Anytime a driver and team rolls out a new chassis it would seem logical to expect a certain time of adjustment before success happens. However, that was not the case for Dale McDowell and his Team Dillon Racing organization on Saturday night in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at Smoky Mountain Speedway. Their new Sweet-Bloomquist Chassis paid immediate dividends as McDowell and company scored a $12,000 victory in the car’s maiden voyage.
After the race, the veteran driver was quick to lavish praise on those who had spent many hours building and preparing the car for its debut.
“Hats off to my brother(crew chief Shane McDowell) and Ryan Gifford and Jesse Kerns and all the TDR bunch,” McDowell said in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “I haven’t done much because I’ve been down at Boyd’s Speedway working so I haven’t been involved with this. And hats off to Scott(Bloomquist) for building a good race car.”
The deal that would eventually lead the McDowells and Team Dillon Racing away from their Warrior Race Cars to the Sweet-Bloomquist cars had its seeds planted several months ago. The deal made the No. 17m the third of that type of car entered in the LOLMDS race at Smoky Mountain along with Bloomquist and Jared Landers.
“We talked last year at Knoxville, Iowa about doing some stuff together and working together,” McDowell explained. “I think that’s going to be good. Mine and his(Bloomquist) driving styles are really close so it’s definitely going to be good for us. I feel like the information, even though we were all different tonight, between him and myself and Jared will help us when we go to these places.”
McDowell recognized Bloomquist’s contribution to the development of his new ride.
“I appreciate the work those guys have done. I mean Scott’s worked his tail off with a lot of blood, sweat and tears on these things,” the Chickamauga, GA native said. “He’s put a lot of effort in it and it showed tonight when he had all three cars in the top-3. Being able to put his team together with our team and Jared’s team, it takes all the pieces of the puzzle. What I did tonight was guide it and not run into anything, so I’m just a small piece of it.”
The Sweet-Bloomquist cars had already proven themselves as a force coming into Saturday’s race. Bloomquist currently leads the LOLMDS standings while Landers ranks third overall. McDowell’s win served to further confirm the chassis’ abilities.
“Obviously they’ve been good,” the 49-year-old driver declared. “Jared is stepping his program up and had some good runs and Scott’s won the last three Lucas races in a row. We started in the preferred starting spot tonight and it was just our night. We got in the right heat and got the jump. All of that has to go together. But to be able to lead and sit out there and ride and take care of our tires was something that was very comforting to me in the driver’s seat. It’s going to be fun, I think the whole deal is going to be fun for us.”
McDowell on his way to victory at Smoky Mountain
McDowell spoke of the new car’s performance despite a very limited amount of time on the track prior to its first effort in competition.
“The car was very maneuverable in traffic,” McDowell pointed out. “I went over after the heat race and told those guys thanks for what they had done because the car really drove good. It’s kind of ironic. We did a little driving school deal last night at Boyd’s and then this morning Shane jumped in this car and went out and made about ten laps, so he made the first laps in it, then I went out and made ten laps in it. We then came up here and we didn’t test or change anything. We just made sure it was going to run and nothing was going to fall off.”
And the driver remembered those who make his racing exploits possible. Team Dillon Racing is operated by NASCAR stars and brothers Austin and Ty Dillon, their father Mike Dillon, and grandfather Richard Childress.
“Thanks to Team Dillon Racing for letting us go out and play.”
Team Dillon Racing in SMS victory lane
