Scott Bloomquist wins on night 1 of Illini 100 weekend
*Story composed from DirtVision.com audio and various social media reports.
With the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race in Batesville, Ark. rained out, Scott Bloomquist and a number of the stars from that series headed to the Farmer City Raceway in Illinois to take part in the World of Outlaws Late Models Illini 100. And in the end, it was the Mooresburg, Tenn. driver who would walk away with the $6,000 first prize on the first night of the doubleheader weekend.
Defending Illini 100 winner Shannon Babb was fastest in Group A time-trials with a lap of 12.934 seconds. He was followed by Tim McCreadie and Bobby Pierce in that group.
Defending LOLMDS champion Don O’Neal led the way in Group B qualifying and overall with a lap of 12.817 seconds around the quarter-mile dirt oval. He was followed in that group by Jason Feger and Mike Marlar.
Brian Shirley was the winner of Heat #1 to earn a spot in the redraw that would be used to set the first three rows of the starting lineup for the feature event. He beat out John Gardner, Jr. and Babb to win that preliminary race.
Tim McCreadie finished ahead of Chub Frank and Frank Heckenast, Jr. in Heat #2 while Bloomquist won out in Heat #3 over defending WoO Late Models champion Darrell Lanigan and Pierce.
O’Neal won Heat #4 by beating out Brandon Sheppard and Dennis Erb, Jr.
A pair of Tennesseans won Heats 5 & 6 as Jimmy Owens outran Jason Feger and Rick Eckert in the fifth preliminary while Marlar bested Joe Harlan and Josh Richards in the sixth and final heat.
Steve Thorsten and Steve Francis won the two Last Chance Showdown races for those drivers not already locked into the feature starting lineup.
The redraw placed Shirley on the pole with Marlar, McCreadie, Owens, O’Neal and Bloomquist set to roll off behind him.
Shirley shot to the early lead in the 25-lap main event at the drop of the green flag ahead of Marlar and McCreadie while Bloomquist immediately began to rumble from his 6th starting spot.
McCreadie pressured Shirley early on as he moved around Marlar to gain the runner-up spot on the second lap then went to work on the race leader. Soon after, however, Bloomquist employed a high line around the track and asserted himself as a serious threat when he moved around Marlar to claim third.
The race’s only caution flag flew on lap 4 when Chase Junghans and Boom Briggs were involved in a spin.
On the ensuing restart, Bloomquist rolled up on the outside and swept passed both McCreadie and Shirley to grab the race lead. Further back, the 18th starting Richards began to move forward as he drove well into the top-10 after only a few laps of competition.
Slower traffic would play a role in the race’s outcome as Bloomquist found himself in the midst of cars he intended to lap as the race neared its midway point. That provided Shirley and McCreadie with a chance to close in on the leader and apply pressure.
On lap 15, Shirley moved to the outside and drew even with the No. 0 machine while McCreadie looked for an opening. Briefly, Shirley was able to recapture the top spot as he and Bloomquist diced through traffic.
However, Shirley jumped the cushion on lap 18 and Bloomquist was able to slide back in front of the field. McCreadie then began to work on the former front runner for the second position as the laps quickly clicked off.
In the end, Bloomquist was able to hold back his challengers to score the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Scott Bloomquist, 2. Brian Shirley, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Don O’Neal, 5. Josh Richards, 6. Chub Frank, 7. Brandon Sheppard, 8. Mike Marlar, 9. Jimmy Owens, 10. Shannon Babb, 11. John Gardner, Jr., 12. Bobby Pierce, 13. Joe Harlan, 14. Darrell Lanigan, 15. Steve Francis, 16. Jason Feger, 17. Rick Eckert, 18. Frank Heckenast, Jr., 19. Eric Wells, 20. Dennis Erb, Jr., 21. Brandon Overton, 22. Morgan Bagley, 23. Shane Clanton, 24. Steve Thorsten, 25. Jordan Yaggy, 26. Chase Junhans, 27. Boom Briggs
