TAZEWELL, TN (June 3, 2016) – In a battle of two home-state Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rivals, Scott Bloomquist fought off all challenges by Jimmy Owens to win the Toyota Knoxville 50 at Tazewell Speedway on Friday.
Bloomquist led every lap; the only exception that his car was not in front of the pack is when Owens made a slide job in turn 2 with 12 laps-to-go to briefly take the lead. Owens could not make his car stick and Bloomquist went back around him to regain the top spot.
Trailing Bloomquist and Owens to the checkers were 12th place starter Steve Francis, Dennis Erb Jr., and Don O’Neal. O’Neal rallied after suffering a flat tire while running in fourth early in the race.
Bloomquist went to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fifth time this year and extended his all-time series win total to 67 victories. “We were just trying to be careful through traffic and then we went for it. Jimmy [Owens] did a little too much of a slide there and it took him a while to gather his momentum back up. We just turned under him and got back around him,” said the 52-year-old Hall of Famer.
“The Sweet-Bloomquist car ran so well, the Andy Durham Engine ran great, and everything was pretty smooth tonight. We didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to. It was too tight. Beating Jimmy was big for us in that heat. We made some adjustments for the feature. Traffic wasn’t too big of a deal tonight because of all of the cautions. The race track was really good tonight. You could race two-wide without any issues.”
Bloomquist also closed on point leader Jonathan Davenport, who failed to finish the event as he dropped out of the race with two laps remaining.
“I am glad that Mike Reece is here tonight. Thanks to all of our other sponsors, Crop Production Services, Mark Martin Automotive, Dyna-Gro Seed, Base Fuels, Penske Shocks, Lucas Oil, Petroff Towing, Horton Coal, and Sorbera Chiropractic.”
Owens was looking for his second straight LOLMDS victory after last weekend’s Show-Me 100 victory. “We had a good car tonight, but Scott was just a tick better. I slid by him that one time, but I just couldn’t get it straightened back out quick enough and he got back around me. I want to thank everybody for coming out tonight. This R&W Motorsports Team is really clicking right now. Scott beat us in that heat race and that was a big difference. I felt like we had a car that could have won, but to finish second here we will take that and head to Florence tomorrow night,” said Owens.
Francis; in the Optima Batteries/Black Diamond entry; charged from the outside of the sixth row to finish third. “We lost our brakes out there. It is tough enough here with brakes to run where we did. But the car handled really well and to come up through the field against these guys, we earned that finish for sure.”
“We had a good finish last week in the Show-Me and to carry the momentum over to tonight is a boost to our team. Thanks to Tim Logan and everybody who helps us out. We feel like we are building for a strong finish to the season.”
Completing the top ten were Jared Landers, Chad Ogle, Billy Ogle Jr., Brandon Sheppard and Donald McIntosh.
In preliminary action, Jimmy Owens set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time amongst the 25 entrants, with a lap of 11.380 seconds. Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal and Jonathan Davenport won their respective heat races.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday, June 3rd, 2016
Toyota Knoxville 50
Tazewell Speedway – Tazewell, TN
Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Jared Landers / 11.672 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Jimmy Owens / 11.380 seconds
Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, All Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Donald McIntosh, Darrell Lanigan, Billy Ogle Jr., Tommy Bailey, Colton Flinner, Steve Smith, Josh Henry-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, All Transfer): Don O’Neal, Mack McCarter, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jeff Wolfenbarger, Earl Pearson, Jr., Dakotah Knuckles, Chad Ogle, Brian Smith-DNS
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, All Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Tim McCreadie, Jared Landers, Steve Francis, Jordon Horton, Brandon Sheppard, Chris Barton, Mitchell Burke
Feature Finish (50 Laps):
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $10,800 |
| 2 | 4 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $6,400 |
| 3 | 12 | 15F | Steve Francis | Bowling Green, KY | $3,500 |
| 4 | 8 | 28E | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $3,450 |
| 5 | 2 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $3,050 |
| 6 | 9 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR | $2,500 |
| 7 | 20 | 10 | Chad Ogle | Sevierville, TN | $1,500 |
| 8 | 13 | 201 | Billy Ogle Jr. | Knoxville, TN | $1,300 |
| 9 | 18 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $1,900 |
| 10 | 7 | 7 | Donald McIntosh | Dawsonville, GA | $1,100 |
| 11 | 6 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $1,775 |
| 12 | 17 | 21K | Dakotah Knuckles | Ewing, VA | $1,050 |
| 13 | 16 | 11B | Tommy Bailey | Corbin, KY | $1,025 |
| 14 | 14 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $1,800 |
| 15 | 11 | 28w | Jeff Wolfenbarger | Clinton, TN | $950 |
| 16 | 3 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Mount Airy, NC | $2,025 |
| 17 | 5 | 51 | Mack McCarter | Maryville, TN | $900 |
| 18 | 19 | 75 | Colton Flinner | Allison Park, PA | $975 |
| 19 | 10 | 15L | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $1,550 |
| 20 | 21 | 144 | Chris Barton | Middlesboro, KY | $825 |
| 21 | 15 | 56H | Jordon Horton | New Tazewell, TN | $800 |
| 22 | 22 | 3s | Steve Smith | Powell, TN | $800 |
| 23 | 24 | 7b | Brian Smith | Barbourville, KY | $800 |
| 24 | 23 | 54 | Mitchell Burke | Tazewell, TN | $800 |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 25
Lap Leaders: Scott Bloomquist (Laps 1 – 50)
Cautions: Don O’Neal (Lap 10); Tim McCreadie (Lap 11); Jeff Wolfenbarger (Lap 18); Debris (Lap 19); Darrell Lanigan (Lap 26); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 47)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: none
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: none
Wrisco Feature Winner: Scott Bloomquist
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Chad Ogle (Started: 20th; Finished: 7th; Advanced 13 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jonathan Davenport
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Don O’Neal
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Colton Flinner
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Andy Durham Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Sweet-Bloomquist Race Cars
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Cody Mallory (Scott Bloomquist)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Scott Bloomquist (Lap # 5 – 12.1016 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Scott Bloomquist (50 Laps)
PFC Brakes Tough Break Award: Steve Smith
Time of Race: 38 minutes 6 seconds