Bedford Speedway
Bloomquist makes it three in a row at Bedford
By James Essex
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Scott Bloomquist races to a $10,000 victory in Lucas Oil action at Bedford Speedway. (pbase.com/cyberslash)
BEDFORD, Pa. (April 29) – Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., continued his early-season dominance of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, capturing his third consecutive series victory Friday Night when the tour visited Bedford Speedway. | Slideshow
The pole-starting Bloomquist led wire-to-wire in the 50-lap event, lapping up to the ninth-place finisher on his way to earning a $10,000 payday.
"The car was good from the time we unloaded it tonight,” said Bloomquist, whose two previous Lucas Oil victories were the Indiana Icebreaker at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway April 9 and a $20,000-to-win event at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas April 2. “In the heat race it was good, and in the feature you could run anywhere on the track, you could go three-wide out there without any problems.”
Bloomquist shared the front row with Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., for the start of the race and quickly took control. The two-time, defending series champion opened up a six-car-length advantage over Shaver in the first five laps and started to catch slower traffic by the 10-lap mark.
The race’s only caution appeared on lap 16 when Chris Wall of Springfield, La., slowed on the backstretch. On the restart, Bloomquist continued his dominating performance as he pulled away from a closely contested battle for the second position between Shaver and Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn.
Owens briefly took the second spot away from Shaver in turn two on lap 41, but by the time the two reached the flag stand, Shaver had reclaimed the position. Shaver then pulled away from Owens in the final laps to secure the runner-up finish.
Owens held off a late challenge from Don O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., to finish third. Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., followed O’Neal to the line in the fifth position.
Notes: Bloomquist's self-designed race car is powered by a Roush-Yates engine with sponsorship from Miller Bros. Coal, Base Fuel, Hawkeye Trucking and Allstar Performance. ... Bloomquist posted a new track record in time trials, becoming the first driver to record a lap under 19 seconds around the 75-year-old racetrack. ... Jared Landers’s ninth-place finish was tops among the four series rookies. ... The race kicked off a Pennsylvania doubleheader weekend for the series. The tour will visit Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa., Saturday night for another $10,000-to-win event.
Lucas Oil @ Bedford: (1) Scott Bloomquist, (2) Steve Shaver, (3) Jimmy Owens, (4) Don O’Neal, (5) Ray Cook, (6) Jeremy Miller, (7) Steve Francis, (8) Jason Covert, (9) Jared Landers, (10) Dale McDowell, (11) Bub McCool, (12) Coleby Frye, (13) Eric Wells, (14) Tyler Reddick, (15) John Blankenship, (16) Jamie Lathroum, (17) Earl Pearson Jr., (18) Frank Heckenast Jr., (19) Brad Neat, (20) Chuck Clise, (21) Dennis Erb Jr., (22) Jerry Bard, (23) JT Spence, (24) Daniel Stone, (25) Chris Wall, (26) Mike Marlar. Fastest qualifier: Bloomquist, 18.763 seconds. Heat race winners: Bloomquist, Frye, Shaver, Owens. Consolation race winners: Blankenship, Reddick. Provisional starters: Pearson, Erb, Marlar, Neat.
