World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Volusia Speedway Park
February 22, 2014
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Florida’s Kyle Bronson Pulls Off World of Outlaws Late Model Series Shocker In DIRTcar Nationals by Summit Finale
Young Sunshine State Racer Tames Star-Studded Field At Volusia Speedway Park For First-Ever Super Late Model Victory

by Kevin Kovac
BARBERVILLE, FL (February 22) – Kyle Bronson of Tampa, Fla., became the latest upset winner of a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event, capturing Saturday night’s 50-lap A-Main at Volusia Speedway Park for his first-ever victory behind the wheel of a Super Late Model.

A 23-year-old open-wheel Modified standout in the Sunshine State, Bronson joined Thursday-night victor Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., as unexpected first-time WoO LMS winners during the 43rd DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment. His $10,500 triumph in the finale of the mid-winter motorsports meet also was the second of the week for a home state driver following the win by Ivedent Lloyd Jr. of Ocala, Fla., in the DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned event on Feb. 17.

“This is unbelievable,” said Bronson, whose win came in the just the eighth Super Late Model start of his fledgling racing career. “I’ve never doubted myself, but I dang sure didn’t think I was gonna come here and win the race. If you would’ve asked me (about winning a WoO LMS event) a couple days ago, I would’ve told you that you were crazy. We had our goals set (for the DIRTcar Nationals) to try and make all of (the features).

“I don’t know what to say. I’m so excited I don’t even know how to show it right now.”

Bronson started from the pole position but was outgunned for the lead at the initial green flag by John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va. Bronson held strong in second, however, and rallied to grab the top spot from Blankenship on lap 17.

Bronson then survived two caution flags, strong challenges from Blankenship and Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., and a final-corner stumble to secure the milestone score. He crossed the finish line 0.706 of a second in front of two-time WoO LMS champion and current points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who inherited second when McDowell retired on lap 41 due to a broken right-rear caliper but wasn’t able to seriously threaten Bronson.

Blankenship settled for a third-place finish after leading laps 1-16. Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., slipped out of the top five midway through the race but came back to finish fourth and clinch the overall DIRTcar Nationals by Summit Late Model points title for the first time in his career. Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., completed the top five after starting 10th, earning his best finish of the week in his Clint Bowyer Racing mount.

Bloomquist, 50, emerged as the DIRTcar Nationals by Summit champion after never finishing worse than sixth in the week’s five A-Mains. He received a coveted gator-shaped trophy for his accomplishment.

“We’re proud to get it,” Bloomquist of the unique hardware that has become a trademark of the DIRTcar Nationals by Summit. “We’ve never run every race here during the week, but we decided to do it this year and I felt like we ran really good. We had a little problem with the car tonight that I don’t really want to mention, but we still had a decent run and were good all week.”

Bloomquist – nor anyone else in the talent-laden field – was able to handle Bronson. Running a Rocket car/ProPower engine combination owned by his uncle and aunt, Wayne and Shirlene Hammond of Tampa, Fla., Bronson demonstrated ability that belied his limited experience in open-competition Late Model racing.

When Blankenship jumped out to the early lead, Bronson didn’t lose his composure. He simply took the advice of Rocket Chassis co-owner Mark Richards, who provided valuable setup assistance throughout the week, and remained patient.

“Mark Richards told me at the beginning of the race that Blankenship was gonna drive real hard and he told me not to race him,” said Bronson. “He told me to ride as long as I could until an opportunity showed up. I tried to ride as long as I could, but when I had my opportunity (to make an outside pass for the lead on lap 17) I didn’t want to follow him no more. I kind of wanted to get myself in clean air.”

Moments after assuming command, Bronson was taken out of lapped traffic by a lap-20 caution flag for Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who slowed in turn three. The race’s only other caution flag, on lap 35 when Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., slowed with a crushed nosepiece sustained when he ran into the back of York, Pa. driver Rick Eckert’s car, also kept Bronson free of slower traffic.

“I usually hate seeing cautions, but I was actually happy to see every caution I seen because it got me back into clean air,” said Bronson, who was under heavy pressure from Blankenship and McDowell when the yellow flag flew on lap 35.

Once McDowell, who passed Blankenship for second place on the lap-35 restart, pulled off on lap 41 – just a few laps before he said he planned to step up his bid for victory – Bronson was effectively home free. His only scare was a slip rounding turn four with the checkered flag waving in front of him.
“I started getting tighter and tighter and kind of jumped the cushion down there, misjudged it,” Bronson said of the final lap. “I was kind of getting ready for a slide job (from a challenger) and actually just missed my corner. Fortunately I was able to gather it back up and hold on.”

Bronson got back in the groove in time to register by far the biggest win of his career, which he launched a mere three years ago. He’s already piled up more than 60 open-wheel Modified victories – including a DIRTcar Nationals by Summit UMP Modified triumph on Feb. 12 – and a handful of wins in spec- and crate-engine Late Model events in Florida, but none compare to this success.

“I just can’t thank all my guys enough, especially (team owners) Wayne and Shirlene (Hammond),” said Bronson, whose two previous WoO LMS A-Main starts resulted in finishes of 24th on Aug. 5, 2013, at Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway and 25th on Thursday night at Volusia (he failed to qualify for the 2013 USA Nationals at Wisconsin’s Cedar Lake Speedway in his WoO LMS debut). “If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be driving this race car. I’d be back at East Bay (Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla.) racing Street Stocks.”

With his victory, Bronson became the fourth first-time DIRTcar Nationals by Summit winner during this year’s five nights of Late Model competition. He also joined Roberts to become the first back-to-back first-time winners on the WoO LMS since 2012 when Brad Neat (April 27 at North Alabama Speedway) and Bub McCool (April 28 at Tennessee’s Tazewell Speedway) logged career-first victories.

Frankie Heckenast Jr. of Orland Park, Ill., finished sixth after running as high as fourth midway through the race. Eckert, meanwhile, quietly worked his way forward from the 16th starting spot to place seventh; Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., finished eighth; Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., guided the Rocket Chassis house car to a ninth-place finish after using a provisional to start 23rd; and Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., capped his strong Florida Speedweeks with a 10th-place outing.

With 35 cars entered in the evening’s action, Ohlins Shocks Time Trials were split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups. The first half competed for starting positions in heats one and two and the second half racied against the clock to align heats three and four.

Bloomquist turned a lap of 16.726 seconds in Group ‘A’ that was the quickest overall of the night. It was his first WoO LMS fast-time honor of 2014 and the 11th of his career.

Heat winners were Bloomquist, Lanigan, McDowell and Heckenast. Lloyd and Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., captured the B-Mains.

The WoO LMS will sit idle for one month before returning to action with a doubleheader on Fri., March 28, at Lonestar Speedway in Kilgore, Texas, and Sat., March 29, at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark.

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.

A-Main
1 1 40B Kyle Bronson Brandon, FL $10,000
2 8 29 Darrell Lanigan Union, KY
3 2 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
4 5 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
5 10 5 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
6 6 99Jr Frankie Heckenast Orland Park, IL
7 16 24 Rick Eckert York, PA
8 14 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
9 23 1 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, IL
10 13 2 Brady Smith Solon Springs, WI
11 15 44 Clint Smith Senoia, GA
12 24 14M Morgan Bagley Longview, TX
13 25 18 Eric Wells Hazard, KY
14 19 19 Tim Fuller Watertown, NY
15 17 21L Ivedent Lloyd Jr. Ocala, FL
16 12 22 Gregg Satterlee Indiana, PA
17 18 99b Rick Briggs Bear Lake, PA
18 9 25 Shane Clanton Zebulon, GA
19 7 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY
20 21 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA
21 27 1* Chub Frank Bear Lake, PA
22 4 28 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville, IL
23 11 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR
24 3 17m Dale McDowell Chickmauga, GA
25 26 81 Brian Shirley Chatham, IL
26 22 38 Kenny Pettyjohn Millsboro, DE
27 20 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN

B-Main #1  
1 2 21L Ivedent Lloyd Jr. Ocala, FL
2 3 19 Tim Fuller Watertown, NY
3 5 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA
4 6 14M Morgan Bagley Longview, TX
5 4 18 Eric Wells Hazard, KY
6 1 24m Kenny Moreland Waldorf, MD
7 8 18c Chase Junghans Manhattan, KS
8 7 1* Chub Frank Bear Lake, PA
9 9 57 Chuck Julien Apopka, FL

B-Main #2  
1 1 99b Rick Briggs Bear Lake, PA
2 2 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
3 3 38 Kenny Pettyjohn Millsboro, DE
4 8 1 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, IL
5 4 81 Brian Shirley Chatham, IL
6 7 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
7 5 18x Jack Sullivan Greenbrier, AR
8 9 17J John Winge Sioux Falls, SD
9 6 21d Dan Stone Thompson, PA

Heat #1  
1 1 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
2 2 28 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville, IL
3 5 25 Shane Clanton Zebulon, GA
4 6 2 Brady Smith Solon Springs, WI
5 3 24m Kenny Moreland Waldorf, MD
6 4 19 Tim Fuller Watertown, NY
7 7 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA
8 8 1* Chub Frank Bear Lake, PA
9 9 57 Chuck Julien Apopka, FL

Heat #2  
1 1 29 Darrell Lanigan Union, KY
2 3 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY
3 5 5 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
4 7 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
5 2 21L Ivedent Lloyd Jr. Ocala, FL
6 4 18 Eric Wells Hazard, KY
7 8 14M Morgan Bagley Longview, TX
8 6 18c Chase Junghans Manhattan, KS

Heat #3  
1 1 17m Dale McDowell Chickmauga, GA
2 2 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
3 3 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR
4 4 44 Clint Smith Senoia, GA
5 5 99b Rick Briggs Bear Lake, PA
6 7 38 Kenny Pettyjohn Millsboro, DE
7 8 18x Jack Sullivan Greenbrier, AR
8 6 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
9 9 17J John Winge Sioux Falls, SD

Heat #4  
1 5 99Jr Frankie Heckenast Orland Park, IL
2 1 40B Kyle Bronson Brandon, FL
3 4 22 Gregg Satterlee Indiana, PA
4 3 24 Rick Eckert York, PA
5 2 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
6 8 81 Brian Shirley Chatham, IL
7 6 21d Dan Stone Thompson, PA
8 7 1 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, IL

Group A Qualifying    
1 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN 16.726
2 29 Darrell Lanigan Union, KY 17.079
3 28 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville, IL 17.090
4 21L Ivedent Lloyd Jr. Ocala, FL 17.141
5 24m Kenny Moreland Waldorf, MD 17.248
6 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY 17.254
7 19 Tim Fuller Watertown, NY 17.304
8 18 Eric Wells Hazard, KY 17.305
9 25 Shane Clanton Zebulon, GA 17.315
10 5 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN 17.342
11 2 Brady Smith Solon Springs, WI 17.365
12 99Jr Frankie Heckenast Orland Park, IL 17.427
13 18c Chase Junghans Manhattan, KS 17.429
14 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA 17.503
15 1 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, IL 17.527
16 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY 17.554
17 1* Chub Frank Bear Lake, PA 17.564
18 38 Kenny Pettyjohn Millsboro, DE 17.607
19 14M Morgan Bagley Longview, TX 17.680
20 57 Chuck Julien Apopka, FL 18.552

Group B Qualifying    
1 17m Dale McDowell Chickmauga, GA 17.230
2 40B Kyle Bronson Brandon, FL 17.405
3 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV 17.421
4 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR 17.477
5 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN 17.478
6 44 Clint Smith Senoia, GA 17.514
7 99b Rick Briggs Bear Lake, PA 17.533
8 24 Rick Eckert York, PA 17.563
9 22 Gregg Satterlee Indiana, PA 17.608
10 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR 17.624
11 21d Dan Stone Thompson, PA 17.628
12 18x Jack Sullivan Greenbrier, AR 17.828
13 81 Brian Shirley Chatham, IL 18.023
14 17J John Winge Sioux Falls, SD 18.969