UNION, Kentucky--Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN will go down in the history books of dirt late model racing as the very first winner of a North American Racing Association (NARA) Late Model event on Saturday Night, April 10 at the Florence Speedway in Union, KY. Bloomquist piloted his own Bloomquist Race Cars Ford Mustang powered by a Custom Race Engine and sponsored by Miller Brothers Coal/Allstar Performance/Hawkeye Trucking and Sweet Manufacturing to the victory in the Annual "Spring 50" event which marked the debut of America's newest dirt late model sanctioning body, NARA. Bloomquist earned $10,000 out of a more than $40,000 purse that was up for grabs. Bloomquist passed race leader Earl Pearson Jr. on the 33rd lap and went on for the win. Pearson was second followed by Steve Francis, Don O'Neal and Rick Eckert. A total of 67 cars were on hand for the race which was taped for a later broadcast on ESPN2.
The 24 car starting field took the green with Pearson taking the point from the start with Bloomquist falling into second place followed by John Gill and Francis. Pearson would put the hammer down and start to immediately pull away from Bloomquist in the early going as both Pearson and Bloomquist started running the top groove around the half mile high banked oval. Both drivers started to distance themselves from what was turning out to be quite a battle for third amongst Gill, Francis, Mike Balzano and O'Neal. Pearson starting lapping cars by the 11th circuit with Bloomquist looking for ways to track him down as he would close the lead taking seconds off of Pearson's advantage. Heavy traffic started to influence the race by the 15th lap at this point Bloomquist had closed right behind Pearson as Pearson was having a slight problem getting passed some of the cars he was trying to lap. The only caution flag of the event came out for debris on the backstretch on lap 22. With Pearson out in the lead, a double file restart would see the cars of Bloomquist and Gill start the process lining up right behind Pearson as all lapped cars were sent back around to the tail. The restart would see Pearson maintain the point with Bloomquist staring him down at every turn, Bloomquist would then really put the heat on Pearson as the duo entered traffic again and when Pearson made contact with a car he was trying to lap, it really got interesting as Bloomquist would take advantage of Pearson almost losing control of his car as he would go to the outside of Pearson against the outside retaining wall and pass him for the lead of the race. Now it was Pearson's turn to try and chase down Bloomquist. On the 40th lap third place running, John Gill broke something going down the backstretch and ended up hammering the wall in turn four. Gill would slide to the infield and over the burm protecting the inside of the track as he was done for the night. There was no caution as Gill was out of harms way. Gill exited his car and was checked by infield personnel and was o.k. While this was happening to Gill the race was still going on with Bloomquist pulling away from Pearson over the last 10 laps of the race as he would go on to take the victory. Pearson finished second in the Carlton Lamm/Lucas Oil Products/Rocket Ford Taurus followed by Steve Francis in the MOPAR Performance Parts/Rocket Dodge Intrepid R/T. Finishing in fourth was Don O'Neal in the A1 Auto Salvage/C.J. Rayburn Monte Carlo and rounding out the top five was Rick Eckert in the Raye Vest Excavating/Rocket Ford Taurus.
Completing the top ten was Mike Balzano, Shane Clanton, R.J. Conley, Brian Birkhofer and Davey Johnson.
Brian Birkhofer set quick time at 17.504 seconds. Heat races were won by Mike Balzano, Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson Jr., R.J. Conley, John Gill and Steve Francis. Matt Miller and Kevin Weaver won the last chance races.
The next NARA event will be this Saturday Night, April 17 at the Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, Indiana for the 21st Annual Hoosier Dirt Classic race payhing $7000 to win. For more information go to HYPERLINK "http://www.brownstownspeedway.com"www.brownstownspeedway.com and HYPERLINK "http://www.naradirtcar.com"www.naradirtcar.com
Summary Florence Speedway - Union, KY Saturday Night, April 10, 2004
NARA Late Model Series
Entries: 67
Fast Time: Brian Birkhofer 17.504
First Heat: Mike Balzano, Don O'Neal, Brian Birkhofer, Rick Corbin
Second Heat: Scott Bloomquist, Greg Johnson, Freddy Smith, Matt Miller
Third Heat: Earl Pearson Jr., Steve Landrum, Darren Miller, Billy Moyer
Fourth Heat: R.J. Conley, Rick Eckert, Darrell Lanigan, Davey Johnson
Fifth Heat: John Gill, John Blankenship, Donnie Moran, Jerry Rice
Sixth Heat: Steve Francis, Shane Clanton, Rod Conley, Jesse James Lay
First Consy: Matt Miller, Rick Corbin, Billy Moyer, Duke Whiseant
Second Consy: Kevin Weaver, Davey Johnson, Jerry Rice, Steve Barnett
NARA Main Event: Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson Jr., Steve Francis, Don
O'Neal, Rick Eckert, Mike Balzano, Shane Clanton, R.J. Conley, Brian
Birkhofer, Davey Johnson, Darrell Lanigan, Donnie Moran, Freddy Smith,
John Blankenship, Steve Landrum, Greg Johnson, Mike Marlar, Rick Corbin,
Kevin Weaver, Rod Conley, Darren Miller, Delmas Conley, John Gill, Matt
Miller
Race Statistics:
Cautions: 1
Red Flags: 0
Time of Race: 21 minutes
Lap Leaders: Pearson Jr 1-32 Bloomquist 33-50
PPM Racing Products Hard Charger of the Race: Davey Johnson started
22nd and finished 10th
Provisional Starters: NARA-Mike Marlar Track-Delmas Conley
