By Bill W
June 17, 2014 – Mark Dobmeier and the Lunstra Racing #13 team will play host to the World of Outlaws at their home track, River Cities Speedway, this Friday night. On Saturday, they will face the WoO again, this time at the I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Sunday, the team hopes to get a show in at the Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota. The track has suffered five rainouts already this season.
Last week saw super-dry track conditions with the WoO at both Jackson Speedway in Minnesota on Friday, and at Knoxville on Saturday. “It was kind of a rough weekend all around,” says Mark. “It wasn’t that we weren’t running well, but circumstances with late draws and the way the tracks were dictated the nights. Qualifying late when a track is like that is tough.”
Mark timed in 23rd quick at Jackson. Fortunately, the car was working well in the heat, and he went from 8th to 4th. “Friday we were able to race out of it in the heat,” he says. “We were able to pass some good cars there. We were able to get in a transfer spot anyway.”
Despite a 45-minute session to rework the track, rubber was laid down almost immediately in the feature, lending to single-file action that saw Mark checker 21st. “We made an attempt to do some passing the first couple of laps, but the rubber was coming down right away,” he says. “The freight train was in effect and we got in line. It was a boring race to run, but that’s what the track gave us.”
Knoxville was uncharacteristically dry as well. A red flag period during qualifying also hurt the late timers. “We came out 36th out of the 48 cars and the track was way slowed down there too,” says Mark, who timed in 35th quick. “We were within a tenth of a second of (Donny) Schatz, (David) Gravel and (Brian) Brown. They were all coming out the same time we were, so we weren’t the only ones with a tough pill.”
Starting ninth in the heat and needing to finish in the top five, Mark would checker seventh before heading to the B. “We couldn’t make it out,” he says. “We moved up a couple of spots (in the heat), but it wasn’t enough. That put us back in the B, which goes back to qualifying. We made up a few spots there too (16th to 11th), but it wasn’t enough. It kind of stinks when you go that far with your time and money and the pill draw is that much of a factor. That’s part of the game.”
The team is excited about facing the WoO at River Cities Speedway on Friday, where Mark is the all-time leading feature winner. Though he has multiple wins against the Outlaws, none have come at his home track in Grand Forks. “We have a fresh motor in the car,” he says. “I have to thank Big Trucks by Jimco and Senske and Son Transfer. They’re providing us a fresh one for this weekend. We’ve had some motor issues and they are back being worked on, so those guys really stepped up for us this weekend.”
The team will travel just one and a half hours to Fergus Falls on Saturday, instead of ten to Knoxville. “We’re shooting for the Outlaws Friday and Saturday,” says Mark. “Of course, we love River Cities, and I’ve never been to the track down in Fergus Falls. We’re not really in the point race at Knoxville. We’ve kind of shot ourselves in the foot there, so we’ll try the Outlaws again Saturday…then Huset’s on Sunday.”
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!