Mark and the Jimco Racing/Polaris #13 team celebrate their Jackson championship (Mike Spieker – Speedway Shots)
(Bill W) September 12, 2017 – Mark Dobmeier and the Jimco Racing/Polaris #13 team blasted from the tail in the Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin’ Back Row Challenge Saturday night to win the $8,200 prize at the checkers. The two-night event, held at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, North Dakota saw Mark come from the back Friday to a second-place finish to set up his fete in the finale. The team will close their season this Friday night at River Cities.
Things started Friday with the heat race. “We drew the back of the heat,” says Mark.
“Right at the start, the guy who started on the pole position decided to drive across the track and ran the guy beside him into the wall. That guy had no steering, and I ended up clobbering him going into turn one.”
The crew has been lucky this season in not having torn up equipment, but they went to work quickly. “It broke the rear-end in half,” says Mark. “It trashed everything in the driveline and the back half of the car. The hard-working crew went to work and replaced the front end, the driveline, the torque tube, shocks, rear arms…basically the whole back of the car.”
Mark would win the B and start 19th in the main event. “I was confused when the back row challenge was, I guess,” he says. “I thought it was on the first night. The feature was frustrating early. The first five laps, I couldn’t get a hole to open up anywhere. Once we got going, we were fast and we were able to get up to second. There was a yellow in the middle and with two laps to go. Those helped us.”
The second-place finish locked him into Saturday’s Dash. “We had a fierce race with (Thomas) Kennedy, sliding back and forth,” says Mark. “We were able to finish third. First and second got the option to start from the last row. We would have been eligible to start in the second to last row, but Jade Hastings chose not to take the challenge. That gave us the opportunity to go back and start 23rd.”
Mark took full advantage of that. “The race was the exact opposite of Friday,” he says. “Any time I looked for a hole on Saturday, it was there. The seas were parting. It was probably the fastest race to the front that we’ve had. They had worked the track, and everything worked our way. I think we had the lead by lap eleven. The car and equipment was spot on.”
He was appreciative of the folks at Buffalo Wild Wings for putting on the event. “It was nice of Buffalo Wild Wings and Todd and Susan LaHaise to do that and put the money up,” says Mark. “For us to have that big of a race with that kind of money is huge for River Cities. They’ve helped us out quite a bit here over the years. We’ve come close a couple times in the past, but this was the first time we’ve been able to pull it off.”
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 and the Jimco Racing/Polaris #13 team celebrate their Jackson championship (Mike Spieker – Speedway Shots)
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