Scott Bloomquist
*Interview provided by Kris Krug of Knoxville Raceway
No one has ever accused Scott Bloomquist of lacking confidence, but the Mooresburg, Tenn. driver is coming into Saturday’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned Knoxville Nationals as confident as he’s ever been. And he is so for good reason.
The National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member has been on a roll of late and he hopes that string will continue long enough for him to collect this race’s $40,000 first prize. And as if being on roll isn’t enough, Bloomquist lists the Knoxville Raceway as one of his favorite venues on which to compete.
“It’s because there’s none like it,” Bloomquist says when asked why the Iowa half-mile is a favorite. “I always like the fast race tracks and even when this one is slick, it’s fast. Every time you come here it’s probably the biggest challenge of any place. You just never know what to expect.
“And again, I was born in Iowa so we like coming up here and getting to see some family and friends. It’s just always great racing.”
The 50-year-old legend in the sport has scored some major wins of late. He collected the highly prized globe trophy at the Eldora Speedway after capturing his fourth World 100 victory in early September. He then followed that up by taking the checkered flag in the Jackson 100 at Brownstown Speedway in Indiana just last weekend.
“Probably about as high as it can get,” Bloomquist replied when asked about his confidence level coming into this weekend. “We’ve been extremely fast this year but little things keep us from winning races. We’ve got those things under control now. We’ve set more fast times and won just about every heat race we’ve been in this year. It’s been real fast and we take off leading the features but had more problems than I’ve ever had. It’s one of those deals where we feel like we’ve got those things behind us now”
Bloomquist is not shy about singing the praises of the Knoxville Raceway. The track more noted for sprint car racing which serves as the home of the National Sprint Car Racing Hall of Fame is one of the top facilities in the sport according to this Late Model star.
“I try to tell fans throughout the season that if they’ve not been here they need to come see a race here,” he declared. “Again, there’s nothing like it. The facility is second to none, they have a nice pit area and they take such great care of the race track. There are no negatives.”
And how would it feel for this driver who has already collected so many trophies over the course of his career to earn another this weekend?
“It would mean a lot. Like I said, it’s been a tough year financially, but right now we’re making up for it.”
