Scott Bloomquist
According to a story posted to DirtonDirt.com by Kevin Kovac, Dirt Late Model racer Scott Bloomquist is said to be weighing his options in regard to what touring series he will participate on over the remainder of the 2018 season. The National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member is a former champion of both the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series(where he has been a regular for the past several seasons).
After a disappointing start to this year’s campaign on the Lucas Oil side of things and a much more encouraging effort with the WoO Late Models during the recently completed Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks, Bloomquist may be looking to take his Team Zero show on the road with the Outlaws. The star driver is currently mired back in the 14th position of the LOLMDS standings a full 355 points behind leader Jonathan Davenport. At the same time, the No. 0 team is in the fourth spot in WoO Late Models points only six markers behind leader Brandon Sheppard.
Had it not been for interference from Mother Nature, any consideration of switching tours at this point in the season would not have been plausible for any driver. However, the WoO Late Models races slated for Screven Motor Speedway on February 8th and 9th were cancelled due to rain. Those events were supposed to be taking place at the same time as two LOLMDS features at East Bay Raceway Park. Having those races at the same time would have obviously created points gaps between those who picked one series or the other. But with the WoO races cancelled, all drivers and teams basically stayed on the same path throughout all of SpeedWeeks.
With Bloomquist now in much better shape points wise in the WoO Late Models standings, the opportunity to choose either series is there. He even admitted in the DirtonDirt piece that he had considered not running any particular tour in 2018 in order to focus on the sport’s major races.
With that said, races scheduled to play out in the east Tennessee area during the coming weeks could play a major role in determining whether or not Bloomquist will move away from the Lucas Oil tour and on to the WoO Late Models.
The next points paying race to be contested by either of the two national series will be the World of Outlaws Late Model sanctioned pair of events scheduled for March 9th and 10th at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn. With SMS being a relatively short distance from Bloomquist’s Mooresburg, Tenn. shop, it is highly likely that he will indeed be there to compete in those races.
If Bloomquist should run well at Smoky Mountain, it would seem as if that might become a factor in helping him decide to go with the WoO Late Models. And it should be noted that he has had success at that track in the past, including a win in the 2016 WoO Late Models race held there.
The next races slated for the Lucas Oil Series are a pair of events in Ohio and Indiana on the weekend of March 16th and 17th. Obviously, if Bloomquist were to recover some of the distance he has lost in that series’ standings it could bring that tour back into play on his schedule as well.
If such is the case, then it could be races in the east Tennessee region that would eventually tell the tale.
Scott Bloomquist(0) and Jimmy Owens have raced against each other on the Lucas Oil Series for the past several seasons
The WoO Late Models will head to Illinois for a pair of races at Farmer City on March 23rd and 24th while the Lucas Oil tour will contest features at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. on March 22nd, Boyd’s Speedway just outside of Chattanooga in Ringgold, GA on March 23rd, and East Alabama Motor Speedway on March 24th. These will be the first conflicting dates among the two series in 2018 if all goes to plan.
Obviously, Bloomquist and his team can’t be in two places at once. If he shows up at Volunteer and Boyd’s, he isn’t going to follow the full WoO Late Models tour. If he isn’t at those races, but instead, makes the trek to Illinois, it would appear as if the WoO Late Models is his choice.
But aside from races at locales such as Bulls Gap and Ringgold, Bloomquist is concerned about missing some of the sport’s major crown jewel events. If following one tour or the other provides better opportunities for attending the big races, that will almost certainly play a role in his decision making process.
There would be some significant conflicts between the two schedules in terms of higher paying races. The LOLMDS will sanction a $25,000-to-win two day show at LaSalle Speedway in Illinois on the same weekend(June 1st & 2nd) that the WoO Late Models race at 411 Motor Speedway and Volunteer Speedway in Tennessee. Also, the ‘Clash at the Mag’, a $20,000-to-win LOLMDS sanctioned race will conflict with a trio of WoO Late Models shows in New York and Ohio on the weekend of August 14-16. And perhaps most significantly, Bloomquist would be forced to miss the $40,000-to-win Topless 100 in Batesville, Ark. on the weekend of August 16-18 as the WoO tour will be in Delaware and Pennsylvania during that time.
And of course, there is the option of not running any particular series at all but rather picking and choosing the races that provide the best fit from week to week. The problem with not sticking with any series is that the tours offer “tow money” to teams who are loyal to their series, there is sponsor contingency money paid to those who are regulars on one series or the other, there is the reward of points fund money at the end of the season, and those who follow one tour or the other are eligible for provisional starting spots in features should they experience trouble in the preliminaries on a particular night.
As you can see from the details above, tracks in east Tennessee and the greater east Tennessee area could play a role in determining what series Scott Bloomquist will follow in 2018 and will be impacted by that decision as his fans in this region may have more opportunities than usual to see him race.
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association
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