Scott Bloomquist
*Interview submitted by Kris Krug
Last year, Scott Bloomquist won the Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. and that win propelled the legendary driver to a legendary second half of the season in which he piled up huge sums of money by winning some of the sport’s top events. This year, the Mooresburg, Tenn. driver is hoping for the same type of propulsion from this lucrative race.
“We were working on some things last year like we are currently now,” Bloomquist explained. “I think this place will be a good gauge because it gets really slick and you’ve really got to have your car fine tuned. I think having a little bit of practice for a couple of days here is really going to help. Hopefully we’ll get our program refined a little better.”
The National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member takes great pride in his record in the ‘crown jewel’ events of the sport. And he counts the $32,000-to-win Silver Dollar Nationals among those elite races on the yearly schedule.
“I think anything that’s $30,000-to-win ought to be considered that, especially in this part of the country because there’s really not anything like it,” Bloomquist said. “You’ve got Cedar Lake and Knoxville and this one. So for the guys who race up here on a consistent basis, this has to be considered one of the majors.”
The 2015 version of this event promises to pose an additional challenge as the temperatures for this weekend in Nebraska are forecast to be extremely hot. But this veteran driver has overcome those types of challenges before.
“It usually cools off enough, especially by the time we run any long races, so by the time the feature rolls around it ought to be cool enough,” Bloomquist predicted. “We’ve run in hotter than this. You’ve just got to drink plenty of fluids.”
Scott Bloomquist’s No. 0 machine
As for the rest of the season, the greatest challenge facing Bloomquist and all other LOLMDS drivers is the run of success currently being enjoyed by Jonathan Davenport. However, the leader of Team Zero says that no challenge is too great.
“Yeah, anything’s possible. Things can turn. He’s got something working on his car that seems to be working good for him about everywhere. He’s driving the car hard and he’s making everybody work hard. Things go in cycles. We’ve been working hard too and I think we’re closing in on him.”
