Columbus Speedway
Bloomquist leads 50 laps in Columbus cruise
By James Essex
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Scott Bloomquist motors toward victory. (Scott Oglesby)
COLUMBUS, Miss. (July 12) — On what became a Hall of Fame weekend on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., led all 50 laps of the 10th annual James Nickoles Memorial at Columbus Speedway for his first series victory of the season. Bloomquist's win, which followed fellow Hall of Famer Freddy Smith's triumph the previous night at North Alabama Speedway, paid $10,000 as he topped another Hall of Famer Billy Moyer and Jimmy Owens. | Slideshow
"The car would run anywhere on the track — high, low, in the middle it didn't matter — and really in lapped traffic it was good," the 44-year-old driver from Mooresburg, Tenn., said in victory lane. "I knew those guys behind me were racing hard with Jimmy and Billy there, but the last part of the race we were able to get away from them."
Moyer, of Batesville, Ark., was second followed by Owens of Newport, Tenn. Chris Wall of Holden, La., was fourth and 12th-starting Terry Casey of New London, Wis., rounded out the top five in a feature that lasted 30 minutes.
Bloomquist started on the outside of the front row alongside of his fellow Team Zero driver, Owens. Owens was out front briefly after the green flag flew, but coming down the backstretch Bloomquist made a move to the inside of Owens, passing him heading in the third turn. With Bloomquist holding the point, a fierce battle for second took shape. Owens and Moyer ran nip-and-tuck early with Billy Drake of Bloomington, Ill., moving up fast from his fifth starting spot as he took the fourth spot from series points leader Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., on lap two.
Moyer, who closely followed Owens the first 11 laps, took second on lap 12 and had Bloomquist in sight. The top five set a blistering pace until a lap-15 caution slowed the action.
Bloomquist stayed in control on the restart was Moyer and Owens battled side-by-side toward the race's midpoint. The top five remained on the same straightaway until they were bunched even closer as another caution came out on lap 30. On the restart, three more scored laps would be counted until the final caution appeared for a slowing Eddie Rickman.
Moyer and Owens traded the second spot and got as close to Bloomquist as they would all night on the restart, but he pulled away over the final 15 laps to win his 16th career series victory by a full straightaway.
Notes: Bloomquist pilots his self-designed Bloomquist Race Car with a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsorship from Miller Bros. Coal, Hawkeye Trucking, VP Racing Fuels, Hoosier Tires and Sweet Manufacturing. ... The event will be televised during the off-season on the Speed cable network. ... Four cautions slowed the feature. ... Provisional starter Bart Hartman's 23rd-to-seventh run netted the PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race honors. ... Earl Pearson Jr. leads the series with 4,300 points over Steve Casebolt (4,000), Hartman (3,950), Billy Drake (3,660) and Justin Rattliff (3,635). ... The series is scheduled to return to action July 18 at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., and July 19 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. Both races pay $10,000 to the winner.
Lucas Oil @ Columbus: (1) Scott Bloomquist, (2) Billy Moyer, (3) Jimmy Owens, (4) Chris Wall, (5) Terry Casey, (6) Billy Drake, (7) Bart Hartman, (8) Earl Pearson Jr., (9) Wayne Chinn, (10) David Breazeale, (11) Chris Ragan, (12) Freddy Smith, (13) Scott James, (14) Steve Casebolt, (15) Jason Cliburn, (16) Justin Rattliff, (17) Dean Carpenter, (18) John Mason, (19) Eddie Rickman, (20) Neil Baggett, (21) Bub McCool, (22) Jeremy Glasgow, (23) Randy Weaver, (24) Chad Thrash. Fast qualifier (among 32 cars): Moyer, 13.330 seconds. Heat race winners: Bloomquist, Owens, Pearson. Consolation winner: McCool. Provisional starters: Hartman, Rattliff.
