World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Smoky Mountain Speedway
May 9, 2015
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Bloomquist Cruises To Convincing Victory In Smoky Mountain Speedway Mountain Outlaw 50Former World of Outlaws Late Model Series Champion Leads All 50 Laps to Claim Second Series Victory of 2015
WoOLMS PR
MARYVILLE, Tenn. (May 9) - Scott Bloomquist made winning Saturday night's Mountain Outlaw 50 Presented by NAPA look easy, but there was so much more that went into his dominating performance than the 50 flawless laps he ran around Smoky Mountain Speedway.
Jim Denhamer Photos |
Chad Wells Photos |
Michael Moats Photos After struggling to get his self-designed Sweet-Bloomquist car to perform to his liking for most of the season, Bloomquist, 51, of Mooresburg, Tenn., and his team undertook a complete rebuild on the car in preparation for Saturday's World of Outlaws Late Model Series event. The hard work paid off with Bloomquist cruising to a $10,125 victory in front of a near-capacity crowd at the East Tennessee oval.
"We worked all week on this car," said Bloomquist, the 2004 WoO LMS champion who recorded his second series victory of the season and 28th of his Hall-of-Fame career. "We'd been having trouble with it, so this week we stripped it down completely to the frame, cut it in three pieces and put it back together. I was pretty confident it was gonna run good tonight."
Bloomquist was dominant all night in his Reece Monuments-sponsored ride. He posted the fastest time in his qualifying group, led every lap of his heat race and controlled the entire distance of the 50-lap A-Main after drawing the pole position in the night's top-eight redraw. He built a lead of more than seven seconds during a 30-lap green-flag run and pulled away from Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., after the race's final restart on lap 32.
"It's nice when they run a big race here and we can win," said Bloomquist whose shop is roughly an hour and a half drive from Smoky Mountain Speedway. "We go home feeling good and got our confidence high knowing we got two really good race cars."
The second-starting Cook settled for the runner-up finish after holding off a fierce challenge from Lanigan, who advanced from his fifth starting spot to finish third. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., rallied from the 17th starting position to finish fourth with 10th-starting Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., rounding out the race's top five finishers.
Making his first WoO LMS appearance of the season, Cook was solid in his Jay Dickens-powered Capital Race Car, matching his career-best WoO LMS finish. But the 43-year-old veteran racer couldn't keep pace with Bloomquist.
"He shows up every now and then and spoils the show," Cook said of Bloomquist's impressive performance. "He's had a good year, but not to his standards. He's back rolling now it looks like."
After moving into third on lap 21, Lanigan pressured Cook for most of the second half of the race. The three-time and defending WoO LMS champion felt his Cornett-powered Club 29 house car was capable of running with Bloomquist, but he never got the chance to show it as he failed to find a way around Cook.
"I would've liked to have got up there and raced with (Bloomquist) at the front," said Lanigan, who is still looking for his first WoO LMS victory of the season after last year winning a single-season record 17 series races. "It was a little hard to pass, but we had a pretty good hot rod."
Lanigan's third-place effort moved him back ahead of fellow three-time WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., for second in the series standings. Richards, who finished sixth in Saturday's race trails Lanigan by two points. The two past champions are chasing Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., who now leads the chase by 90 points after a seventh-place finish on Saturday.
Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., was eighth at the finish of Saturday's A-Main with 18th-starting Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., and Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., rounding out the top 10 in a race slowed by two cautions.
Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., saw a potential top-five finish go awry when his right-rear tire blew out and caused the lap-32 caution. The 2014 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year ended up 15th at the finish. Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., was also denied a top five when he slowed from fourth with two laps remaining.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series returns to action May 23-24 with the Jackpot 100 weekend at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. The two-race event features an $8,000-to-win WoO LMS program on Sat., May 23 and a $10,000-to-win race on Sun., May 24.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit
www.worldofoutlaws.com.
A-Main
1 1 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN (50) $10,000
2 2 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC (50)
3 5 29 Darrell Lanigan Union, KY (50)
4 17 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY (50)
5 10 1* Chub Frank Bear Lake, PA (50)
6 8 1 Josh Richards Shinnston, WV (50)
7 7 25 Shane Clanton Zebulon, GA (50)
8 12 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN (50)
9 18 157 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN (50)
10 11 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY (50)
11 21 116 Randy Weaver Crossville, TN (50)
12 3 99 Derek Ellis Chatsworth, GA (50)
13 9 7 Donald McIntosh Dawsonville, GA (50)
14 15 18 Eric Wells Hazard, KY (50)
15 4 99Jr Frank Heckenast Jr. Orland Park, IL (49)
16 23 14M Morgan Bagley Tyler, TX (49)
17 24 18c Chase Junghans Manhattan, KS (49)
18 13 7v Rick Eckert York, PA (48)
19 14 17M Dale McDowell Chickamaugua, GA (47)
20 19 76 Brandon Overton Appleton, GA (41)
21 20 7R Kent Robinson Bloomington, IN (34)
22 6 1h Vic Hill Mosheim, TN (28)
23 16 11 Austin Smith Cedartown, GA (22)
24 22 5 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN (16)
B-Main #1
1 39 Tim McCreadie
2 76 Brandon Overton
3 116 Randy Weaver
4 14M Morgan Bagley
5 18c Chase Junghans
6 201 Billy Ogle Jr
7 4T Tommy Kerr
8 23 Cory Hedgecock
9 28 Jeff Wolfenbarger
10 99B Boom Briggs
B-Main #2
1 157 Mike Marlar
2 7R Kent Robinson
3 5 Don O'Neal
4 52D Mark Dougles
5 25z Mason Zeigler
6 777 Jared Landers
7 77 Jordan Yaggy
8 4 Mark Vineyard
dns C5 David Crabtree
dns 31 Skip Arp
Heat #1
1 1 Josh Richards
2 1H Vic Hill
3 7 Donald McIntosh
4 7V Rick Eckert
5 39 Tim McCreadie
6 116 Randy Weaver
7 23 Cory Hedgecock
8 28 Jeff Wolfenbarger
9 4T Tommy Kerr
Heat #2
1 25 Shane Clanton
2 99jr Frank Heckenast Jr
3 1* Chub Frank
4 17M Dale McDowell
5 76 Brandon Overton
6 14M Morgan Bagley
7 99B Boom Briggs
8 18c Chase Junghans
dns 201 Billy Ogle Jr
Heat #4
1 0 Scott Bloomquist
2 99 Derek Ellis
3 15 Steve Francis
4 18 Eric Wells
5 157 Mike Marlar
6 7R Kent Robinson
7 C5 David Crabtree
8 777 Jared Landers
9 77 Jordan Yaggy
Heat #4
1 53 Ray Cook
2 29 Darrell Lanigan
3 20 Jimmy Owens
4 11 Austin Smith
5 52D Mark Dougles
6 5 Don O'Neal
7 4 Mark Vineyard
8 25z Mason Zeigler
dns 31 Skip Arp
Group A Qualfying
1 1 Josh Richards 15.396
2 99jr Frank Heckenast Jr 15.651
3 116 Randy Weaver 15.670
4 25 Shane Clanton 15.722
5 7 Donald McIntosh 15.723
6 1* Chub Frank 15.725
7 1H Vic Hill 15.737
8 17M Dale McDowell 15.740
9 7V Rick Eckert 15.741
10 76 Brandon Overton 15.749
11 23 Cory Hedgecock 15.869
12 14M Morgan Bagley 15.885
13 39 Tim McCreadie 15.890
14 18c Chase Junghans 15.906
15 4T Tommy Kerr 16.135
16 201 Billy Ogle Jr 16.170
17 28 Jeff Wolfenbarger 16.204
18 99B Boom Briggs 16.377
Group B Qualifying
1 0 Scott Bloomquist 15.479
2 20 Jimmy Owens 15.699
3 99 Derek Ellis 15.810
4 53 Ray Cook 15.847
5 15 Steve Francis 15.899
6 5 Don O'Neal 15.912
7 157 Mike Marlar 15.922
8 11 Austin Smith 15.971
9 C5 David Crabtree 15.977
10 52D Mark Dougles 16.007
11 7R Kent Robinson 16.019
12 29 Darrell Lanigan 16.081
13 18 Eric Wells 16.243
14 4 Mark Vineyard 16.406
15 77 Jordan Yaggy 16.481
16 25z Mason Zeigler 16.497
17 31 Skip Arp no time
18 777 Jared Landers no time
Event Photos courtesy of Jim Denhamer 
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