8/27/2014
Sprint Source
Mark Dobmeier - One Short of a Hat Trick!
Two wins highlighted the weekend for “Dynamite” Mark Dobmeier and the Lunstra/Dobmeier #13 team. The Grand Forks, North Dakota driver picked up victories at both the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on Saturday and the Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota on Sunday. A third win on Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks went away when Mark spun while leading. This week, the team heads to the Jackson Nationals at the Jackson Speedway in Minnesota, while Sunday will find them back at Huset’s.
Things started well at River Cities with a heat win. “They had track championship night, so they line us up by points,” says Mark. “We don’t run all the shows, so we started our heat fourth. We had an awesome car. We actually passed for the lead in the first corner, and I think we lapped up to third or so. It was one of those races where you’ve just nailed the setup.”
Admittedly, a bit of driver error cost Mark the win in the feature. “I took off in the lead and I had a nice one going,” he says. “There was a hole in the middle in three and four, and one coming out of four. There were two you had to avoid, and for some reason, I decided to drive right through them lap after lap. I was hitting them and making it through. One time it finally bit me, and I hit the hole in turn four and spun it out. We came from the back for sixth. We had a good car, I just overdrove it for the track conditions we had.”
At Knoxville on Saturday, the team timed in fifth quick and ran third in the heat (from fifth). “We had a good qualifying time for a change there,” says Mark. “We had a really strong car in the heat too.”
Mark would line up outside row two for the 25-lap feature. “(Brian) Brown jumped out to an early lead,” he says. “I was chasing him in hot pursuit. He drove away a little bit, but in the lapped cars, I was closing in pretty good. I think there were nineteen laps in when Bronson (Maeschen) ended up flipping. Brown went to the left and I went to the right. (Brown) ended up getting tangled up and knocked his front end out.”
Mark was fortunate to make it through the incident. The win at Knoxville was the 13th in his career there. “I actually drove over a front wing and an axle on the track,” he says. “Fortunately, we didn’t have any damage. (Terry) McCarl made a charge on the restart. I kind of knew he was going to do it in one and two, but I felt really comfortable on the top, and we were able to carry the momentum around there.”
The points battle at Huset’s Speedway has gone back and forth between Mark and McCarl all year. “We’ve been strong all year at Huset’s,” he says. “Most nights I think we’ve been the car to beat, but we’ve had a few tough nights. We had one where we were leading it and blew a motor, and another where we got tangled up. Other than that, we’ve been up front. That’s made the point race tight between Terry and me.”
The points yo-yo continued throughout Sunday night. “We didn’t qualify very well (13th quick), so we lost some points there,” says Mark. “He got tangled up in the heat, so he lost some there too. We both had to charge in the feature. We won from 11th and he came from 16th to finish third.”
The track was a challenge, but lent to a great race. “The track was a little bit different,” says Mark. “Early in the night, the straightaways were slick and the track had moisture getting into the corners. On exit, it was heavy too. After they bladed it, we were able to carry speed around the top. It was definitely a different night.”
It will be another busy weekend for the team. “Work will make our decision for us Friday, whether we go to Jackson or race at River Cities,” says Mark. “Saturday we’ll be in Jackson, and Sunday in Sioux Falls.”
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!
Article Credit: Bill Wright
