Golden Isles Speedway
Scooting past Owens, Bloomquist wins again
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Bloomquist climbs from his winning car. (DirtonDirt.com)
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Feb. 1) — It took one of Dirt Late Model racing's best all-time drivers to finally make Jimmy Owens look human. Scott Bloomquist's mini slide job between turns three and four on the 14th lap was the move that denied Owens his fourth victory at Golden Isles Speedway's Super Bowl of Racing IV. Bloomquist went on to lead the rest of the way and earn his second straight $10,000 victory in O'Reilly Southern All Star Series competition at the 4/10-mile oval in southeast Georgia. Prelims | Slideshow
"I think Jimmy might've stayed high just a little too long," said Bloomquist, who sized Owens up following a lap-12 restart, then scooted underneath the race-long leader exiting turn four.
"We had to check up a little bit," said Owens, who drives a Bloomquist Race Car. "But you know, that's part of racing, and we'll probably return the favor one day."
Bloomquist's 50-lap victory puts him in position to tie Owens with a third victory in Saturday's finale at the Super Bowl of Racing, which was originally scheduled for 10 events but shortened to seven because of three rainouts. Owens (3), Bloomquist (2) and Earl Pearson Jr. are the only winners.
Bloomquist, of Mooresburg, Tenn., had his troubles in the first four events at the reconfigured Golden Isles oval, scoring a single top-five finish and facing a Monday night disqualification for using illegal tires.
But following Wednesday's flag-to-flag victory and a Thursday rainout, he mastered the racy oval to post his second consecutive victory. "The racetrack was probably the best it's been," Bloomquist said in victory lane. "You could run four wide, you could run all over it early. It really made for a great race."
Owens used the surface to his advantage from the outset, zipping from his fourth starting spot into the lead just a quarter-lap into the race. He build a straightaway lead over the first seven laps before the car of polesitter Don O'Neal, in a heated battle with the third-starting Bloomquist for second, erupted in smoke with a blown oil ring to bring out a caution.
Bloomquist inherited the second spot and on the race's third restart at lap 12, set up his winning move. Bloomquist edged away and led by more than a half-straightaway at the halfway point as he began to maneuver through lapped traffic.
Owens, racing with a cracked engine block that Bloomquist helped him seal prior to time trials, stayed within the half-straightaway margin through the second half of the race and moved in to challenge in the closing laps. The three-race winner at Golden Isles tried an outside move on the final lap, but he couldn't get enough traction in the outside groove.
"I think I could've snuck up on him in (turns) three or four," Owens said of his last-lap efforts, "but I messed up in one and two."
Owens ended up second ahead of sixth-starting Dan Schlieper while eighth-starting Michael England and 16th-starting Clint Smith rounded out the top five. Shannon Babb, making his first start in a car owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Clint Bowyer, dropped out with fewer than 10 laps down after advancing from 14th to eighth.
Notebook
Bloomquist's self-designed chassis has a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsorship from Miller Bros. Coal, Hawkeye Trucking and Allstar Performance. ... There were 17 cars running at the finish in a race slowed by three caution flags. ... The first caution appeared for Don O'Neal's engine problems but Brady Smith spun exiting turn two simultaneously and had to restart on the tail. ... Steve Shaver slowed to bring out a lap-eight caution. ... The lap-12 caution appeared when Anthony White stopped in turn three. ... Among Friday night newcomers were Chuck Harper of Beverly, W.Va., and former Dirt Track World Champion John Mason of Millersburg, Ohio. ... John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., was on hand before Thursday's rainout, but didn't qualify last night. He was debuting a new Bloomquist Race Car and posted a lap of just 17.539 seconds. ... Another new driver, Bodine Massengill of Jacksonville, Fla., ran into a little trouble in hot laps when his steering wheel came off on the frontstretch. Onrushing cars narrowly avoided him as his car veered into the infield. ... Shane Clanton had a flat left rear tire during time trials and spun between turns three and four. He charged through his heat race and up to fourth in his consolation and was awarded a feature starting spot by the track as the top driver in Super Bowl points not already in the main event. ... Provisional starters were Mark Vineyard (based on 2007 SAS points) and Kelly Boen (based on 2008 SAS points). .... Jimmy Owens lowered the track record before Thursday's rainout with a lap of 15.252 seconds. Track officials initially announced the record wouldn't stand, but revised that decision on Friday. ... Friday's weather was pleasant and clear with temperatures still hovering around 70 as hot laps began about 5 p.m. and the crowd was the biggest since the Super Bowl began on Jan. 23 with most of the grandstands full. ... Lisa Brown of Valdosta, Ga., took home more than $400 in the 50-50 drawing.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that Shannon Babb's car broke a rocker arm; he retired because he damaged his car hitting an infield tire barrier.
