Mark and the team in Victory Lane at Badlands for win #66 (Jeff Bylsma Photo)
(Bill W) August 30, 2016 – Mark Dobmeier and the Jimco Racing/Polaris #13 team got back on track last weekend. After finishing on the podium with the World of Outlaws at River Cities Speedway in his hometown of Grand Forks, North Dakota Friday, Mark registered his sixth win of the season and the 66th of his career at Badlands Motor Speedway south of Brandon, South Dakota Saturday. The team will be competing twice this weekend at River Cities, on both Friday and Monday.
Though Mark has World of Outlaws wins to his credit, he’s never beat them at his home track. “That’s one of my ultimate goals in racing,” he says. “We had a good solid run. We drew a 28 pill. We thought we’d be o.k., but when it turned into split qualifying, we ended up being the last car in the first set! We timed in sixth quick in the group, which was o.k.”
Starting third in the heat, he gained a crucial spot, finishing second. That put him in the Dash. With no invert drawn, he started seventh. “We were able to advance a spot in the Dash, which put us outside row three for the feature,” says Mark. “That’s good for us. I don’t like starting up front. I’d prefer to start in row two or three on the outside, and that’s where we were.”
Mark was expected to take his patented place on the cushion. “I knew with a 40-lap race, I couldn’t go to the cushion right away,” he says. “Everyone would be saving their tire on the bottom. Going up there early, wouldn’t be good for us. So we spent the first ten laps battling for position on the bottom. I think we were shuffled back to about ninth.”
He had had enough. “I pulled the pin on lap ten and decided I didn’t care about my tire anymore,” says Mark. “We went up top and went for it. We started advancing spots, and worked our way up to third. We had a great car. We were fast. I needed a yellow to bunch them back up. With (Brad) Sweet and (Donny) Schatz up front…they weren’t going to wait for me. The race went green to checker. When I got to third they were long gone. I was reeling Sweet in, but I couldn’t see Schatz. Overall, after dropping back to ninth, we were happy to end up third. By the end, there was nothing left of my right rear tire, so we made the right choice early on.”
Saturday at Badlands, Mark timed well despite coming out 24th in the order. “We came out third quick and advanced a spot to finish third in the heat race,” he says. “With their format, you have to advance yourself. You have to race in the heat, and I don’t mind that a bit. We were able to get by (Terry) McCarl for that third spot. That gave us enough points to get in the redraw.”
He would start the feature sixth for the second time in the weekend. “We were able to get to third pretty quickly,” says Mark. “Austin McCarl was leading it, and (Aaron) Reutzel was running second. The race was on at that point. As we got going, Reutzel snuck by McCarl, and then we were able to follow him in a lap or two. We were able to stay on Reutzel. I could stay with him, but I needed some lapped cars or something for him to change his line. We got to traffic, and he got bottled up. We were able to sneak by and hold on for the win.”
The track was to Mark’s liking. “Badlands did a good job with the track,” he says. “They got some unexpected rain on Friday night, and the track was opened up at the time. They didn’t put one drop of water on it. They didn’t get to touch it until about three o’clock. They actually graded it twice before we raced on it. It was rough for qualifying and the heats, but by feature time, it was a decent track to race on. There was a still a cushion, and we were pulling wheelies, but there was passing and we were able to move around.”
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
Follow Jimco Motorsports and Mark Dobmeier Racing on Facebook...
https://www.facebook.com/Mark-Dobmeier-Racing-329718337235441/?fref=ts
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, Tireboss, Forx Radiator, Anderson Auto Body, Gary Gruhot Farms, Willow Ridge, Rose Creek, Herberg Custom Harvesting, 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 and the team in Victory Lane at Badlands for win #66 (Jeff Bylsma Photo)
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
Website: www.OpenWheel101.com