Scores $10,000 Victory on Third Night of Late Model Week
(By Jordan Morris) BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Feb. 17, 2016 – Scott Bloomquist rebounded Wednesday from misfortunate the previous night as he scored the DIRTcar Late Model Swamp King Championship at the 45th Annual DIRTcar Nationals.
Bloomquist, a resident of Mooresburg, Tenn., set the overall quick time during qualifying driving his famous Reec Monument/Crop Production Services No. 0. Bloomquist then continued his strong night by dominating his heat race, putting him in the redraw group for the 40-lap feature event.
Bloomquist drew the fourth starting position with Steve Casebolt selecting pole-position. Casebolt, piloting the Riesbeck’s Food Markets/Lias Tires Racing Division No. C9, lost the lead once the green flag dropped to second place starter Dale McDowell driving the 17M.
Bloomquist quickly charged to the second position, passing Casebolt and placing McDowell in his crosshairs for the lead. A caution on lap 6 brought Bloomquist to the inside of McDowell for the lead, and after a side-by-side battle for two laps, Bloomquist completed the pass on lap 8.
The 52-year-old Bloomquist pulled away from the field after he completed the pass for the lead, but quickly approached the tail end of the 28-car field. A hard-charging, red-hot Jonathan Davenport drove his Baird Transport/Elite Concrete No. 6 to Bloomquist’s back bumper, as the leader began navigating through lapped traffic.
For the second night in a row, a multi-lane racetrack allowed for side-by-side and three-wide racing throughout the field which allowed drivers like Davenport and, Tuesday night’s winner, Josh Richards to make their way to the front of the field. Davenport picked up seven spots to reach the second position and Richards picked up nine spots to get to the fourth position.
As the laps wound down, and lapped traffic subsided, Bloomquist pulled away from Davenport for good with less than 10 laps to go. Bloomquist, much as he did the entire night, dominated the feature event and captured the Swamp King Championship portion of the 45th Annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.
“[The car] was really good,” Bloomquist said. “I see we have some things to do to help ourselves in traffic – it took a while for heat to get in the front tires so I’m going to work on that.
“I want to thank my family even though they can’t be out here. I think my wife and daughter are going to come in Saturday and we may stick around a little bit and go to Disney [World] or Sea World.”
Davenport held on to finish second and improved on his third place finish from Tuesday night.
“I keep getting better at this place,” Davenport, a Blairsville, Ga.-native said. “We definitely had a good hotrod tonight. I think we were a little better than Scott [Bloomquist] early until we got to lapped traffic and he could just maneuver better. I got under Jason [Feger] and he slipped out of the groove a little bit and I hit him on the right front and it didn’t quite steer as good after that.
“Finishing second tonight, I couldn’t be happier. I don’t think we have had a finish outside of the top five this year, so we have definitely been one of the most consistent cars in the country.”
McDowell, who led the opening seven laps before handing the lead over to Bloomquist, finished in the third position after losing second to Davenport on lap 12.
“We had a good starting position, but they were better than us,” the Chicamaugua, Ga.-native said. “Tonight was only our second night out so I could see where they were beating us at and what areas we need to work on.”
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series’ stars invade the 45th Annual DIRTcar Nationals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, continuing their year-long battle for the 2016 series title, while also trying to capture a coveted Gator trophy.
Great seats remain for DIRTcar Nationals and are available by calling 844-DIRT-TIX (347-8849), or by visiting http://www.DIRTcarNationals.com. Infield parking will be available on a first come, first served basis to all fans with a pit pass. The cost of the infield parking pass is $10 and will be available at the pit gate off of turn four.
Visit http://www.DIRTcarNationals.com for the latest news and information from the event. Follow DIRTcar Nationals on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/DIRTcarNats and on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DIRTcarNationals.
DIRTcar Nationals Statistical Report; Feb. 16, 2016; Volusia Speedway Park; Barberville, Fla.
A-Main (30-laps): 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist [4][$10,000], 2. 6-Jonathan Davenport [9], 3. 17M-Dale McDowell [2], 4. 1-Josh Richards [13], 5. 20-Rodney Sanders [6], 6. 25-Shane Clanton [12], 7. 7-Rick Eckert [10], 8. 15L-Darrell Lanigan [20], 9. 777-Jared Landers [15], 10. C9-Steve Casebolt [1], 11. 16T-Tyler Bruening [3], 12. 99j-Frank Heckenast Jr [22], 13. 5-Don O’Neal [17], 14. 3s-Brian Shirley [24], 15. 21J-Billy Moyer Jr [25], 16. 72-Mike Norris [5], 17. 76-Brandon Overton [19], 18. 15s-Donny Schatz [16], 19. 1*-Chub Frank [18], 20. 25F-Jason Feger [23], 21. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr. [27], 22. 22-Gregg Satterlee [21], 23. 79-Nick Kurtz [26], 24. 11-Austin Smith [7], 25. 14M-Morgan Bagley [14], 26. 39-Tim McCreadie [11], 27. 16H-Mike Hammerle [28], 28. 5w-Mark Whitener [8].
Qualifying Group 1: 1.0-Scott Bloomquist, 16.106; 2. 1-Josh Richards, 16.394; 3. 76-Brandon Overton, 16.399; 4. 11-Austin Smith, 16.44; 5. 21-Ivedent Lloyd Jr., 16.502; 6. 21J-Billy Moyer Jr., 16.714; 7. 99j-Frank Heckenast Jr., 16.821; 8. 79-Nick Kurtz, 17.780; 9. 57-Chuck Julien, 17.863.
Qualifying Group 2: 1. 2c-Joey Coulter, 16.717; 2. 14M-Morgan Bagley, 16.726; 3. C9-Steve Casebolt, 16.856; 4. 5W-Mark Whitener, 16.930; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens, 17.068; 6. 91-Tyler Erb, 17.085; 7. 18c-Chase Junghans, 17.206; 8. 0f-Coleby Frye, 17.389; 9. 16H-Mike Hammerle, 19.063.
Qualifying Group 3: 1. 6-Jared Davenport, 16.466; 2. 777-Jared Landers, 16.474; 3. 20-Rodney Sanders, 16.542; 4. 15L-Darrell Lanigan, 16.720; 5. 25z-Mason Zeigler, 16.858; 6. 2F-Dennis Franklin, 17.106; 7. 25F-Jason Feger, 17.239; 8. 3c-Charles LaPlant, 17.409; 9. 94-Austin Rettig (DNQ).
Qualifying Group 4: 1. 15s-Donny Schatz, 16.545; 2. 99B-Boom Briggs, 16.560; 3. 7-Rick Eckert, 16.574; 4. 16T-Tyler Bruening, 16.605; 5. 93-Pancho Lawler, 16.695; 6. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr., 16.995; 7. 7W-Ricky Weiss, 17.211; 8. 14-Tyler Clem, 17.640; 9. 14r-Reid Millard, 18.438.
Qualifying Group 5: 1. 39-Tim McCreadie, 16.542; 2. 5-Don O’Neal, 16.778; 3. 18-Eric Wells, 16.827; 4. 17M-Dale McDowell, 16.864; 5. B1-Paul Wilmoth, 17.025; 6. 4d-Chad Hollenbeck, 17.153; 7. 16-Justin Rattliff, 17.331; 8. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 17.429.
Qualifying Group 6: 1. 3s-Brian Shirley, 16.317; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee, 16.699; 3. 72-Mile Norris, 16.801; 4. 25-Shane Clanton, 16.836; 5. 15-Steve Francis, 17.063; 6. 1*-Chub Frank, 17.084; 7. 5B-Kyle Bronson, 17.140; 8. K0-Freddie Carpenter, 17.430.
Heat No. 1 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 2. 11-Austin Smith, 3. 1-Josh Richards, 4. 76-Brandon Overton, 5. 21-Ivedent Lloyd Jr., 6. 99j-Frank Heckenast Jr., 7. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr., 8. 79-Nick Kurtz, 9. 57-Chuck Julien.
Heat No. 2 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. C9-Steve Casebolt, 2. 5w-Mark Whitener, 3. 14M-Morgan Bagley, 4. 2c-Joey Coulter, 5. 91-Tyler Erb, 6. 20-Jimmy Owens, 7. 18c-Chase Junghans, 8. 0f-Coleby Frye, 9. 16H-Mike Hammerle.
Heat No. 3 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20-Rodney Sanders, 2. 6-Jonathan Davenport, 3. 777-Jared Landers, 4. 15L-Darrell Lanigan, 5. 25F-Jason Feger, 6. 25z-Mason Zeigler, 7. 2F-Dennis Franklin, 8. 3c-Chris LaPlant, 9. 94-Austin Rettig.
Heat No. 4 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 16T-Tyler Bruening, 2. 7-Rick Eckert, 3. 15s-Donny Schatz, 4. 7W-Ricky Weiss, 5. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr., 6. 99B-Boom Briggs, 7. 93-Pancho Lawler, 8. 14-Brandon Sheppard, 9. 14r-Reid Millard.
Heat No. 5 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 17M-Dale McDowell, 2. 39-Tim McCreadie, 3. 5-Don O’Neal, 4. 16-Justin Rattliff, 5. B1-Paul Wilmoth, 6. 18-Eric Wells, 7. 4d-Chad Hollenbeck, 8. 77-Jordan Yaggy.
Heat No. 6 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 72-Mike Norris, 2. 25-Shane Clanton, 3. 1*-Chub Frank, 4. 22-Gregg Satterlee, 5. 3s-Brian Shirley, 6. 15-Steve Francis, 7. 5B-Kyle Bronson, 8. K0-Freddie Carpenter.
Last-Chance Showdown No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton, 2. 99j-Frank Heckenast Jr., 3. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr., 4. 2c-Joey Coulter, 5. 21-Ivedent Lloyd Jr., 6. 20-Jimmy Owens, 7. 0f-Coleby Frye, 8. 79-Nick Kurtz, 9. 18c-Chase Junghans, 10. 57-Chuck Julien, 11. 16H-Mike Hammerle, 12. 91-Tyler Erb.
Last-Chance Showdown No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 15L-Darrell Lanigan, 2. 25F-Jason Feger, 3. 7W-Ricky Weiss, 4. 25z-Mason Zeigler, 5. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr., 6. 99B-Boom Briggs, 7. 14-Brandon Sheppard, 8. 93-Pancho Lawler, 9. 3c-Charles LaPlant, 10. 2F-Dennis Franklin, 11. 14r-Reid Millard, 12. 94-Austin Rettig.
Last-Chance Showdown No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 22-Gregg Satterlee, 2. 3s-Brian Shirley, 3. 15-Steve Francis, 4. 16-Justin Rattliff, 5. B1-Paul Wilmoth, 6. 18-Eric Wells, 7. K0-Freddie Carpenter, 8. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 9. 5B-Kyle Bronson, 10. 4d-Chad Hollenbeck.
The 2016 DIRTcar Nationals is supported by Budweiser, Daytona Harley-Davidson, Hampton Inn-Palm Coast, Integrity Painting with Valspar, Ring Power CAT, and Safety-Kleen. The World of Outlaws are brought to fans by official partners: Bad Boy Buggies (Official Side-by-Side Vehicle), The Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience (Official Racing Experience), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Morton Buildings (Official Building), and VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel). Additional support is provided by Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company of WoO Late Model), DirtonDirt.com (WoO Late Model Hard Charger Award), and Chevrolet Performance. Contingency sponsors include: ASI, Beyea Headers, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, KSE Racing Products, Mobil 1, MSD Performance, Penske Racing Shocks, Ohlins Shocks, QA1, QuarterMaster, Sweet Manufacturing, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum Manufacturer sponsors include: Capital Race Cars, Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Motorsports Safety Systems, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis, S&S Volvo, and TNT Rescue.