Mark cut a few donuts in the Park Jefferson infield (Jeff Bylsma Photo)
(Bill W) July 13, 2015 – Mark Dobmeier and the Jimco Motorsports #13 team picked up their first career FVP National Sprint League win Friday night at the Park Jefferson International Speedway near Jefferson, South Dakota. The victory came in the Grand Forks, North Dakota driver’s first appearance at the 3/8-mile oval. A fourteenth place finish with the World of Outlaws at Cedar Lake Speedway near New Richmond, Wisconsin followed on Saturday night. This week, the team is planning on racing at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks on Friday and preparing for a busy NSL Speedweek that begins July 21.
Mark would time in ninth quick at Park Jefferson. “We were o.k. with it,” he says. “Obviously, we could have been a little better, but we seem to be getting our qualifying more polished as the year goes on.”
Fortunately, running third in his heat race gave him enough points to qualify for the Dash. “We had a nice battle with Lynton (Jeffrey) there, and he was able to hold us off,” says Mark of the heat. “The Dash is where it got really entertaining.”
With no B main, the NSL format called for a Dash, and Mark took full advantage, driving from sixth to second. “We were able to make a couple of moves early to get to third,” he says. “We were able to chase down (Danny) Lasoski and give him a slider in three and four. That got us to the front row for the feature.”
Mark settled into second in the feature. “It was a good race,” he says. “(Dusty) Zomer and I were on the front row. That first lap, was neck and neck, wheel to wheel. He was able to get the advantage on me. I hung with him for a while, but I got bottled up in lap cars and he was able to pull away a little bit.”
Sixteen laps in, Mark was battling with Lasoski in traffic, when the two came together, bringing out an inadvertent caution. “I was pushing the envelope on the cushion a little more and a little more,” he says. “I got to the point where I got the right rear over the track in turn four. Luckily, we were able to hold on. With the lapped cars, I knew someone was going to be coming soon. Coming out of four, I was a hair loose trying to get to the cushion. I got a little bit squirrelly and we ended up bumping.”
The caution put him on Zomer’s rear bumper and he made the winning pass with a slide job. “That gave me my second chance,” says Mark. “I was able to sneak by him on the bottom of one and two. We ended up getting out in clean air, and that feels like it adds about a hundred horsepower to the car.”
The first NSL win was a long time coming for the team. “We’ve had a lot of strong finishes this year, and I feel we should have had a couple more (wins),” says Mark. “We’ve got that first one out of the way, and hopefully, it gives us some momentum heading into Speedweek.”
Mark qualified tenth quick with the Outlaws at Cedar Lake on Saturday. He lined up beside Donny Schatz in the front row for the heat. “I got the jump on him,” he says. “I thought I might hold him off, but after about two laps, he drove by me like I was standing still. We stayed with him, but we were never in contention for the win.”
He would start tenth in the feature and checker fourteenth. “It didn’t go so well,” says Mark. “We had a few ideas that we wanted to try setup-wise. We figured we had nothing to lose, but we didn’t end up going anywhere with it. We used it as a test session and it didn’t work so well.”
Jimco Motorsports would like to thank Senske & Son Transfer, Big Trucks by Jimco, Right Choice Electric, Acme Tools, X-treme Polishing, Interstate Towing & Recovery, B/L Strong Box, Steffes, Dahlstrom Motors, GLB Transport, Tireboss, Forx Radiator, Anderson Auto Body, Gary Gruhot Farms, Willow Ridge, Rose Creek, Great Plains Plumbing & Heating, Ironman Welding, DAV, Rendezvous Region Construction, High Mark Snowmobile Rentals, Boss Signs & Graphics and Dobmeier Bonding for all their help!
Photo: Mark cut a few donuts in the Park Jefferson infield (Jeff Bylsma Photo)
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