Mark Dobmeier collects 13th career opening night win at River Cities

By Mike Spieker

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (May 17, 2019) – For the 13th time in his career, Mark Dobmeier raced to the opening night win at River Cities Speedway. Dobmeier started on the outside of the front row for the 25-lap Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car feature, but things got off to a rocky start on lap one. Dobmeier and polesitter Shane Roemeling made contact in turn two, which turned Roemeling sideways in front of the entire field. The result was a five car pileup on the back straightaway, which included Thomas Kennedy, Chris Ranten, Wade Nygaard, Bob Martin and Roemeling. Only Nygaard was able to resume. 

“Roemeling got the jump on the start and slid up in front of me. I knew the first corner was my best chance so I gave him a big slider. It was a big River Cities slider and at the end of the day there are two pedals in each car,” said Dobmeier of the lap one incident in victory lane. “I race everybody hard and I’ll never dirty anybody.”

In the incident, Roemeling’s fuel tank was punctured which made for a lengthy red flag. When the race resumed, Dobmeier took control of the lead. Jordan Adams held the second spot until Brendan Mullen took over the runner-up position on lap five. Nygaard came back through the field and moved into the second spot on lap eight before taking the point away from Dobmeier on the lap 12 restart.

Nygaard held the point with Dobmeier in tow until Dobmeier found a way around the 10-time and defending NOSA champion on lap 16. Once out front, Dobmeier pulled away from the rest of the field as he cruised to the win.

“On the last restart, I think my experience in rubbered up tracks paid off and I was able to sneak by and get the lead again,” said Dobmeier.

Nygaard, Adams, Nick Omdahl and Ty Hanten rounded out the top five.

RESULTS:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 13-Mark Dobmeier, [2]; 2. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [6]; 3. 0-Nick Omdahl, [7]; 4. 20A-Jordan Adams, [3]; 5. 13T-Ty Hanten, [13]; 6. 8H-Jade Hastings, [8]; 7. 14-Tom Egeland, [15]; 8. 99-Jordan Graham, [19]; 9. 26-Blake Egeland, [11]; 10. 22-Tanner Wisk, [16]; 11. (DNF) 8C-Jack Croaker, [14]; 12. (DNF) 11M-Brendan Mullen, [12]; 13. (DNF) 2A-Austin Pierce, [18]; 14. (DNF) 55-Nick Ranten, [9]; 15. (DNF) 27-Chris Ranten, [4]; 16. (DNF) 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [5]; 17. (DNF) 10TRB-Bob Martin, [10]; 18. (DNF) 31-Shane Roemeling, [1]; 19. (DNF) 1AJ-Trevor Mell, [17]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 20A-Jordan Adams, [1]; 2. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [5]; 3. 55-Nick Ranten, [3]; 4. 26-Blake Egeland, [4]; 5. 13T-Ty Hanten, [6]; 6. (DNF) 1AJ-Trevor Mell, [2]; (DNS) 99-Jordan Graham,
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 13-Mark Dobmeier, [1]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl, [2]; 3. 31-Shane Roemeling, [5]; 4. 11M-Brendan Mullen, [3]; 5. 8C-Jack Croaker, [4]; 6. 22-Tanner Wisk, [6]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 27-Chris Ranten, [2]; 2. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [5]; 3. 10TRB-Bob Martin, [3]; 4. 8H-Jade Hastings, [6]; 5. 14-Tom Egeland, [4]; 6. (DNF) 2A-Austin Pierce, [1]