By Josh Holt
8/25/2010
It was the 50th Annual Knoxville Nationals just a couple weeks ago at the famed ½ mile of Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. It is an event amongst none other in the ranks of Sprint Car Racing and Grand Forks, North Dakota native, Mark Dobmeier was there yet another year in hopes of improving his best finish of 9th in the “B” on Saturday’s evening of Main Events.
“We ended up in the ‘C’”, says the disappointed driver of the Senske and Son Right Choice Electric #13, “We have some very successful runs at Knoxville this year and years past, but we got off to a bad start with a poor qualifying run. On the qualifying night, we won the heat which put us in the back of the main for that night…We raced hard up to 15th.”
Because of the weather, the “C” Scrambles were cancelled, not allowing Dobmeier to advance his starting position, but “Dynamite” took his 11th place finish in the C-Main as a week of some bad luck and unfortunate disappointments. “You really have to be ready for the Nationals,” explains the veteran, “We have had success here, but everything wasn’t clicking like it needs to here at the Nationals. We’ll learn from this as we do every race, and we’ll be back next year stronger than ever.”
Following the week of the Nationals, the Lunstra/Dobmeier Motorsports crew took a night off this past Friday and missed the opening day of the double-header at Nodak Speedway in Minot, North Dakota, but returned for Saturday’s event to race with the World of Outlaws.
Qualifying 13th quick with a 14.156 out of the 33 teams that entered was how the night began for Mark in the Senske & Son Right Choice Electric #13. He then started on the pole in the heat, in which he stayed ahead of Outlaw regulars, Jason Sides, Jac Haudenschild and Ben Gregg throughout the 10 lap heat to win his first Outlaw heat race of the season.
Starting 8th in the dash, Dobmeier moved up two spots and finished right behind the #11 of Steve Kinser at 6th.
“We were feeling pretty good going into the main,” says Mark. “The crew has been doing a fantastic job, the car was fast and we were more prepared than ever.”
Dobmeier started on the outside of the third row for the start of the main event, and stayed around the top five as the rubber began coming down on the speedway. By the end of 30 laps, Dobmeier moved up one spot to cap off the evening with a very impressive fifth place finish.
Sunday night was back to Huset’s and night got off to a great start as Dobmeier made Quick Time and came from the back to the front in the heat race. He started ninth in the main event and made his way up to third about half-way through, until he and Jody Rosenboom got together on the back straightaway, flattening his right rear tire. From the back of the pack following the restart, Mark raced his way up to third once again, finishing out the night with a podium finish.
Up next for the Grand Forks native will be Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND, followed by Knoxville Raceway on Saturday and then Sunday at Huset’s in Brandon, SD.
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.
Follow Dobmeier on Twitter! www.twitter.com/dobmeierracing
SIGN UP FOR THE PRESS RELEASES!
While you are at www.markdobmeier.com, don’t forget to swing by the contact page and sign yourself up for the weekly press releases!
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.