Fall is approaching. The seasonal change means cooler temperatures and an end to the racing season at River Cities Speedway, the track Mark Dobmeier has dominated the past few seasons.
For Dobmeier, however, the season remains as hot as it was earlier this summer.
Dobmeier has landed a one-night ride in a World of Outlaws car and will race tonight in Spencer, Iowa, where the country's top sprint car drivers will run a 30-lap feature on a three-eighths mile track.
"It's a fill-in deal," Dobmeier said. "It's just for this race."
Dobmeier will drive the car Brooke Tatnell has raced this season. Tatnell's future with the Volcano Joe's Coffee racing team is unsettled. Dobmeier, however, said he doesn't know if he'll drive the No. 2 sprint with the Outlaws after tonight.
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But Dobmeier's season will continue long after the Outlaws conclude their season in early November.
The Grand Forks driver has agreed to race in Australia - a sprint-car hotbed - from November through January. A number of full-time WoO drivers race in Australia during the winter including Donny Schatz, the Outlaws' season points leader.
Dobmeier will drive for car owner and engine builder Geoff Kendrick.
Kendrick approached Dobmeier about racing in Australia.
"He found me," Dobmeier said. "He was looking for a U.S. driver to come over and drive one of his cars. He usually does that each year.
"I'll be racing around Perth in November, but we'll be at the big races all over the country in December and January."
Kendrick hired Brock Mays to run his car last season. Two years ago, veteran racer Dean Jacobs drove for Kendrick. Jacobs, an Ohio driver, won the World Series of Sprintcars for Kendrick in 2006.
Dobmeier's crew chief, Ethan Thompson, also will head to Australia. The two have been together since Dobmeier began his racing career.
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The decision to race in Australia wasn't an easy one for Dobmeier, who has 19 feature wins this season.
"It was one of the toughest decisions I've ever made in my life," Dobmeier said. "I bought (Forx Radiator) a year ago, so it was a tough decision whether to go."
And it's no certainty that racing in Australia will lead to a full-time Outlaws ride for Dobmeier in 2008.
"It's just a racing deal over there," Dobmeier said. "It's not connected to anything in the U.S. But it'll be an experience."
Dobmeier has won approximately 20 features during each of the past few seasons. However, his 19 wins this season are more of an accomplishment because he's run regularly at RCS, Huset's Speedway near Sioux Falls, S.D., and at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, long considered the top sprint track in the country.
Dobmeier has the season points title at RCS locked up. He won the Huset's season title and finished sixth at Knoxville, where he won two features. He also was the Knoxville rookie of the year.
Late last season, Dobmeier took over for Tatnell at a WoO race in Wilmot, Wis.
Without seeing the track or driving the car, Dobmeier won the feature - his biggest career win to date.
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Reach Nelson at 780-1268, (800) 477-6572 ext. 268 or wnelson@gfherald.com .
