Scott Bloomquist and Billy Moyer have had remarkable racing careers. As a matter of fact, virtually any argument as to who the greatest Dirt Late Model driver of all time is almost certainly has to narrow down to these two Hall of Fame members. And to confirm that, each of these legendary drivers is on the verge of reaching amazing milestones.
Scott Bloomquist
This past Friday night Bloomquist scored a win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, South Carolina. That victory proved to be the 599th feature triumph of his career setting the stage for a special place in the trophy collection located in the Mooresburg, Tennessee shop that serves as the headquarters for Team Zero when No. 600 is achieved.
Moyer, who already has 830 career wins, neared a significant achievement in his legendary career when he took the checkered flag at the end of the Summer Nationals feature race held on July 6th at Farmer City Raceway in Illinois. That was the 99th win of his career on the grueling ‘Hell Tour’. His next Summer Nationals victory will in all likelihood make him the first to reach the century mark on that Midwestern-based mini-series.
To say the least, 2018 has been an interesting season for Bloomquist. While he added to his total of crown jewel wins by taking the Dirt Late Model Dream and the Show-me 100, he has also suffered ailments that threatened to end his season and seen himself get suspended by the World Racing Group from World of Outlaws Late Model Series and UMP sanctioned events due to missed drug tests that were counted as a “failure” by that organization.
Still, the 54-year-old Bloomquist’s career records cannot be diminished as one of only two drivers(JoshRichards) to win both the WoO Late Models and LOLMDS championships has won every major race there is to win. Further, he has provided a great deal of notoriety for Dirt Late Model racing as perhaps the most recognizable figure the sport has ever produced.
Billy Moyer
At the same, the more reserved Moyer is the only driver who can match, or even surpass, Bloomquist in terms of career achievements. His six World 100 victories place him ahead of all others in what many consider to be the sport’s most prestigious event held each year at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.
The 60-year-old driver is a six-time UMP Summer Nationals champion as well as a multi-time winner of such events as the Dirt Late Model Dream, Topless-100, USA Nationals, and Show-me 100 among others. The legendary racer still hits the track often but doesn’t travel as far away from his Batesville, Arkansas shop as he might have a few years ago.
Arguments over who the greatest baseball or football player of all time is are difficult to settle because of the very different eras that players such as Babe Ruth or Sammy Baugh played in opposed to the times when Willie Mays or Tom Brady played. Further, there are different positions in those sports so who is to say that a right fielder is a better player than a pitcher or a defensive end is a better player than a running back.
Scott Bloomquist scored the 599th win of his career on Friday night in Gaffney
Racing, however, is somewhat different. Yes, the eras are different in that the racing that took place in the 1950’s was not the same as the racing of today. But, there is only one position to consider when comparing drivers, so in that sense, there is some degree of similarity among those being evaluated.
But as was stated earlier, Scott Bloomquist and Billy Moyer have so many accomplishments to their credit that they almost certainly stand out among the crowd. When Bloomquist’s 600th feature win and Moyer’s 100th Summer Nationals triumph occur, they will place themselves on even higher pedestals above the others. And what’s great for modern-day fans is that they are still going strong right now.
Billy Moyer has been winning races for decades
Between these two drivers they have won everything there is to win in the sport of Dirt Late Model racing and they have given fans lots of thrills along the way. And as evidenced above, both continue to win at prolific rates. And despite their ages and years of experience, it looks as if neither is intent on slowing down any time soon.
