Mark Dobmeier 5/11/09.)
With the cancellation of River Cities Speedway this past Friday, it was time for the Knoxville Regular Season opener for the Lunstra/Dobmeier Motorsports Team. 41 cars entered this IRA vs. Knoxville Challenge including the #13 and Mark knew that qualifying was key. He started out the night qualifying with a 15.750 just .52 seconds off the leader which set him up on the outside pole for the second heat race. At the start of the heat, Dynamite Dobmeier took the Senske & Son J&J right to the front and led the race flag to flag to take the win. With his earlier qualifying efforts, Dobmeier started on the inside of the 7th row for the IRA vs. Knoxville Challenge Main Event and raced his way inside the top ten to finish 9th for the evening. “We didn’t get as far up as we would have liked,” explains the veteran racer, “We kind of out-guessed ourselves on the set-up and the car really didn’t come on until late in the race. I am always happy with a top ten, but I would have been a lot happier with a top five.”
After the Knoxville contest, it was off to the “Home of the Professionals” of Huset’s Speedway. The Lunstra/Dobmeier Motorsports J&J qualified 9th quick on this fast high-banked 3/8ths which set him up to start on the outside of row number one in the heat race. On the drop of the green flag, Dobmeier nailed the throttle to take the lead early and led all ten laps to take his second heat race victory of the season. Starting 4th in the main event, Dobmeier jumped to second early on but on lap 15, a caution flag was thrown due to a blown tire from the # 16 of Jake Peters. Mark took full advantage of this restart and grabbed the lead from veteran driver Gregg Bakker at the drop of the green and led until a spin caused another caution to make an exciting green-white-checkered to the finish. World of Outlaw Sprint Racer, Terry McCarl, was right on the tail of the Senske & Son J&J, but as soon as the green flag threw, Dobmeier was gone. The track was rough and certainly had some obstacles, but the Lunstra/Dobmeier #13 capitalized and took their first win of the season. “I knew the number 24 (Terry McCarl) was right behind me on that last restart, but I knew if I could keep the car free going into turn 1 we would be okay,” explains Mark, “The car was really fast all night tonight, I can’t thank the guys’ enough for giving me the car they did. I am very happy I was able to put it in victory lane and now we have our first win of the season and that hopefully sets the pace for us here in the 2009 season.”
Next up for the Lunstra/Dobmeier #13 will be the season opener at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks followed by Knoxville Raceway on the 16th and capping off the weekend with Huset’s Speedway. Follow Mark and the team through his website, www.markdobmeier.com Special thanks to Senske & Son Transfer, Delta Oil, Dekalb Seed, Dahlstrom Motors, Big Trucks by Jimco, Forx Radiator, Dammer Brothers Livestock Transportation, Anderson Brothers Body Shop, K & N Air Filters, Forks Mobile Wash, Awesome Racewear, Rite Spot Liquor, X-treme Polishing, the Disabled American Veterans and Driver Websites.com.
- Josh Holt on May 11, 2009
- Article Date: 5/11/2009