th in two laps,” says Mark. “I kind of got tangled up with some cars I was trying to pass, and I went for a ride off the end of the track. We wrecked some stuff. That’s the chance you take when you take that back row challenge. You have to pass everybody and you can get tangled up.”

On Sunday, Mark would time in third quick, and charge from fifth to second in his heat at Huset’s. “We were really strong in the heat race,” he says. “There was a pretty strong roster in the heat (including Ian Madsen, Dusty Zomer and Justin Henderson).”

He would start inside row two for the feature. “Terry McCarl had the front row,” says Mark. “The cushion was pretty good, but the bottom wasn’t there. You had to ride the cushion, and when you have Terry, or Henderson, or Zomer, or myself out front, they are pretty hard to catch.”

Mark closed in on the leader. “I was able to get to him,” he says. “I felt I was a little better, but I didn’t have a way around him. We got to lapped cars, and I got by him a few times. We swapped slide jobs a couple of times. It was good hard racing.”

The race was a good one for the Huset’s faithful, and Mark would checker second. “It seemed every time I finally got by him, the yellow or the red came out,” he says. “That was frustrating. He got a little lucky with the flags, and he was strong enough to hold me off at the end. We ended up second. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

The Lunstra/Dobmeier team would like to thank Senske and Son Transfer, Big Trucks by Jimco, Sioux Falls Ford, Steffe’s Auctioneers, Dammer Trucking, ACME Tool, Strong Box and Tire Boss for all their help!

Attached: Mark at Huset’s Speedway (Jeff Bylsma Photo)

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