Bloomquist patient on pay day
BUFFALO TWP — It didn't matter that Scott Bloomquist flipped his car last week — he still had every intention of using it at this weekend's Firecracker 100.
In the second day of the Firecracker 100 race weekend Friday at Lernerville Speedway, Bloomquist went with what felt comfortable and rode it all the way to Victory lane.
Rainy weather did not allow the racing to begin until late into the night.
Bloomquist, of Mooresburg, Tenn. took the lead from Clint Smith at lap 14 and held on from there to capture the 30-lap feature.
Rick Eckert of York finished in second place while Smith, of Senoia, Ga., ended up in third out of the 24 cars that finished.
Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga. and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.V. rounded out the top five placewinners.
“The car did feel really good (Friday),” said Bloomquist. “My car (Thursday night) felt good. The car did feel a tick better.
“I rolled the car last week and had to put in new sides. The main thing was everything underneath was all right,” Bloomquist added.
Bloomquist also brought a second car with every intention of using it this weekend. Saturday's race will cap the weekend, with the winner receiving $30,000.
“I got the car (Thursday night) and I did put in a different engine,” said Bloomquist. “I figured, ‘well we'll run this car (Friday) and see where we're at.' I wanted to make sure this car was all right and we had the other car in the bank.
“As it turned out, I think we'll keep this car (Saturday), he added.
Bloomquist pulled off a triple crown of sorts Friday when he had the fastest time in the hot laps at 15.226 seconds, won his heat by 1.36 seconds then won the race to pocket the $6,000 first-place prize.
Not that the race came easy like the heat race.Austin Hubbard was the pole sitter while Smith also started in the front row.However, just as the race began on the front straightaway, Brady Smith, Matt Lux and Vic Coffey got caught up in an accident. All suffered vehicle damage and were unable to return.Smith took the lead after the first lap and maintained that spot. Eckert moved up along with Bloomquist as Smith fell back to third place, which held up the rest of the race.“It was a little slippery on the bottom and I knew I could run in the middle,” said Bloomquist. “I'd like to think we were getting away from (Eckert), but I guess we didn't.”“We got a good jump on Hubbard at the stop,” Smith said. “I knew there would be a lot of guys up there early and you could see Scott going.”There was one other caution the rest of the race. At lap 21, Hubbard lost control between turns three and four and would finish in 18th place.Eckert almost knocked Bloomquist aside during the race when trying to pass, but Bloomquist averted danger and finished the race unscathed.“It looked like Rick got in a little too hard, a little too tight” said Bloomquist. “I looked down to see his nose and I'm glad he throttled up.”“He went running into turn three,” said Eckert, who also finished in second place in Thursday's race. “In one of the B-Main races, someone got into the infield and splashed water down on the turn.“Once (Bloomquist) got into the straightaway, I was running uphill and he was running downhill,” Eckert added.Eckert has been a model of consistency with his two runner-up finishes and hopes Saturday that will pay off — literally.“I think my car is so maneuverable,” Eckert said. “We'll be fine.”<B>Notes;</B> The schedule of events was delayed by nearly three hours. Rain fell at the track at 7 p.m., just one lap into the first heat of hot laps ... There were 60 cars in the pits ... Saturday's card will also feature a $3,000-to-win Uncle Sam race.
