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| Patrick Miller Photo |
The argument can be made that Scott Bloomquist is the greatest dirt late model driver of all-time. Sure there are other names out there that can be thrown out such as Billy Moyer, Jeff Purvis and Donnie Moran just to name a few, but no other driver in the history of the sport has moved the needle more than Bloomquist has. The Mooresburg, Tenn. driver has found himself in some pretty hairy situations that his supporters always back him up on, and his detractors always use as reasoning to tear him down. One thing is for certain, no driver gets a bigger reaction good or bad during driver introductions at big events than Bloomquist and this past weekend's Show-Me 100 victory was no different.
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| Patrick Miller Photo |
After winning Thursday night's opener at the three-day event by a comfortable margin, Bloomquist looked poised to be able to relax Friday night and with a good run put himself up front for Saturday night's main event at Lucas Oil Speedway. On Friday though a crew member of his, Jordan Bland, who is a former dirt late model pilot himself was seen messing with the pill draw machine early in the night. As he messed with it pills fell to the ground and he was seen putting a pill back into the machine. After this Lucas Oil officials got together and took an inventory on the pills. Two pills were missing including the #2 pill. Later on in the evening, Bland returned to do the official pill draw for Bloomquist and wouldn't you know it a #2 pill was drawn. Bland was called out for it, and would eventually own up to what he had done. At this point he drew another pill, but Lucas Oil officials later informed Bloomquist that he would not be allowed to take a time trial lap and would have to start in the back of his heat race.
From there, Bloomquist did not transfer through his heat, but won his B-Main event after driving around on three wheels after his left front suspension collapsed during the event. Bloomquist would charge to the third position at the finish Friday night earning him the pole for Saturday night's main event which he would eventually win after race leader Jimmy Owens spun after making contact with Earl Pearson Jr. while putting him a lap down.
Now this is a serious infraction and whether Bloomquist knew about it or not is besides the point. He took his penalty and still managed to have a good night which eventually led him to a great weekend and a $30,000 Show-Me 100 victory. The bigger point to be made though is that Bloomquist always seems to find himself amid controversy. In 2015, Bloomquist won the World 100 seemingly, but was light at the scales which led to a suspension from all World Racing Group events until the lawsuit he brought against Eldora Speedway was settled. Jonathan Davenport was handed the win in that event. The following year the ban was still going on, and Bloomquist missed the 2016 World 100 won by Bobby Pierce.
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| Patrick Miller Photography |
Over the past few seasons Bloomquist has had a tendency to shoot himself in the foot when it comes to competing for the Lucas Oil championship. Always with a car capable of winning the championship, Bloomquist made a habit of showing up perpetually late to events and missing his time trial causing him to have a bad night, and ultimately costing him an opportunity at winning the series championship.
The point being made is Bloomquist has always seemingly been at the forefront of controversy in this sport, but always finds a way to keep on winning. In an era where tires are tested for cheating, and drivers are routinely caught cheating those tires, is a pill draw infraction really that bad? Yes it's illegal and not in the spirit of competition, but there's no guarantee that a good pill draw will equal a good time trial lap. That's all dependent on track conditions. Either way, whichever side of the fence you fall on this argument you have to admit that Bloomquist's flair for the dramatic is good for dirt late model racing in general, and nobody moves the needle quite like Bloomquist does.
