After a disastrous week, the team grabs a podium finish
ROCKFORD, IL – Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN avoided a wreck involving early race leader Rick Eckert of York, PA, and then went on to win his eighth United Dirt Track Racing Association Pro DirtCar Series victory of the season Wednesday night in the 50-lap main event at the Winnebago County Speedway.
The $10,000 victory was the 85th of Bloomquist’s UDTRA Pro DirtCar Series career and carried the defending and four-time UDTRA Champion’s season earnings total to over the $200,000 mark driving the Miller Brothers Coal Warrior/Custom Mustang.
Steve Francis of Ashland, KY made a late race charge and finished second driving the Valvoline/Mopar Performance Rocket/Stanton Intrepid. Both Bloomquist and Francis gained on UDTRA point leader Eckert in the 2001 UDTRA championship chase.
Eckert was leading on lap 24 when his Raye Vest Rocket/Cornett Mustang broke a right-front lower ball joint, sending him crashing into the fourth turn wall, taking the lapped car of Pewaukee, WI’s Dan Schlieper with him. Neither driver was injured in the accident. Francis has closed to within 38 points on Eckert, while Bloomquist is now 181 points behind Eckert in the third spot.
"At this point last season, we were behind by more than this and we still won the championship," Bloomquist said. "I saw something break on Eckert’s car and he made a hard right, slid up the track with Schlieper, and I was able to get under them."
Bloomquist won the race on a track he has never seen before, but he said that is something he has been successful at in the past.
"We’ve got a pretty good record of doing well on tracks we’ve raced at for the first time," Bloomquist said. "Rick had a softer tire on than we did, and it took me a few laps for me to get going on restarts. If Rick wouldn’t have had his problem, it would have been a good race to the end. He was running pretty good."
Jimmy Mars of Elk Mound, WI tried to close in on Bloomquist, when the leader worked lapped traffic, but he faded in the closing laps and had to settle for third in the ParkerStore MasterSbilt/Pro Power Monte Carlo. Rick Aukland of Zanesville, OH took the fourth spot in the Rocket Chassis/Ostrom Painting and Sandblasting Rocket/Draime Monte Carlo.
The 1997 UDTRA Champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, AR finished fifth in the Petroff Towing/J&J Steel Rayburn/Clements Grand Prix. Moyer complained of a breathing problem under a red flag condition early in the race on a hot and humid evening. After UDTRA officials brought him his breathing inhaler, Moyer was fine and able to continue.
Bill Frye of Greenbrier, AR took the sixth spot in the UniFirst Uniforms GRT/Cornett Mustang. Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, IA finished seventh in the Seubert Calf Ranches Mastersbilt/Pro Power Monte Carlo.
Darren Miller of Chadwick, IL posted his second UDTRA top ten finish of the season with an eighth-place effort in the Sterling NAPA GRT/Pro Power Monte Carlo. Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, IL was ninth in the C.J. Rayburn Race Cars Rayburn/Bullock Monte Carlo.
Steve Boley of West Liberty, IA rounded out the top ten in the Ron Alpen Ford Mastersbilt/Cornett Mustang after starting 22nd. Boley was the JE Pistons Hard Charger of the Race Award winner.
Eckert took the lead from the outside front row starting spot over polesitter Bloomquist at the start of the race followed by Francis, Shannon Babb of Decatur, IL, and Mars. By lap six, Eckert’s car starting pushing up the track going into the corners, and Bloomquist started to dive for the bottom to challenge for the lead.
On lap seven, Bloomquist had Eckert passed on two different occasions, but lapped traffic enabled Eckert to shoot back around Bloomquist on the outside to retake the lead. Babb brought out the first of three caution flags on lap nine when he stalled his Car City Co./Petroff Towing Rayburn/Dickens Monte Carlo in turn four.
When the field went back to green flag action, Mars dove to the inside of Francis coming off the fourth turn to take the third spot. Up front, Eckert was able to pull out to a six car-length lead over Bloomquist.
A three-car tangle in turn one on lap 11 sent the cars of Wendell Wallace of Batesville, AR and UDTRA Rookie of the Year point leader Joe Izzo of Chicago, IL hard into the wall. Bill Reed of Knoxville, TN spun to avoid the wreck. The red flag was displayed for 12 minutes and 49 seconds while the cars were cleared from the track.
All drivers were O.K., but Wallace’s JFR Graphic/Monday Motorsports GRT/Russell Baker Grand Prix and Izzo’s Jeff’s Engine Masters GRT/Pro Power Monte Carlo were done for the night. Reed was able to continue in the UPS/Die Cast Digest Magazine Fast/Clements Monte Carlo.
Eckert led Bloomquist, Mars, Francis and Aukland down for the restart. The push returned to Eckert’s car by lap 14, but Bloomquist also developed a push in the middle of the corners and was unable to get his car turned to challenge on the inside. By lap 20, Eckert was beginning to pull away from Bloomquist.
Eckert was working underneath Schlieper to lap him in turn four on lap 24, when his car suddenly veered to the right, collecting Schlieper’s Performance Roofing Systems Rayburn/Pro Power Monte Carlo, and sending both cars into the turn four wall. Both drivers were O.K., but both cars were towed to the infield.
Bloomquist assumed the lead for the restart followed by Mars, Francis, Aukland, and Moyer. Eckert returned to the track, several laps down, on lap 36. Bloomquist pulled away to a full straightaway on Mars at one point after restart, but Mars closed to within a half straightaway by lap 40.
Bloomquist was able to make some good moves in lapped traffic, and pulled out once again to a full straightaway lead on Mars by lap 45. Francis moved by Mars for the second spot with three laps to go, but Bloomquist was long gone to the checkered flag. Bloomquist made it a clean sweep with the win, as he out-qualified the 31 entrants with a lap around the big half-mile dirt oval in 20.185 seconds for an average speed of 89.175 miles per hour in the last lap of the qualification runs. Bloomquist also won the $100 JE Pistons Bonus Award with a first heat race win to bring his earning for the night with other awards to $11,050.
The next event for the UDTRA Pro DirtCar Series will be this Saturday night for the make-up date for the $20,000-to-win Annual Ironman 100 at Florence Speedway in Union, KY. There will be two consolation races along with the main event, which was rained out on July 28. The first 16 starting positions have already been set and Mike Jewell of Scottsburg, IN will start on the pole.
The pit gate opens at 3 p.m. and the grandstand gate opens at 5 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled for 6 p.m. For ticket information call Florence Speedway at (859) 493-0034, or visit the Florence Speedway web site at www.florencespeedway.com. Florence Speedway is located 9 miles south of I-75 on U.S. Highway 42.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 35 AT WINNEBAGO COUNTY SPEEDWAY IN PECATONICA, IL ON 8/8/01:
1. 1 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN Ford 50 $11,050
2. 4 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY Dodge 50 $6,600
3. 5 28m Jimmy Mars Elk Mound, WI Chev. 50 $3,600
4. 6 1 Rick Aukland Zanesville, OH Chev. 50 $2,500
5. 7 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR Pont. 50 $2,000
6. 8 66 Bill Frye Greenbrier, AR Ford 50 $1,800
7. 11 15b Brian Birkhofer Muscatine, IA Chev. 50 $1,600
8. 12 32d Darren Miller Chadwick, IL Chev. 50 $1,400
9. 9 28 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville, IL Chev. 50 $1,200
10. 22 26 Steve Boley West Liberty, IA Ford 50 $1,100
11. 20 00 Freddy Smith Knoxville, TN Chev. 50 $1,600
12. 10 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC Ford 49 $1,550
13. 14 99 Johnny Johnson West Burlington, IA Ford 49 $900
14. 15 56 Gary Webb Bluegrass, IA Chev. 49 $875
15. 13 45k John Kresser Jr. Bridgeview, IL Chev. 45 $850
16. 16 54 Ryan Dolan Lisbon, IA Pont. 40 $825
17. 2 24 Rick Eckert York, PA Ford 37 $1,400
18. 24 28r Bill Reed Knoxville, TN Chev. 35 $750
19. 19 s9 Dan Schlieper Pewaukee, WI Chev. 23 $1,300
20. 23 00k Randy Korte Highland, IL Chev. 11 $700
21. 21 166 Joe Izzo Chicago, IL Chev. 10 $1,300
22. 18 6m Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR Pont. 10 $1,300
23. 3 18 Shannon Babb Decatur, IL Chev. 8 $700
24. 17 17m Dale McDowell Rossville, GA Pont. 8 $1,300
(Article by Roby Helm)
(Photo by David Allio)
