Mark locked himself into the Knoxville Nationals championship (Chuck Stowe Images)
(Bill W) August 16, 2017 – Mark Dobmeier and the Jimco Racing/Polaris #13 turned in a strong Knoxville Nationals performance. After nearly winning the prelim on Thursday, the Grand Forks, North Dakota native would checker 12th in Saturday’s championship event. This Friday night, he’ll take on the World of Outlaws at his hometown River Cities Speedway before heading to Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota on Saturday, where he leads the point race.
Mark would qualify on Thursday at the Nationals. “It all comes down to the qualifying night, and the pill draw is a big part of it,” he says. “We drew a big one, so we were on the back row (30th in line). The team kept positive, even though we were watching the track slow down. We made some last-minute changes and tightened the car up. We ran the top of one and two, and the bottom of three and four. We ended up fifteenth quick out of over 50 cars there, so we felt satisfied with that.”
He started sixth in his heat race, with the top four moving on to the preliminary feature. “It was a hell of a heat race,” says Mark. “We were able to get moving right away. We drove up to third, and we felt really solid with that. Everything has been working for us this year.”
The invert in the main event put Mark on the pole. He would take off and lead most of the way. “I felt we had an excellent car,” he says. “At the end of the day, I felt the driver left a little bit out there towards the end of the race. I felt like in open air, no one was going to catch us. I knew lapped cars were going to be the key, and as I was catching them, I was a little too patient.”
He was caught behind a lapper, when David Gravel reeled him in. “I was waiting to gain on them and throw a slider,” says Mark. “Gravel showed me there was actually more moisture than I thought on the bottom. He went by me like I was standing still. There was one time I thought I’d get back by him in traffic, but he showed he had a strong car. I felt we’d run second at that point, but we were the first car to push off for the feature, and we had a bunch of yellows early. The last five laps the car was stumbling and running out of fuel. We were lucky to hold onto third at that point. I changed my line and made the track as short as I could, but if there was a late yellow, we would have been toast.”
It was good enough for Mark to lock the team into the 13th starting spot for Saturday night. “Thirteenth was kind of a good number for us you know!” he says. “We felt really positive going into the A main on Saturday night. We felt we had a good car, and my goal was to get it up into the top five. We felt we could do that if everything went right. It didn’t go as planned and we settled into twelfth place.”
The team was still happy with their showing. “At the end of the day, we were o.k. with that,” says Mark. “That’s the best of the best. It was a very strong showing for our team. I feel we’ve really upped our game this year on our big track program. I think that really showed at the Knoxville Nationals.”
Mark is just as excited for the WoO visit to Grand Forks this Friday. “The Outlaw show at River Cities is big for us,” he says. “Honestly, I think we look forward to this more than the Knoxville Nationals. You want to beat the Outlaws in our home town.”
About Polaris…
Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) is a global powersports leader with annual 2015 sales of $4.7 billion. Polaris fuels the passion of riders, workers, and outdoor enthusiasts with our RANGER®, RZR® and POLARIS GENERAL™ side-by-side off-road vehicles; our SPORTSMAN® and POLARIS ACE® all-terrain off-road vehicles; VICTORY® and INDIAN MOTORCYCLE® midsize and heavyweight motorcycles; SLINGSHOT® moto-roadsters; and Polaris RMK®, INDY®, SWITCHBACK®, and RUSH® snowmobiles. Polaris enhances the riding experience with parts, garments, and accessories sold under multiple recognizable brands, and has a growing presence in adjacent markets globally with products including military and commercial off-road vehicles, quadricycles, and electric vehicles. www.polaris.com
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Jimco Motorsports would like to thank Polaris, Senske & Son Transfer, Big Trucks by Jimco, Right Choice Electric, Acme Tools, Interstate Towing & Recovery, Kyllo Trucking, B/L Strong Box, Steffes, Dahlstrom Motors, GLB Transport, Forx Radiator, Anderson Auto Body, Gary Gruhot Farms, Willow Ridge, Rose Creek, Herberg Custom Harvesting, Great Plains Plumbing & Heating, DAV, Ron Gatheridge, Boss Signs & Graphics and Dobmeier Bonding for all their help!
Photo: Mark locked himself into the Knoxville Nationals championship (Chuck Stowe Images)
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