Josh Holt | Driver Websites.com | 08/17/2011 | - After not being able to make the prestigious Knoxville Nationals Main Event in his entire career, Mark Dobmeier comes out this year with a bang, standing on top of the podium at the end of the night of Thursday’s qualifying race for the 51st Annual Knoxville Nationals.

Going into the Knoxville Nationals of 2011, Lunstra/Dobmeier Motorsports elected to qualify on Thursday rather than their traditional Wednesday night of qualifying for the Nationals. “We just wanted to mix things up a bit,” says Mark. “We haven’t been able to do better than mid-field of the B-Main, so we thought the track might be more to our advantage on Thursday and I guess it worked out fairly well!”

Dobmeier drew the #34 pill which denoted where his pit stall was and the order of qualifying for the evening. Mark took the track with his Senske and Son Big Trucks by Jimco #13 and set an 11th quick time which gave him a starting spot of 6th in the first heat race.

Dobmeier was up to fifth behind the Knoxville great of Danny Lasoski and with 2 laps to go, a red flag bunched up the field to give “Dynamite” Dobmeier one last chance to make it past the 33 of Lasoski and guarantee him a starting spot in the ever-so-important Main Event. At the drop of the green flag, Dobmeier expected Lasoski to take the bottom, but instead the 33 took the middle which allowed Mark to make an awesome pass on the bottom of turns 1 and 2, securing him into that transfer spot.

“I was so happy after making the main, I about jumped out of my car,” exclaims Dobmeier. “I have raced this deal enough to understand how critical the points are throughout the week, and then qualifying 11th along with transferring to the main event, I knew this was the turning point! I just can’t thank the guys enough for providing me with the car I had!”

Dobmeier lined up on the second row for Thursday’s Qualifying Main Event. At the beginning of the race, Terry McCarl (55) and Stevie Smith (1Z) got together causing a yellow flag and setting Mark in second behind World of Outlaw Champion Jason Meyers (14). Dobmeier nearly passed Meyers going through the 1st two turns on the ½ mile following the restart, but didn’t make the pass so Mark got up top and tried to race Meyers down.

“Our Fisher Motor was unbelievable, and our car worked just amazing,” mentions Mark. “Here at Knoxville you have to worry about dirty air, but our car sitting behind Meyers was working great! I was running about the same line as he was and gaining on him, and I knew we would have a shot at passing the Champion. I was a little mad at myself after that caution for not making the pass then, but I knew we were fast. I was just ‘licking my chops’ waiting for the right time.”

The right time came as Dobmeier took the lead with a Knoxville “Slider” through turns 3 and 4, and with a couple attempts of Meyers doing the same and Dobmeier shutting the doors, Mark Dobmeier went in the books as the 51st Annual Knoxville Nationals Thursday Qualifier victor.

“This is awesome!” exclaims Dobmeier. “When I crossed the checkered in the lead, I didn’t really know what to think, except for the fact that we won. But, when I got out of the car and stood on that podium and all of those fans were cheering, yelling, and clapping….It was something that I just can’t explain. We have had a great run at Knoxville this year, and our motor program is the best it has ever been and with Dave Lunstra on our side along with Davey Whitworth, our team couldn’t possibly be any better. The guys gave me a great car. This is pretty darn sweet!”

Dobmeier then lined up 7th in the 51st Annual Knoxville Nationals. Mark fell back to 9th at the time of the “pit stop” and the team decided to give it new tires, fuel, and a different set of gears to give the Senske & Son Right Choice Electric #13 just a bit more speed.

The changes were successful as Mark charged up to fifth until a last lap slider was put on by Daryn Pittman (27) which set the Lunstra/Dobmeier Motorsports car back to sixth to finish out the week.

“This entire week has been awesome,” explains the Grand Forks, ND, native, “It hasn’t set in yet that we won the qualifying night, but I am sure it’s coming! I have to give an extra special thanks to my crew, my sponsors, and most importantly all the fans that give their continued support! Thanks again to the Dammer camp, Senske & Son Transfer, Rose Creek Tavern, and Willow Ridge guys who came down from Grand Forks!”

Following the Nationals, Dobmeier headed to Huset’s Speedway for another contest against the All Star boys. Dobmeier qualified 7th quick, started fourth in the heat and raced up to third, and then ran third in the dash to set the Senske & Son Right Choice Electric #13 on the inside of the second row for the 30 lap All Star Main Event.

“I took it pretty cautiously the first 10 laps or so, because of the mistake I made last time I raced with the All Stars a couple weeks ago,” adds Mark. “But once (David) Gravel got by my I figured I better elbow up!”

Dobmeier charged to the lead and took the checkers capping off a very successful week for Lunstra/Dobmeier Motorsports. Up Next will be an All Star race in Fargo this Thursday, followed by a World of Outlaw Event in Grand Forks on Friday and Saturday at Huset’s Speedway.

“I am really looking forward to these next few races,” exclaims Dobmeier going into two Outlaw shows at his home tracks, “Our confidence level is the highest it has ever been, and we’ve ran strong against these guys many times... I would love to bring the Right Choice Electric Dammer Trucking Lunstra/Dobmeier Motorsports #13 to victory lane!”

FAST FACTS ON DOBMEIER: Mark graduated from The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business in which he then put the degree to work as he currently has a business in his hometown called Forx Radiator where he specializes in radiator repair and other vehicle service work.

Mark will be racing River Cities Speedway, Knoxville Raceway and Huset’s Speedway weekly throughout the 2011 season with as many close World of Outlaw, IRA and other NOSA events to fill in the gaps of the schedule.

Be sure to follow the team through the team website www.markdobmeier.com. Latest results, news and photo updates will be updated regularly. Be sure to also follow Mark on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dobmeierracing

While you are at www.markdobmeier.com, don’t forget to swing by the contact page and sign yourself up for the weekly press releases! Or, you can email josh@driverwebsites.com with subject Mark Dobmeier Press to be added to the list.

Senske & Son Transfer, Right Choice Electric, Big Trucks by Jimco, Dekalb Seed, Dahlstrom Motors, Forx Radiator, IQBid.com, Dammer Trucking, Anderson Brothers Body Shop, Willow Ridge, Rose Creek Farms, Forks Mobile Wash, Rite Spot Liquor, X-treme Polishing, High Mark Snowmobile Rentals, the Disabled American Veterans, the City of Grand Forks, and Driver Websites.com.

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, August 11, 2011 – Mark Dobmeier won a battle with Jason Meyers to take night #2 of the 51st Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals on Thursday night. The Grand Forks, North Dakota driver piloted the Lunstra/Dobmeier #13 machine by Meyers on lap 14 and never looked back for his eighth career win at the famous half-mile.

Misfortune hit the pole-sitter for the main event, when Wayne Johnson had something break in his front end, sending him into the turn one wall before the green could be thrown. He was uninjured, but done.

Terry McCarl assumed the pole and led lap one, but Meyers took control on the next go-around. On lap three, McCarl and Stevie Smith made contact on the frontstretch sending McCarl spinning to the infield and leaving Smith with a torn up nose wing. Both would restart after brief repairs in the work area.

Meyers led Dobmeier, Brian Brown, Dale Blaney and Justin Henderson back to green flag racing. Both Dobmeier and Brown kept pace with the leader until a lap seven caution for Smith, who stopped with more nose wing problems in turn four.

The lead trio remained the same on the restart, with Henderson having overtaken Blaney for fourth. Lance Dewease and Craig Dollansky had moved into the top ten from deep in the pack. Dobmeier seemed to have the momentum to shoot by Meyers going down the backstretch on the restart, but checked up behind him and remained in pursuit, while Blaney and Dewease moved by Henderson into fourth and fifth.

On lap fourteen, Dobmeier squeezed by Meyers at the flagstand, and shortly thereafter, Billy Balog came to a stop in turn four. The final restart of the event saw Dobmeier leading Meyers, Brown, Blaney and Dewease with eleven laps to go. Dollansky shot by two cars on the restart to move into fifth, and two laps later, took fourth from Blaney. It would be for not in the end, as he retreated to seventeenth with an oil leak.

Dobmeier increased his lead in the final stages to win the cheers of the local faithful. Meyers maintained second ahead of Brown. Dewease and hard-charger, Jason Johnson completed the top five. Blaney, Brooke Tatnell, Kraig Kinser, Daryn Pittman and Henderson rounded out the top ten.

“We’ve probably got one of the hardest working teams out here,” said Dobmeier in Victory Lane. “We’re just a group of guys who likes to have fun on the weekend, and that’s what we’re doing. I really should have got (Meyers) on the first restart there, but I hesitated. I had to relax there for a while and look for my spot and we took it.”

Meyers thought his car worked well under green flag conditions, but was frustrated with the cautions periods. “I keep getting on wrong end of those yellow flags. Mark must have been good out there. After the week we had and me getting sick, the guys put a great racecar under me. These heats are really tough, and they gave me a great car.”

“I want to congratulate Mark Dobmeier,” said Brown. “That’s a heck of a run for us local guys. Jason’s a heck of a racer. I wasn’t that good at the end. I was cruising and decided to take third rather than stick it in the fence.”

Cody Darrah set quick time over the 54-car field with a lap of 15.153 seconds. Dewease, Jason . Solwold, Kraig Kinser, Ricky Logan and Billy Alley won heat races. Cap Henry took the C main and Paul McMahan won the B main.

Dale Blaney was the top point getter on the night with 479, followed closely by Meyers. Both will start in row two of the championship event Saturday night behind pole-sitter Sammy Swindell and Brad Sweet.

Tomorrow night will be the Friday program for qualifiers outside of the top 50. In addition, the Premier Chevy Dealers World Challenge will be run, along with the First Annual Race of Champions. Both features pay $10,000 to the winner! Tickets are available at the box office, online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or by calling 641 842-5431!