Allergic reaction hospitalizes Bloomquist
Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., was hospitalized shortly after midnight Wednesday for an allergic reaction from an apparent wasp sting while washing his race car transporter outside his race shop late Tuesday night.
The 60-year-old Hall of Famer was in stable condition Wednesday evening at Tennessee’s Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System, emphasizing that “everything is going to be fine.” But the allergic reaction had been so dangerous that when paramedics reached him Wednesday morning, his blood pressure read 52/41 and an alarming rash where his “face and body got bright red” overtook him.
“They said they were shocked I could hardly speak,” Bloomquist told DirtonDirt.com on Wednesday. “I was a little concerned at first, that’s why I came down here. Basically what happened is I was preparing one of Terry Wolfenbarger’s cars to go to Smoky Mountain (Speedway this weekend) and I went late in the evening Tuesday to wash the rig. And as I was washing it, I got stung.”
Bloomquist believes it was a wasp but isn’t entirely certain because his right leg remains somewhat numb from lingering injuries related to his March 2019 motorcycle accident. He said he had “no idea” he was stung until he started developing a rash about 30 minutes later, his "face started to get messed up" and he was "getting really hot.”
Bloomquist can’t recall enduring such a severe allergic reaction As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, he’d been treated with “hot and heavy doses of fluids on an IV” as well as medications.
“It started easing up when I got here. And then I stayed through the night on medications and drips,” Bloomquist said. “I actually passed out briefly at home and they called an ambulance.
"While I was talking to the doctor, I had a little headache after my accident (Saturday at Eldora Speedway’s Dream XXX) that lightened up. I started getting a bad headache again. I told them about my accident on Saturday night and then showed them the accident on my phone and the one before that (May 3 at Ultimate Motorsports Park in Elkin, N.C.)."
Bloomquist then told doctors he hadn’t sought medical attention after the crashes, which led medical personnel to perform a CT scan of his head, neck and midsection. He said his doctor still had to study the scans but one told him “they didn’t see anything alarming.”
Doctors recommended Bloomquist not race for at least two weekends because with the impacts he’s endured of late, “there’s always swelling in your brain” though it may not show up on the CT scan. He hopes to be discharged from the Morristown hospital Thursday morning “as long as I can get up and walk” and “maintain perfect blood pressure for another night,” and he’s eying a return to racing for June 27-29’s 50th anniversary weekend at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn.
