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Robert Walden
BULLS GAP, Tenn. (March 22) - Volunteer Speedway kicked its 2008 racing season off Friday and Saturday with Branch Banking & Trust Co. and Rusty Wallace Toyota of Morristown presenting the Advance Auto Parts Thunder Series … $10,000-to-win "10th Annual BB&T/Toyota Tundra Spring Thaw 100" racing weekend.
Event Images - Spring Thaw 100 at Volunteer Speedway
The first day of spring arrived earlier in the week, but Saturday turned out to be a bone-chilling night in East Tennessee that had fans all bundled up braving the blustery wind and cold temperatures.
Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., a fan-favorite at "The Gap" dating back to his early racing career chauffeuring Street Stocks and Open Wheel Modifieds, has steadily climbed his way up the racing ladder over the last couple of years, winning several high-profile Super Late Model events on the national level.
Saturday night the "Newport Nightmare" Owens won the first Sunoco Race Fuels Quick Six Dash to earn the pole position for the Spring Thaw 100, with Scott Bloomquist finishing second to nail down the outside front-row starting berth. Owens launched into the lead at the drop of the green and proceeded to lead flag-to-flag, though he had to hold off several late-race charges from Bloomquist as the lead duo negotiated lapped traffic en route to his $10,000 victory.
"First of all let me say, it's always good getting to come back home to Volunteer Speedway to race before people who have watched me since I first strapped-in a race car," said a smiling Owens back at his hauler in the pits following the victory lane ceremonies. "Racing is all about winning, and it's even better when you can win before local people … many that I've known for basically all of my life. Getting to race a Super Late Model every week all around the country against all the best drivers in the business, I guess you could say I'm getting to 'live out a dream' that I had back when I first began driving a Street Stock.
"We had a really good race car (Bloomquist Race Cars) this weekend, as we proved last night in qualifying by setting fast-time and then backing the quick time up by winning our heat race. I told my crew chief (Chris Fox) that we really needed to win the dash tonight so we could start up front, because with the strong field of cars assembled here - it means so much to begin the race with a clear track ahead of you. I know the fans had to love seeing myself and Scott (Bloomquist) side-by-side on the front row for the start. Once on the gas (throttle) at the waving of the green, our car really took off. I kind of figured that whoever grabbed the lead there on the start between me and Scott, it would be tough to get around whoever was out front."
With 46 cars signing-in for qualifying, Owens toured the high-banked, 4/10-mile oval at 12.408-seconds (116.050 mph) Friday night to set fast time and earn the Powermaster Performance Pole Award.
Owens backed his fast qualifying run up by winning the first of four 10-lap heat races, which transferred the top-4 finishers from each heat into Saturday night's $10,000-to-win BB&T/Toyota Tundra 10th Annual Spring Thaw 100. Owens was followed across the stripe by Vic Hill, Jeff Maupin and Brad Neat.
Brandon Kinzer of Allen, Ky., sixth quickest in time trials, launched into the lead over second-fastest qualifier Shanon Buckingham at the drop of the green in the second heat. Kinzer held Buckingham off for the victory, with Ray Cook and Dale McDowell finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., the defending and four-time Spring Thaw 100 winner, cruised to victory in the third heat over Rick Rogers, Mike Weeks and John Blankenship.
Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., led wire-to-wire in winning the fourth heat over Mike Marlar, Dusty Carver and Mark Douglas.
Billy Ogle Jr. and Tommy Kerr each won West Haven Speed Equipment B-mains on Saturday night.
Owens and Bloomquist raced down the front straightaway into the first turn at the drop of the green flag, but Bloomquist's car pushed and slid up the banking between turns one and two allowing Kinzer, Madden, Hill and Buckingham to all pass him. The event's first caution waved early, when Billy Ogle Jr. looped his mount just off turn two.
With double-file restarts being used during the first half of the Spring Thaw 100, on the restart Owens was all alone ahead of Kinzer and Madden, with Hill and Buckingham lined up side-by-side behind them. Bloomquist was rim-riding up top around turns one and two on the fourth circuit, passing Buckingham to move into fifth. One circuit later he disposed of Hill to take over the fourth spot, and the following lap he moved past Kinzer into third place.
With Owens and Madden running one-two, Bloomquist set them in his line of sight, quickly closing to the rear spoiler of Madden. Searching up top and down low for a way around, Bloomquist got a strong run on the high-side racing off the second corner on lap 16 to pass Madden and move into the runner-up position. Just one circuit later on lap 17, caution waved when Ray Cook slowed on the front straightaway with a flat left-rear tire.
Back under green, Owens and Bloomquist in the matter of eight laps put a full-straightaway between themselves and Madden, Kinzer and Hill. Eighth-starting Mike Marlar passed Buckingham to take over the sixth spot on lap 33 racing off turn two.
Working on lapping cars running at the tail of the lead-lap, up front the battle between Owens and Bloomquist for the lead on lap 45 got interesting approaching the halfway point in the Spring Thaw 100. Racing off the fourth turn and with five cars engaged in their own fight for position in front of them, just past the start/finish line Owens and Bloomquist made it three-wide as they split fellow Bloomquist Race Cars driver Kerry Jones in attempting to lap him. With cars stacked up two- and three-wide, the caution waved for debris on lap 46.
Owens was by himself out front, with Bloomquist and Madden behind. Back up to speed, Hill moved around Kinzer into fourth. Only one lap back green, Madden slowed with a flat tire to bring out the caution.
With the race now past halfway, the field lined-up single file for the restart with Owens still riding on the point followed by Bloomquist and Hill. Owens and Bloomquist pulled away from Hill, who was showing the way over Kinzer and Buckingham. Following his trip into the pits for the flat tire on lap 47, Madden was blazing his way back up through the field, passing Brad Neat on lap 60 to take over tenth in the running order, and just five circuits later on lap 65 he maneuvered his way past Michael England into eighth place.
Out front Owens appeared to be in command with an open track in front of him, but when closing in on slower cars to lap them, Bloomquist would close back in on the rear bumper of the race leader. With Jones, Rick Rogers, Anthony White, Tommy Kerr and Billy Ogle Jr. all ahead of Owens and Bloomquist, one wrong decision when attempting to overtake the last (Jones) of the aforementioned cars in line would spell disaster for Owens.
With Bloomquist pulling up along the outside of Owens racing down the front straightaway into the first turn on lap 81, Owens took matters into his own hands and dove to the inside of Jones - forcing Jones up the track. With Jones trying to hang on to his mount, he almost collected the second-running Bloomquist when he slowed to a stop in turn two bringing out the caution flag.
"Lapped traffic, it cost me a big win last summer at the 'Scorcher 100' … and I had a couple of close calls here tonight," said Owens. "When you're racing up front for the win, and you've got somebody like Scott Bloomquist just in your shadows waiting to pounce on you, sometimes you've just got to take care of business and let the slower cars know they've held you up long enough. I don't ever like having to move somebody, but once you lose a big race because of a slower car - you take that as a lesson learned and don't let it bite you a second time.
"The flagman had showed the layover flag for a couple of laps to the (6-car) and those directly in line in front of him. Those guys were all battling for positions amongst themselves, and I understand that. But late in the race and when you're locked in a battle for the lead, you've just got to 'get the job done.' I made a little bit of contact with the Kerry Jones car and I hate it, but hopefully his guys have let him know at that point it was either going to be keeping the lead or Bloomquist overtaking me for the point. It was just one of those racing deals, the man who had led the whole race having to protect his real estate."
The "racing deal" from that point to the waving of the checkered flag was, Owens, driving the Reece Monument Co./Gantte Appraisals/Wear Development of Pigeon Forge/Performance Rod & Custom/VP Racing Fuel/Ohlins Shocks/Hoosier Racing Tires/Cornett Thunder Racing Engines/Bloomquist Race Cars/No. 20 Ford Fusion - stayed ahead of Bloomquist to bank the $10,000 for winning the Spring Thaw 100. Finishing third through fifth, respectively, were Hill, Kinzer and Buckingham.
Completing the top-10 finishers were Marlar, Madden, John Blankenship, England and Neat.
"I want to thank Mike Reece (Reece Monument Co. of Tazewell), George Gantte (Gantte Appraisals of Dandridge) and everyone supporting my racing program for allowing me to be able to race at this level," stated Owens. "We've got a really good thing going with our deal. Scott (Bloomquist) really knows what he's doing in building these Bloomquist Race Cars, and we've got good horsepower under the hood, too. I also want to thank my crew chief Chris Fox, along with Chad Bryant, Buddy Fox, Jeremy Shepherd, Larry Seaton, Shane Maxwell and David Prizer for all of their help working on the car."
The strong third-place run for Hill, a four-time track champion (1997, '98, 2000 & '05) … left "The Thrill" looking forward to the 2008 racing season. "We'll definitely take our finish tonight and hopefully let it be the launching pad for a good year. You know, I'm not really sure I had anything for Jimmy (Owens) and Scott (Bloomquist). But I had 'em in sight. Those guys are awfully tough to beat. I was really hoping we'd get one more caution there towards the end to tighten us up for one more restart. You never know what might happen. But coming out of here tonight with a third behind Jimmy and Scott is great. I'm just happy to be able to have a strong top-five run in one of these big races here at Volunteer Speedway."
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS THUNDER SERIES - "BB&T/TOYOTA TUNDRA 10th ANNUAL SPRING THAW 100"
Showing Finishing Position, Starting Position In Parentheses, Driver Name, Car Number, Hometown, Money Won
1. (1) Jimmy Owens #20-Newport, TN $10,000
2. (2) Scott Bloomquist #0-Mooresburg, TN $5,000
3. (5) Vic Hill #1-Morristown, TN $2,500
4. (3) Brandon Kinzer #18-Allen, KY $1,800
5. (6) Shanon Buckingham #50-Morristown, TN $1,500
6. (8) Mike Marlar #157-Winfield, TN $1,000
7. (4) Chris Madden #44-Gray Court, SC $900
8. (15) John Blankenship #23-Williamson, WV $800
9. (23) Michael England #5e-Glasgow, KY $750
10. (13) Brad Neat #41-Dunnville, KY $725
11. (17) Billy Ogle Jr. #201-Knoxville, TN $700
12. (7) Rick Rogers #44r-Knoxville, TN $675
13. (18) Tommy Kerr #4T-Maryville, TN $650
14. (23) Anthony White #2x-Clinton, TN $625
15. (24) Kerry Jones #6-Bristol, TN $600
16. (9) Ray Cook #53-Brasstown, NC $575
17. (14) Dale McDowell #17m-Chickamauga, GA $550
18. (24) David Payne #8-Murphy, NC $525
19. (16) Mark Douglas #52-Knoxville, TN $500
20. (20) Stacy Boles #11b-Claxton, TN $500
21. (10) Jeff Maupin #0m-Greeneville, TN $500
22. (11) Mike Weeks #22-Friendsville, TN $500
23. (19) Mark Vineyard #4-Powell, TN $500
24. (12) Dusty Carver #9-Englewood, TN $500
Heat #1 : 1) Jimmy Owens #20; 2) Vic Hill #1; 3) Jeff Maupin #0m; 4) Brad Neat #41; 5) Billy Ogle Jr. #201; 6) Kerry Jones #6; 7) Randy Weaver #116; 8) D.J. Wells #11w; 9) Steve Smith #3; 10) Shon Flanary #98; 11) Chad Ogle #10; 12) DeWayne Pesterfield #28p
Heat #2 : 1) Brandon Kinzer #18; 2) Shanon Buckingham #50; 3) Ray Cook #53; 4) Dale McDowell #17m; 5) Tommy Kerr #4T; 6) Michael England #5e; 7) John King Jr. #11k; 8) Brian Smith #7; 9) David Payne #8; 10) Marty Calloway #7c; 11) April Farmer #14; 12) Richard Smith #00
Heat #3 : 1) Scott Bloomquist #0; 2) Rick Rogers $44r; 3) Mike Weeks #22; 4) John Blankenship #23; 5) Anthony White #2x; 6) Mark Vineyard #4v; 7) John Gill #1g; 8) Damon Eller #I4; 9) Mike Smith #4s; 10) Eric Wells #18w; 11) Jeremy Carr #4c
Heat #4 : 1) Chris Madden #44; 2) Mike Marlar #157; 3) Dusty Carver #9; 4) Mark Douglas #52; 5) Stacy Boles #11b; 6) Dan Tipton #12T; 7) Michael Jackson #Q; 8) Jeff Wolfenbarger #28; 9) Bobby Mays #25; 10) Jeff Neubert #86; 11) Roger Best #007
Sunoco Race Fuels - Quick Six Dash #1 (Determines Starting Positions 1-6): 1) Jimmy Owens #20; 2) Scott Bloomquist #0; 3) Brandon Kinzer #18; 4) Chris Madden #44; 5) Vic Hill #1; 6) Shanon Buckingham #50
Sunoco Race Fuels - Quick Six Dash #2 (Determines Starting Positions 7-12): 1) Rick Rogers #44r; 2) Mike Marlar #157; 3) Ray Cook #53; 4) Jeff Maupin #0m; 5) Mike Weeks #22; 6) Dusty Carver #9
West Haven Speed Equipment B-main #1 (12 laps - Top 2 Transfer): 1) Billy Ogle Jr. #201; 2) Mark Vineyard #4; 3) John Gill #1g; 4) Steve Smith #3; 5) D.J. Wells #11w; 6) Chad Ogle #10; 7) Damon Eller #I4; 8) Eric Wells #18w; 9) Mike Smith #4s; 10) Jeremy Carr #4c; 11) Kerry Jones #6; 12) Anthony White #2x
West Haven Speed Equipment B-main #2 (12 laps - Top 2 Transfer): 1) Tommy Kerr #4t; 2) Stacy Boles #11b; 3) Michael England #5e; 4) Michael Jackson #Q; 5) David Payne #8; 6) John King Jr. #11k; 7) Jeff Wolfenbarger #28; 8) Bobby Mays #25; 9) April Farmer #14; 10) Marty Calloway #7c; 11) Richard Smith #00; 12) Jeff Neubert #86; 13) Dan Tipton #12
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