Scott Bloomquist - Photo Courtesy of Mark Jacobs
West Burlington ,
Iowa (July
16, 1996) - Following the $10,000 UMP Late Mode! Summer National Race, Scott
Bloomquist was mobbed by several fans.
After downing a Miller Lite, the native of Mooresburg , Tenn. ,
signed autographs while talking to hundreds of fans who had just witnessed him
lead the race from start to finish Tuesday night at 34 Raceway.
It wasn't even close.
“As long as I could run my own groove, I was
able to do whatever I wanted,” Bloomquist said. “We thought we had the superior
car all night.”
The 40-lap feature backed up his claim.
Bloomquist was on the pole for the 20-car
feature and took control of the race in the third turn of the first lap around
the 3/8-mile oval. For the find part of the race he outdistanced the field by
nearly five seconds. But towards the middle of the race, Bloomquist ran into a
bit of trouble. His tried to get past a slower group of cars, but was held in
check when there was no passing lane. And John Gill, who was running second,
was gaining ground.
“Once I got into traffic, I was being a little
too cautious,” Bloomquist said. “Once I got past (Jack) Boggs, I was all
right.”
But Gill, a native of Mitchell , Ind. ,
did not give up. He caught Bloomquist on the second corner of midway through
the race, and nearly took the lead for good, but he, too, was caught in the
traffic at the back of the pack.
“We just got held up in the traffic and we
couldn't pass him,’ Gill said. “We could've caught him but we had a bent tire
rod in the front when we hit a car in traffic. If I started up front, I would
have won too.”
With each car mirroring each other as the race
dwindled down, Bloomquist was finally able to squeeze between a pair of cars
with two laps to go. Gill, however, was unable to drive past a pair of cars and
keep pace with Bloomquist, who won the race easily.
“At the end of the race, harder tires were
running better,” Bloomquist said.
Gill, though a little disappointed, said he was
pleased to finish second. “I had a good race,” he said. “I'd like to have won
but we ran well. It was a good, clean race." Billy Moyer placed third
overall while Bill Frye was fourth.
Results –
- Scott Bloomquist
- John Gill
- Billy Moyer Jr.
- Bill Frye
- Don O’Neal
- Jimmy Mars
- Rick Aukland
- Terry Phillips
- Johnny Johnson
- Steve Russell
- Wayne Brooks
- Danny Barnhart
- Jack Boggs
- Bob Pohlman
- Rick Egersdorf
- Joel Cryderman
- Joe Kosiski
- Tony Izzo Jr.
- Steve Kosiski
- Mitch Johnson
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