Bluegrass Speedway
Owens ends Bloomquist's Bluegrass Classic streak
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Owens waves to the crowd. (DirtonDirt.com)
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (Aug. 23) — Scott Bloomquist built a half-straightaway lead early at Bluegrass Speedway and appeared as if he'd roll to his fourth consecutive victory in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Bluegrass Classic. Jimmy Owens dashed those plans. | Postrace notebook | Slideshow
Moving up to challenge after 25 laps, the third-starting Newport, Tenn., driver overtook Bloomquist on the 29th lap, fought off a few mid-race challenges from the three-time race winner, then cruised to a caution-free, 60-lap victory worth $10,000 in front of a huge crowd.
"I didn't know if he thought if he had a big lead or not, but we were able to chase him down and catch him at the right time. It paid off for us," said Owens, who drove his Bloomquist Race Car to victory over the chassis designer. "Scott builds a heckuva car. For us to be able to outrun him in his own stuff is pretty awesome."
Bloomquist, finishing a full straightaway behind after getting hung up behind the lapped car of polesitter Tim Tungate the final dozen laps, settled for second with fast qualifier Darren Miller of Milledgeville, Ill., third after trying to win his third Lucas Oil event in the last four races. Series points leader Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., was fourth and Michael England of Glasgow, Ky., was fifth as the top finishing home-state driver.
Bloomquist started outside the front row and quickly pulled away as Owens worked on Tungate several laps before getting into second on lap eight. Bloomquist's half-straightaway lead evaporated when he entered lapped traffic on lap 14, and soon Bloomquist, Owens and the fifth-starting Miller were bunched while weaving through the slower cars.
Owens turned up the wick on lap 25, and Bloomquist appeared to answer the challenge but pushing his car harder. But as Bloomquist maneuvered through slower cars, Owens got the edge exiting turn two on the 29th lap and maintained his advantage as Bloomquist took swipes to regain the lead as the frontrunners ran behind a pack of seven slower cars.
By lap 35, as racing filtered into a single groove, the frontrunners were landlocked among slower cars with Tungate leading a long stretch of cars, with Owens and Bloomquist sprinkled in.
Owens slipped under Terry Casey on the 40th lap to put a three-lapped car cushion between his No. 20 and Bloomquist, then he went under Tungate on lap 43 and had clear racetrack the rest of the race. Bloomquist, meanwhile, never found a way past Tungate and didn't get a chance to try and track down the winner.
"I knew it was going to be harder and harder to pass, so I was trying to get as many (lapped cars) between me and Scott as I could, and we were able to get a couple between us," said Owens, whose team installed a fresh powerplant after breaking a motor two nights earlier in Bulls Gap, Tenn. "We started out and had a great track, and then there toward the end, it started locking down a little bit and getting one-grooved. We were able to make the pass early enough and bring it home."
Said Bloomquist: "I didn't think that Jimmy really got away that much for how bad that guy was holding me up, but even so, if we'd have gotten to him, it was rubbered up too much for us to get by (Owens), too."
Notes: Owens drove a Bloomquist Race Car powered by a Cornett-build Ford engine and had sponsorship from Reece Monument and Gantte Appraisals. ... While Owens broke a motor two nights earlier at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., he won a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event on Wednesday night at Bulls Gap. ... Owens has eight career Lucas Oil victories, sixth on the all-time list; his most recent victory came May 31 at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky. ... While no cautions slowed the feature, among drivers pulling out were Mike Marlar (lap 14), Kevin Claycomb (lap 14) and Aaron Hatton (lap 31). ... Several drivers were in cars they don't frequently drive. John Gill piloted the Tim Logan-owned No. 11 (driven by several drivers over the years). ... Jason Keltner drove the Harrod Farms-backed No. 59 (it was his fourth start in the car) while modified ace Joey Kramer guested in Keltner's family-backed ride. ... Hatton piloted the No. 44 Robert Earl Motorsports entry. ... Track provisional Johnny Wheeler has recently started driving the Sidney Sprague-owned No. 1x. ... The Lucas Oil tour has two events over Labor Day weekend, Saturday at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park and Sunday at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va., for the $40,000-to-win Hillbilly 100, the richest-ever purse for one of the longest running Dirt Late Model specials.
Lucas Oil @ Bluegrass: (1) Jimmy Owens, (2) Scott Bloomquist, (3) Darren Miller, (4) Earl Pearson Jr., (5) Michael England, (6) Bart Hartman, (7) Jeep Van Wormer, (8) Jason Keltner, (9) Brad Neat, (10) Steve Casebolt, (11) Tim Tungate, (12) Terry Casey, (13) Billy Drake, (14) John Gill, (15) Jordan Bland, (16) Joey Kramer, (17) Dustin Neat, (18) Scott James, (19) Justin Rattliff, (20) Wayne Chinn, (21) Johnny Wheeler, (22) Aaron Hatton, (23) Vic Hill, (24) Mike Marlar, (25) Kevin Claycomb. Fast qualifier (among 48 cars): Miller, 15.660 seconds. Heat race winners: Tungate, Owens, England, Bloomquist. Consolation winners: Hill, Gill. Provisional starters: Rattliff, James, Wheeler.
