BULLS GAP, TN – Aug. 23, 2007 – Scott Bloomquist and his boys shined once again in a major dirt Late Model event.
But this time, on Thursday night at Volunteer Speedway, Bloomquist didn’t lead the charge of his ‘Team Zero’ chassis across the finish line.
Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., stepped up to win the fourth annual Scorcher 100 Presented by Young Oil Co., pacing a memorable sweep of the $100,000-plus race’s top-four finishing positions by Bloomquist-built cars.
After finishing second to Bloomquist in several special shows over the past two years – including the 2006 ‘Scorcher 100’ and two big-money races this season – Madden broke through for a huge victory worth $20,225. He overtook his mentor for second place on a lap-41 restart and passed fellow ‘Team Zero’ driver Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., for the lead on lap 95 en route to his second World of Outlaws Late Model Series win of 2007.
Owens, who led laps 14-94, settled for the $7,625 runner-up money, just ahead of Bloomquist and Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis.
Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who started 21st, was the first driver under the checkered flag who didn’t steer a Bloomquist machine. He ran a new Raye Vest-owned GRT car.
Bloomquist was a proud car builder when he congratulated Madden and Owens in Victory Lane. But he also joked that they better not make a habit of overshadowing him.
“If these guys keep beating me,” Bloomquist smiled during the post-race ceremonies, “I’m gonna have to stop building cars.”
Of course, Bloomquist knows the demand for his cars is increasing thanks to big-show results like the ‘Scorcher 100,’ the ‘Firecracker 100’ on June 30 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (Bloomquist, Madden and Owens swept three of the top-four spots) and the ‘Circle K Colossal 100’ on April 21 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. (Bloomquist, Madden and Owens were one-two-three).
“I’m sure if we wanted to get in the car (building) business (fulltime),” said Bloomquist, “it would be a good time to start.”
The ‘Scorcher 100’ marked the first time Bloomquist’s cars have swept the top-four finishing positions in an event, and it was fitting that Madden, his longest-tenured ‘Team Zero’ racer, finally led the charge.
Madden, 32, has been waiting to catch a break to put him over the top in a major event this season, and it came on lap 95 of Thursday night’s A-Main. He watched as Owens, who had led since passing WoO LMS regular Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., on lap 14, slipped high in turn two while negotiating slower cars, leaving the door open for the driver known as ‘Smokey’ to grab the top spot.
“Jimmy just got caught up in that lapped traffic,” said Madden, who ran second behind Owens for more than 40 laps. “He chose the wrong line and pushed up off of two, and I was able to capitalize on it.”
Owens arguably possessed the fastest car in the 100, but Madden, demonstrating Bloomquist-like patience, was flawless for the entire distance. He calmly worked lapped traffic in the final laps to beat Owens by 0.435 of a second.
“We just set a pace and kept it,” said Madden, who started fifth in his Century Plastics-sponsored No. 44. “I just ran my own race. I didn’t let anybody force me into running a race I didn’t want to run.
“It was all about patience. You learn patience because you get tired of putting bodies on your car (after wrecks), and tonight it paid off.”
The low-key Madden, who has visited Victory Lane at Volunteer Speedway in the past, appeared more relieved than elated after securing the lucrative triumph.
“We should’ve got a win a few times before in one of these shows,” Madden said when asked his feelings about defeating Bloomquist. “I’m just happy to win the race, and now we’ll go on to the next one and try to win again. I know we have the team that can do it.”
The victory was the third of Madden’s career in WoO LMS competition. He won earlier this year at Baton Rouge Raceway in Baker, La., and he pocketed $20,000 for capturing last October’s season-finale ‘Gator 100’ at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
Just two weeks removed from his career-highlight $50,000 win in the ‘North-South 100’ at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky., Owens was gracious in the face of a disappointing defeat.
“I know I probably had the quickest car tonight,” said Owens, who started from the pole position in his Reece Monuments No. 20. “I just made a bad move in traffic.”
Owens found it difficult to overtake lapped cars late in the distance on the high-banked, four-tenths-mile oval, but he accepted blame for relinquishing the lead.
“The track got a little rubbered up down there in one and two, so it got a little one lane down at the bottom and it was tough to deal with the lapped cars,” said Owens. “I just didn’t know how bad (the rubber) was, so I thought, ‘Well, I’ll try the high side and see what I can do up there,’ and it was just a bad idea. I pushed the front end, and Chris went by me.
“It’s disappointing, but it’s part of it. It’s just racing.”
Owens made a few runs at Madden in the final laps, but he couldn’t regain the lead.
“I knew Chris would just stay down in the rubber, so I figured I had to try the high side a time or two,” said Owens. “I was hoping that maybe ‘Rocket’ (Josh Richards, who was in front of Madden) and those other (about-to-be-lapped) guys would hold them up enough, but it didn’t happen.”
Bloomquist, meanwhile, climbed from the sixth starting spot to second by lap 19, but he didn’t have the speed in his Miller Bros. Coal/Hawkeye Trucking No. 0 to handle Madden and Owens. He experimented with a combination that was a bit different from that used by Madden, Owens and Smith, and he experienced some other headaches.
“All four of us had on a different (compound) left-rear tire,” said Bloomquist. “I’ve won here with all four tires, so I felt any of them could win. But actually, I won’t run the one I ran again, I’ll tell you that.”
The 43-year-old Bloomquist paused, and then added, “We actually had something bound up in the car. I don’t usually tell where I had problems, but we had a couple mechanical things that definitely hurt us.”
Smith closely tailed Bloomquist across the finish line, giving the up-and-coming 30-year-old driver another strong run in a major event this year.
“We were right there,” said Smith, who started seventh in his Amsoil No. 2. “Depending on what decisions these other guys made, we could’ve struck at any time.
“When Jimmy got high and loose and Chris slipped by him, I thought Scott and I might slip by him too. But we’re happy with a fourth. We’ve been running up front consistently in these big races, so we got a lot of things going for us right now.”
The race’s biggest mover was Eckert, who is uncharacteristically winless on this year’s WoO LMS but appears revitalized and primed to break through since debuting a new GRT car.
Eckert, 41, was involved in a homestretch tangle with Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., and Shannon Buckingham of Morristown, Tenn., on a lap-26 restart, but he survived with only minimal front-nose damage to his car. He then charged steadily through the field, finally reaching fifth on lap 63 when he passed Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.
“We had a real good car,” said Eckert. “I just dug myself a hole for the weekend on that second lap of qualifying (on Wednesday). I missed the bottom that one lap, and I lost two-tenths of a second. That put me back in the heat race, and it’s such a struggle to pass early in them.
“I think we were as good as those guys in front of us, but there at the end it got harder to pass – and when you get to better cars, it’s also harder to pass.”
Seven caution flags slowed the event, but there were no serious incidents.
Drivers who experienced problems included Damon Eller of Crumpler, N.C., whose car was towed off the track on lap 25; WoO LMS title contender Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who stopped with engine trouble on lap 28; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, who relinquished 10th place due to mechanical trouble on lap 38; Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., who spun between turns one and two on lap 41; Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who pitted with a flat right-front tire during the caution for Clanton; and Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C., who spun in turn four on lap 70 after Owens made contact with the teenager while trying to lap him.
Clint Smith took a hit in the WoO LMS points standings due to his woes. He finished 19th, costing him second in the rankings to Frank and leaving him 56 points behind leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who finished ninth despite racing much of the distance with a bent front end from a restart jingle.
Finishing in positions 6-10 were Frank, who started 18th; third-starter Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C.; 20th-starter Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio; Francis; and Steve Smith of Powell, Tenn., a popular southern driver who started 22nd.
Thursday night’s program also included two 20-lap B-Mains, which were won by VanWormer and Moran.
The WoO LMS resumes on Sat., Aug. 25, with a $10,000-to-win, 50-lap event at K-C Raceway in Alma, Ohio.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series ‘Scorcher 100 Presented by Young Oil Co.’ (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won): 1. (5) Chris Madden/100 $20,225
2. (1) Jimmy Owens/100 $7,625
3. (6) Scott Bloomquist/100 $5,000
4. (7) Brady Smith/100 $4,600
5. (21) Rick Eckert/100 $3,800
6. (18) Chub Frank/100 $3,750
7. (3) Ray Cook/100 $3,700
8. (20) Donnie Moran/100 $3,650
9. (16) Steve Francis/100 $3,600
10. (22) Steve Smith/100 $3,550
11. (8) Shane Clanton/100 $3,500
12. (4) Josh Richards/99 $3,450
13. (25) Austin Dillon/98 $3,350
14. (2) Darrell Lanigan/93 $3,300
15. (11) Michael England/91 $3,250
16. (24) Tim Fuller/90 $3,200
17. (13) Shannon Buckingham/57 $3,150
18. (10) Brian Birkhofer/37 $3,100
19. (23) Clint Smith/34 $3,050
20. (19) Jeep VanWormer/32 $3,000
21. (12) Brad Neat/30 $3,000
22. (14) Mark Douglas/26 $3,000
23. (17) Damon Eller/24 $3,000
24. (15) Dan Schlieper/24 $3,000
25. (9) Dale McDowell/21 $3,000
Time of Race: 47 Mins., 06.621 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.435 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 7 (Laps 25, 26, 28, 30, 38, 41, 70)
Lap Leaders: Lanigan (1-13); Owens (14-94); Madden (95-100)
Provisional Starters: C. Smith, Fuller
National Interstate Insurance Fast Time Award: Brady Smith ($100)
National Interstate Insurance Hard Luck Award: Clint Smith ($50)
Integra Shocks Crew Chief of the Race ($100): Dave Atkins (Rick Eckert)
B-Main No. 1 (20 laps – Top 2 Transfer): Jeep VanWormer, Rick Eckert, Billy Ogle Jr., Kerry Jones, Randy Weaver, Shane Roberts, Michael Smith, John Blankenship, Clint Smith, Dale Groves, Van Lester, Jeff Maupin, Lewis Hudson II, Tim Fuller (DNS) Herman Goddard, Jimmy Mars, Marty Calloway, Aaron Ridley, Scott Sexton, Joe Armes, Brandon Kinzer
B-Main No. 2 (20 laps – Top 2 Transfer): Donnie Moran, Steve Smith, Brian Shirley, Austin Dillon, Mike Marlar, Justin Rattliff, Bryan Hendrix, Greg Burchett, Roy Mitchell, Ben Adkins (DNS) Bobby Giffin, Rick Rogers, Earl Pearson Jr., Rodney Kiker, Mike Jackson, Tony Martin, Lamar Scoggins, Vic Hill, Ricky Arms
2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Aug. 23 - 33 features completed (rank/driver/wins/top-5s/top-10s/earnings/points/deficit to leader): 1. Steve Francis 1-17-29-$79,550-4,526 (-0)
2. Chub Frank 5-14-26-$99,330-4,488 (-38)
3. Clint Smith 3-14-25-$97,350-4,470 (-56)
4. Josh Richards 3-9-20-$81,032-4,404 (-122)
5. Shane Clanton 2-11-22-$76,097-4,400 (-126)
6. Rick Eckert 0-10-19-$65,110-4,388 (-138)
7. Darrell Lanigan 2-7-21-$70,190-4,189 (-337)
8. Tim Fuller 1-7-11-$60,555-3,691 (-835)
9. Brian Shirley 1-3-9-$43,884-3,294 (-1232)
10. Shannon Babb 4-11-14-$75,035-3,190 (-1336)
11. Eddie Carrier Jr. 0-2-5-$23,720-2,571 (-1955)
12. Chris Madden 2-8-12-$89,215-2,379 (-2147)
13. Billy Moyer 1-9-11-$41,175-2,237 (-2289)
14. Brian Birkhofer 0-1-5-$20,910-1,738 (-2788)
15. John Blankenship 0-0-0-$10,720-1,663 (-2863)
16. Roy Mitchell 0-0-0-$6,630-1,586 (-2940)
17. Jimmy Mars 0-4-6-$22,830-1,397 (-3129)
18. Dennis Erb Jr. 2-4-6-$31,700-1,295 (-3231)
19. Billy Decker 0-0-1-$7,390-1,267 (-3259)
20. Dan Stone 0-0-1-$5,180-1,054 (-3472)
LISTEN ONLINE: If fans can’t get to a track to see the series, they can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series live on DIRTvision.com through the DIRT Radio Network.
To listen to the free audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com and click on the DIRT Radio Network logo.
Listeners will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. For technical support or questions, e-mail
[email protected].
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including National Interstate Insurance Company and contingency sponsors Wrisco Industries, Crane Cams, Ohlins Shocks, Quarter-Master, Hawk Brake, MSD Ignitions, Eibach Springs and Integra Shocks.
