5/25/2010
Mark Dobmeier – One of those weekends…
“This was just one of those frustrating weekends,” explains the Grand Forks, ND native Mark Dobmeier. “We were running good and had a real strong car all weekend, but little things can go a long way on making a frustrating weekend.”
It all started this past Friday at River Cities Speedway in the veteran drivers’ home town of Grand Forks.
Mark started at the tail end of the field in the heat race and raced his Senske & Son Right Choice Electric #13 to the front of the pack, winning his third heat race of the season.
Starting on the inside of row number 5 for the beginning of the 25 lap main event, Mark knew it was going to be tough to move forward having the track as dry slick as it was.
“I really enjoy racetracks that give you a groove on the top and the bottom with a little slick in the middle,” explains Dobmeier. “It gives the drivers a chance to move around and play with the different lines. Every track has a bad track night from time to time...so, we did what we knew what to do and moved forward!”
The track was a dry from top to bottom, not allowing for much besides a lane on the bottom of the racetrack, but Dobmeier was able to race up through the field, passing 6 cars and finishing on the bottom of the podium at third.
Following the podium finish at the home track of River Cities Speedway, it was off to Knoxville Raceway, one of the most famous ½ miles in Sprint Car racing.
The night started out pretty decent, qualifying with a 15.945, 13th on the board and then in the heat race Dobmeier ran second to Sammy Swindell.
The feature, on the other hand, ended in quite disappointment. Dobmeier started on the inside of row number six at 11th and raced hard up to fourth throughout the 25 lap contest, but coming out of turn four on the last lap, the rear tire blew which slowed the Senske and Son Right Choice Electric #13 just enough to get passed and put to fifth as he raced across the line for the end of the feature.
But, according to the rules at Knoxville Raceway, instead of Dobmeier finishing 5th which was where he crossed the line at the time the checkered flag flew, the officials scored him at 13th, at the tail end of the lead lap. This was a rule that no one in the Lunstra/Dobmeier team knew of.
“It is disappointing,” says Mark. “We had some great point nights started here and we have had a first and a second with two other nights ending in a disappointing tire failure. Then we were scored at 13th tonight where we all thought we would have a top five.”
Next up was Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, SD, in which Dobmeier has many wins and championships at. He qualified at 6th and went from third to first in the heat and crossed the checkered about a straightaway ahead of second.
The track was “gut slick,” according to Dobmeier, and for the feature starting on the outside of the second row, he thought he would try to get around some cars going high, but ended in a 2 car drop of position sending the Senske and Son Right Choice Electric #13 back to sixth. Dobmeier stayed in line on the one-groove, on-the-bottom racing surface and finished the night at sixth.
“We had a strong car all weekend,” explains Mark. “It was a frustrating one in that we spend all of this time of making good cars and motors, then we can’t use it. But, we’ll be ready for the next week and we’ll take what we learned from this weekend and bring it to next.”
Next up for Dobmeier will be the Friday – Saturday – Sunday run of River Cities, Knoxville, and Huset’s Speedway starting this Friday, the 28th of May.
[i FAST FACTS ON DOBMEIER:]
Mark graduated from The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business in which he then put the degree to work as he currently has a business in his hometown called Forx Radiator where he specializes in radiator repair and other vehicle service work.
Mark will be racing River Cities Speedway, Knoxville Raceway and Huset’s Speedway weekly throughout the 2010 season with as many close World of Outlaw, IRA and other NOSA events to fill in the gaps of the schedule.
[i LUNSTRA/DOBMEIER MOTORSPORTS TEAM WEBSITE:]
Be sure to follow the team through the team website www.markdobmeier.com. Latest results, news and photo updates will be updated regularly.
Be sure to also follow Mark on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dobmeierracing
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[i SPECIAL THANKS TO:]
Senske & Son Transfer, Right Choice Electric, Big Trucks by Jimco, Dekalb Seed, Dahlstrom Motors, Forx Radiator, Delta Oil , Dammer Brothers Livestock Transportation, Anderson Brothers Body Shop, Fragola Hoses, Willow Ridge, Rose Creek Tavern, Forks Mobile Wash, Awesome Racewear, Rite Spot Liquor, X-treme Polishing, the Disabled American Veterans and Driver Websites.com.
