Saturday, December 23, 2006

The Year in Review: Local Racers Make some noise

  Posted by PicasaPhoto by Chris Dolack
Local Boy Makes River Cities Fan’s Proud
Its no mystery to the loyal fans who religiously attend the weekly race program at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND: Mark Dobmeier is something special. I told a buddy of mine it was just a matter of time before Mark Dobmeier made his splash on the national scene. That splash was heard last weekend, in Wilmot Wisconsin, as Mark Dobmeier won his first World of Outlaws Race. Mover over Donny Schatz there is another North Dakotan ready to make a move to the big time.

The past summer Mark has been dominating and exciting to watch him race. This past July Mark gave the local hope that the big boys would go down in defeat as Mark wooed the locals with a taste of things to come when, he finished 4th in the A feature against the NST boys, beating the likes of Shane Stewart, Jason Meyers, Steve “the King” Kinser, Dean Jacoms, Paul McMahan, Jason Sides, Brian Paulus and Kerry Madsen. NST Results From JulyEarlier in the evening Mark had finished a strong second in the dash losing only to Danny ”the Dude Lasoski.

Mark has been nothing short of spectacular this summer picking up 20 wins (by no means a small feat on any racing circuit) between Grand Forks, ND and Huset’s Speedway in Brandon South Dakota, add win number 20 at Wlimot, Speedway in Wisconsin. No short order comparing some of the competition he has ran against. Link to Dirt Motor Sports It seems Dobmeier’s time has come.
Donny at Knoxville Posted by Picasa

Fargo North Dakota Driver Donny Schatz Wraps Up WoO Points Title
WoO Web Site
Fargo, ND resident Donny Schatz wrapped up his first WoO points title in 2006. Donny Schatz, who won 17 A-Feature races along with 2 preliminary features, driving the Parker Store J&J. Donny Schatz was honored on Sunday night at The Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for his first career World of Outlaws title.
Schatz looks to repeat in 2007.

Kinser and Lasoski to Return to WoO in 2007
On November 17th 2006 it was announced that Steve "the King" Kinser and Danny "the Dude" Lasoski will be returning to the World of Outlaws racing circuit in 2007.
Mark Dobmeier
Local sprint car driver Mark Dobmeier has been on a roll all season. During the 2006 season Mark has won an unprecedented 19 feature races. That is good on any racing circuit. With picking up the win this past Sunday night at Husets Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota, Dobmeier now has 8 features during his career at the famed Huset’s speedway. Husets Speedway is known as one of the top dirt tracks in North America. With the win on Sunday night that puts Mark Dobmeier 2 wins ahead of current Huset’s point leader Jake Peters who has won 6 times during his career at Husets Speedway.

River Cities Speedway

Mark Dobmeier on Winning 19 races this season:
“Going into the year, our goal was to beat what we did last year. We won 14 features last season. We're sitting at 19 now and we have two chances to get 20.”

I guess we can say mission accomplished. Goon’s World predicts win 20 will come on Friday night at River Cities Speedway. Here is what the Argus Leader had to say on Dobmeier’s win Sunday night.
Argus Leader Story

BRANDON - Mark Dobmeier kept his title hopes alive with a dominating win in the outlaw sprint car feature Sunday night at Huset's Speedway.

The Grand Forks, N.D., driver entered the evening's action nine points back of leader Jake Peters of Sioux Falls, and his win unofficially kept him the same distance behind at the end of the night.

"We've had some bad luck lately, but that's all behind us now and we're moving forward," said a hopeful Dobmeier. "We're just going to do our best next week."Dobmeier started on the front row of the 25-lap event and was never challenged during the race. Dusty Zomer of Brandon moved to second early in the event but was unable to pressure Dobmeier and finished second. Peters moved through the field to take third ahead of Gary DeWall of Jackson, Minn., John Lambertz of Sioux Falls, Gregg Bakker of Sioux Falls and Micah Schliemann of Baltic.


Mark finished the season strong and ended up only finishing 9 points out of the Husets Speedway Championship. Mark Also got his 20th win of the year in Wilmet, Wisconsin at a WoO show, Mark was driving for Brooke Tatnell who was back home tending to a sick family member. Wow, what a season. Gee, how do you top that?

NST Night Two
Local Driver Comes Close in NST Finale At River Cities Speedway
Local Driver Mark Dobmeier was going into the weekend trying to make a strong impression on the National Sprint Tour and probably walked away successfully doing that. Mark ran strong all weekend finishing 8th on Friday night and 4th on Saturday night. Mark was the local highest finisher all weekend.

Mark improved on Friday nights strong finish and again he trilled the hometown crowd by making multiple attempts at taking the lead from NST Veteran Danny Lasoski before giving way to 11K Driver Tim Kaeding and R-19 driver Jason Solwold. Dobmeier finished the feature in fourth place.

The rest of Mark Dobmeier's night was just as successful as Mark finished first in his heat race and second in the dash. Mark Dobmeier brought the River Cities crowd to their off their seats and to their feat with his strong finish in the dash.

Mark Dobmeier to the big time
My brother-in law asked me when I predicted that Mark Dobmeier would make the jump up and join one of the traveling circuits like the NST or the World of Outlaws racing circuits. I think Mark should or could make the jump next season, in the goon’s opinion the kid is ready, however its all about being able to afford it and getting the right financial backing. If Mark has someone step up and sponser him Mark can be successful on either circuit. Mark has run strong with the big boys all season and there is no reason he can’t be successful with a full time ride.

Some of the best racing I have ever seen
I have watched a lot of races at the action track (River Cities Speedway) in Grand Forks, ND and have seen a good number of races in Fargo, ND (Red River Valley Speedway); in my opinion this was the best sprint car driving I have ever watched, there is no debating it, Sorry RRVS. That being said RRVS is probably one of the fastest dirt track in the country, however, it just isn’t as racy as the track as RCS. On a bull ring like RCS you have to be able to drive and work your way through lap traffic. That was the major difference between Lasoski and Dobmeier on Saturday night, in time Mark will gain the edge that Lasoski has.

Local drivers missing from top 12 in final race.
Mark Dobmeier was the only non-traveler to make the top 12 as the NST driver took 11 of the 12 top spots. Greg Nititenko was the next highest finisher at 14th place followed by local youngster Casey Mack.


A-Feature Finish 7-8-06
1 DANNY LASOSKI 83
2 TIM KAEDING 11K
3 JASON SOLWOLD R19
4 Mark Dobmeier 13
5 SHANE STEWART 26
6 JASON MEYERS 14
7 STEVE KINSER 11
8 DEAN JACOBS 6
9 PAUL McMAHAN 20
10 JASON SIDES 7S
11 BRIAN PAULUS 28
12 KERRY MADSEN 11H
13 Bill Balog 1H
14 Greg Nititenko 6N
15 Casey Mack 8
16 Tim Mulvaney 3
17 Tom Egeland 14x
18 Lou Kennedy 21K
19 Jade Fredrickson 41
20 Scott Butz 34
21 Johnn Cressman 56
22 Dave Sobczak 17
23 Scott McDonald 33
24 Bob Martin 10TR

* Lap 23 caution : 34 is off the track in 3 & 4 (Restarts)
* Lap 24 caution: 56 off the track in 3 & 4 (Restarts)
* Lap 35 caution: 28 is off the track in 1 & 2 (Restarts)


Tim Kaeding Drives Like a Genius to Win Night One.
Steve Kinser hired Tim Kaeding in the off season to drive the 11K Maxim and Tim Kaeding has not disappointed his new Boss Steve Kinser as Kaeding picked another feature win, winning the inaugural NST feature at River Cities Speedway on Friday night. This was the first time the NST has come to North Dakota and the only appearance that the NST will make this season in North Dakota (I hope a return trip is already being worked out by Donny Mack).

While it looked as if the feature event would be rained out, in the end the River Cities fans were not cheated. While watching the Late Models feature a light rain suddenly appeared at the River Cities Speedway (I swear a cloud always hangs over my head). At first it appeared as if the rain would never end, however, the light rain was short lived, causing a delay of about 30 minutes. Due to the quick thinking of the RCS grounds crew, as soon as the rain appeared the RCS pace truck driver motioned to the other trucks in the RCS infield to start driving around the track to pack in the much needed moisture. Due to the diligence and quick thinking of this track worker/official, the RCS crew was able to work the track into near perfect conditions, before the features the track had become a dry slick and need a serious drink of water. So mother-nature was good to RCS and luckily after the rain stopped falling the track was in near perfect conditions. In my opinion I would say the inaugural NST feature in North Dakota was an instant classic.

Night of Firsts
Last night was the first appearance of the NST North Dakota during the inaugural season. Last night was the first time the NST has raced in North Dakota (eat that Fargo, ND). This was also the first time the 20 time former World of Outlaws Champion has ever ran in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Steve Kinser’s first race in Grand Forks was a heat race, which Steve won. In Steve Kinser first feature at RCS he finished in third place.

Kinser is a Class Act
Kinser is definitely a favorite of the fans in Grand Forks, ND. On Thursday night Steve Kinser was present at the meet and great and stood out front of the River Cities Speedway in the in 90 degree weather to pose for numerous pictures, sign hundred of autographs on placards, hats, balls (no I am not kidding, Steve Kinser signed a soccer ball) and tee shirts. Steve Kinser is definitely a class act who is very approachable and pictures of Steve Kinser and his sprint car will be appearing soon on Goon’s World very soon.

How Kaeding ended up in the 11K
Tim Kaeding replaced Kraig Kinser used to drive the 11K Maxim but is now racing on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck. Kinser is 29th in series points and is currently 5 spots behind former WoO driver Erin Crocker. Not New to the Winners Circle
Tim Kaeding is leading the NST sprint car series with 8 feature wins and is still only 31 points behind Danny “the Dude” Lasoski for the National Sprint Tour points standing lead. Kinser and Lasoski both have 4 feature wins each. Kinser is also leading the NST series with the most second place finishes.
NST Link

River Cities Driver Mark Dobmeier is on a Tear
Dobmeier

It is the Opinion of Goon’s World: Mark Dobmeier is by far the best sprint car driver at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks if not the best driver on the NOSA circuit. First off: Mark has won 5 features at River Cities Speedway this season, while no other driver has won more than one race at RCS this season. Second: At times Mark has been so dominating, blowing the competition away by multiple car lengths leaving the competition in the dirt looking for seconds, At times it hasn’t even been funny as Mark has made the others look like fillers or also rans. Lastly it’s not just a local thing: Mark has taken the good driving on the road and been consistent all season.

Huset’s Points Leaders
Mark is also leading the points race at Husets Speedway by 6 points ahead of Jake Peters and leads the Huset’s Speedway (Brandon South Dakota, 320 miles from Grand Forks on I-90) with three feature wins. Huset’s Speedway is one of the most competitive best tracks in the upper Midwest if not the nation. Mark also finished 7th recently at a World out Outlaws feature in Eagle Nebraska and is currently 34th on the World of Outlaws points standings. Marks WoO Standings

New Bleachers Rule
RCS added new bleachers to the east at the RCS speedway this past spring and I must say that these new bleachers are totally awesome. Sitting in these seats you can see the whole race without having to strain your neck. Also, I probably should be telling anybody about these seat because next thing you know they will be full and we will have end up sitting in our old seats. The new bleachers sit high about turn one of the RCS speedway and the only obstacle is when the its really sunny it can get very hot in the east bleachers. Of course you know this won’t be a problem long because the days get shorter in August and we lose about a half hour of light by the end of the month.

A-Feature Finish 7-7-06
Pos First Last No.
1 TIM KAEDING 11K
2 JASON SOLWOLD R19
3 STEVE KINSER 11
4 DANNY LASOSKI 83
5 JASON MEYERS 14
6 DEAN JACOBS 6
7 BRIAN PAULUS 28
8 Mark Dobmeier 13
9 Dave Sobczak 17
10 KERRY MADSEN 11H
11 SHANE STEWART 26
12 PAUL McMAHAN 20
13 JASON SIDES 7S
14 Casey Mack 8
15 Greg Nititenko 6N
16 Bob Martin 10TR
17 Wade Nygaard 9
18 Tim Mulvaney 3
19 Dave Glennon 5x
20 Chris Shirek 1
21 Johnn Cressman 56
22 Lou Kennedy 21K
23 Bill Balog 1H
24 Chris Burke 81

Lap Leaders:
Jason Solwald R19 -- Laps (1-7)
Steve Kinser 11 -- Laps (21-23)
Tim Kaeding 11K -- Laps (8-20), (24-30)

The Dude Lasoski's Car
Local Race: Preview to the NST Tour Hits Grand Forks July 7th and 8th.
Next weekend the National Sprint tour makes its inaugural trip to River Cities Speedway. The NST was created this past winter after a few drivers from the World of Outlaws broke away from dirt motorsports to form a separate sprint car tour. The race will feature some of the countries top sprint car drivers known to dirt track nationally. Recently during June the The River Cities Speedway had a non-sanctioned sprint car race. Tyler Walker, Danny Lasoski and Greg Wilson (All Stars Circuit of Champions Points leader)Greg Wilson's Car and crew Chief
At the end of the Night former NASCAR BUSCH Series driver Tyler Walker won the race and ended up taking home $5000.00 for the victory. Tyler has been driving the Guy Forbrook car (Mark Kinser old car) and said he plans to be back for the National Sprint Tour event in July. People might ask me where I got this information? I heard this when a fan asked him in the pits after the race at River Cities Speedway if he was going to be back in July? Tyler said, that he would be back.
Tyler Walker's Sprint Car

Walker Didn't Make it
As it turned out Walker didn't show up for the NST show in July but it was an awesome event.

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