Scott Bloomquist Victorious in Optima Batteries Dirt Track World Championship
PORTSMOUTH, OH (October 19, 2014) - Scott Bloomquist led the final 39 laps to win his second career Optima Batteries Dirt Track World Championship -Presented by NAPA Auto Parts. Bloomquist entered his 27th DTWC event winning the race back in 2005 for the first time. Bloomquist earned $50,000 for the victory in his Ole Smoky Moonshine, Hawkeye Trucking, Durham Racing Engines, Sweet-Bloomquist entry. The event concluded the 2014 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season, after being moved back to Sunday at Portsmouth Raceway Park due to rain on Saturday. Eddie Carrier Jr. finished second, followed by Jimmy Owens, Don O'Neal, and Jason Feger. Don O'Neal with his fourth place finish clinched the 2014 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championship. O'Neal finished 65 points ahead of Owens in the final tally to capture his first series title after three runner-up finishes. "The race track turned out a whole lot better than most people were thinking it was going to be. They came out and re-worked it for a good hour. It was really racy for all 100 laps, and worth all of that effort by the track crews. We have been on a roll over the last month. I hate to see the season coming to end because we are running so well," said Bloomquist, who started fourth. Bloomquist was the fourth different leader of the race after a torrid battle for the lead with Jimmy Owens. He cleared Owens for the final time on lap 61, and maintained his blistering pace, right to the end. "Everything is working well with the car. If we had not had some back luck while leading a lot of these Lucas Oil races, we would have been right there battling with Don and Jimmy tonight for the championship. I want to thank Ole Smoky Moonshine for coming on board this season; hopefully they will be back next year. I want to than Bob and Barb Miller with Hawkeye Trucking; they have been with me a long time. Thanks to everybody at Penske Shocks, Base Fuels, and Lucas Oil Products. A big thanks to the fans for coming out this weekend. We enjoy running in front of these large crowds, and it's great to win another one of these crown jewel events. They are so tough to win anymore", stated Bloomquist. Carrier charged to the second spot on lap 95, but he could not close the gap on the front-running Bloomquist towards the end. "I don't think even a caution would have given us a chance to beat him [Bloomquist], but it would have been interesting to say the least. I would have liked to have had a shot at Scott. He has just been unbeatable lately. We started the year off pretty good, but had some challenges along the way. It has been a great season though, especially with winning the North/South 100. We are learning week-to-week with these Rocket cars and we feel we can come back next year and compete for a championship," said the driver of the Optima Batteries, Carl Grover Motorsports -Ford. Jimmy Owens finished third to cap off the 2014 season on the tour."Congratulations to Don O'Neal! Those guys had a really good season. This is the same car we flipped at Knoxville a few weeks ago. The crew worked their tails off this week to get it ready," commented Owens in Lucas Oil Victory lane. "We were going for the win, and however the points fell that's the way it was meant to be. We have a good season with this Club 29 car, we learned a lot, took a lot of notes, and we look forward to coming back next year to get the title back." Completing the top ten were Billy Moyer, Dennis Erb, Jr., Dale McDowell, Steve Francis, and Tim McCreadie.
In preliminary action, RJ Conley set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 89 entrants, with a lap of 14.706 seconds. Jason Feger set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 15.015 seconds. Jonathan Davenport, Billy Moyer, Scott Bloomquist, Don O'Neal, Jimmy Owens and Eddie Carrier Jr. won their respective heat races. Earl Pearson Jr., Brandon Overton, and Dustin Linville won their respective B-Mains. Scott James won the Jim Dunn Memorial Non-Qualifiers Race. For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com and follow the series on www.facebook.com/lucasdirt and www.twitter.com/lucasdirt.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt SeriesRace Summary Sunday, October 19th, 2014Portsmouth Raceway Park - Portsmouth, OH Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: RJ Conley / 14.706 secondsMiller Welders Fast Time Group B: Jason Feger / 15.015 seconds
Fast Shafts Heat Race #1 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Gregg Satterlee, RJ Conley, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jimmy Mars, Jason Riggs, Tommy Bailey, Mike Meyers, Rick Bond, Danny McGowan, Zack Dohm, Kevin Wagner, Victor Lee, Larry Ferrell, Shannon Thornsberry Eibach Springs Heat Race #2 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Billy Moyer, Mason Zeigler, Rod Conley, Jackie Boggs, Tim McCreadie, Chris Garnes, Stephen Breeding, Dennis Barton, Duane Chamberlain, Michael Smith, Steve Francis, Tim Dohm, Daniel Williams, Josh Hall-DNS, Tyler Carpenter-DNS
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Josh Richards, Brandon Sheppard, Dale McDowell, Jason Papich, Corey Conley, Nick Bocook, Jake Keaton, Mick Sansom, JT Conley, Jeep VanWormer, Jon Hodgkiss, Mike Marlar, Kenneth Howell, Richie Edwards-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #4 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Don O'Neal, Jason Feger, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Brandon Overton, Jared Landers, Josh Bocook, Travis Brookover, Brian Shirley, Chad Hollenbeck, Casey Noonan, Brandon Fouts, Rick Mardis, Ben Adkins, Avery Taylor, Chris Combs Fast Shafts Heat Race #5 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, John Blankenship, Doug Drown, Scott James , Dennis Erb, Jr., Davey Johnson, Chris Stotts, Derek Fisher, Charlie Jude, Devin Moran, Steve Shaver, Bobby Pierce, Steve Stollings, Kenny McCann, Lee Logan-DNS Eibach Springs Heat Race #6 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Eddie Carrier, Jr., Steve Casebolt, Delmas Conley, Dustin Linville, Steve Lucas, Billy Gullion, Chris Wilson, Michael Wright, Lauren Longbrake, Jeremy Berwanger, Ralph Withem, Audie Swartz, Jason Hughes, Paul Davis
JRi Shocks B-Main #1 Finish (20 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Earl Pearson, Jr., Tim McCreadie, Stephen Breeding, Chris Garnes, Steve Francis, Tim Dohm, Duane Chamberlain, Zack Dohm, Kevin Wagner, Tyler Carpenter, Tommy Bailey, Daniel Williams, Victor Lee, Mike Meyers, Dennis Barton, Larry Ferrell, Shannon Thornsberry, Jason Riggs, Jackie Boggs, Jimmy Mars-DNS, Rick Bond-DNS, Michael Smith-DNS, Josh Hall-DNS, Danny McGowan-DNS CV Products B-Main #2 Finish (20 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Brandon Overton, Dale McDowell, Jason Papich, Corey Conley, Brian Shirley, Nick Bocook, Travis Brookover, Josh Bocook, JT Conley, Jon Hodgkiss, Mick Sansom, Jared Landers, Chris Combs, Ben Adkins, Avery Taylor, Jake Keaton, Kenneth Howell, Rick Mardis, Chad Hollenbeck, Casey Noonan-DNS, Jeep VanWormer-DNS, Brandon Fouts-DNS, Mike Marlar-DNS, Richie Edwards-DNS JRi Shocks B-Main #3 Finish (20 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Dustin Linville, Dennis Erb, Jr., Scott James , Bobby Pierce, Chris Stotts, Jason Hughes, Derek Fisher, Devin Moran, Billy Gullion, Davey Johnson, Chris Wilson, Jeremy Berwanger, Michael Wright, Audie Swartz, Lauren Longbrake, Steve Stollings, Kenny McCann, Ralph Withem, Charlie Jude, Steve Lucas-DNS, Steve Shaver-DNS, Lee Logan-DNS, Paul Davis-DNS Jim Dunn Memorial Non Qualifiers Finish: Scott James, Brian Shirley, Corey Conley, Stephen Breeding, Chris Garnes, Tim Dohm, Tyler Carpenter, Zack Dohm, Tommy Bailey, Jeremy Berwanger, Nick Bocook, Josh Bocook, Travis Brookover, Mick Sansom, Chris Wilson, Kevin Wagner, Jon Hodgkiss, Kenneth Howell, Bobby Pierce, Chris Stotts, Derek Fisher, JT Conley, Devin Moran, Duane Chamberlain, Billy Gullion, Davey Johnson-DNS
