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Kelly Carlton
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (January 28) - Moving up from his eighth starting spot, Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tennessee rolled to the win in night number one of the Super Bowl of Racing VI at Golden Isles Speedway. The win in the Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series event gave Bloomquist a $7500 payday in the first of three nights of racing at the South Georgia 4/10ths of a mile facility. Bloomquist's victory marked his seventh career Super Bowl win in the six-year history of the event. "The car just got better and the tires got better. Everything got better. The car was just perfect tonight." Bloomquist said.
Thirty-four drivers representing thirteen different states signed-in for Hoosier Racing Tires Race for the Pole Qualifying. Blairsville, Georgia's Jonathan Davenport took overall fast time honors with a quick lap of 15.639 seconds. Davenport's effort bested that of Jacksonville, Florida racer Earl Pearson, Jr. by just one one-thousandth of a second. Carpentersville, Illinois' Dennis Erb, Jr. and Bloomquist, who were third and fourth respectively, followed Davenport and Pearson. The night's format called for all drivers to move to one of four heat races. Davenport, Brad Neat, Steve Francis and Eric Jacobsen each won one of the ten lap heat races.
Heat number one saw Davenport cruise to an unchallenged victory. Austin Hubbard rebounded to finish second after being penalized for twice jumping the initial start. Dan Schlieper held on for third ahead of Tim McCreadie. Brad Neat led all ten laps in Heat two to win over new teammate Earl Pearson, Jr. after the two battled door to during the middle stage of the ten lapper. 2009 Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series Champion Randy Weaver made a pair of late race passes to finish third while Chris Madden took the final transfer spot in fourth.
Steve Francis got the jump on third heat race polesitter Dennis Erb and took the flag to flag victory. Erb held on for second well ahead of Steve Shaver, who is piloting the K&L Rumley Enterprises Rocket machines at Golden Isles. Last years overall Super Bowl Champion Jimmy Owens outlasted Justin Rattliff to claim the last transfer spot. Seacliff Beach, California driver Eric Jacobsen held off a strong challenge from fellow front row starter Scott Bloomquist to win the fourth and final heat. Bloomquist finished second while Tim Dohm and Dean Bowen both took transfer positions.
Positions 17-22 in the feature starting grid were filled from two ten lap last chance B-Mains. B-Main number one saw Justin Rattliff take the win from his outside front row starting position ahead of Vic Coffey and Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series Rookie of the Year hopeful Scott Creel rounding out the cars taking a transfer position. The final B-Main featured a battle among two of dirt racing's young guns. Josh Richards of Shinston, West Virginia made the pass for the lead over Mt. Holly, North Carolina's Chris Ferguson just after halfway and held on to take the win. Ferguson settled for second ahead of Starrette Trucking teammate Jon Henderson.
As the field roared to life for the first time, polesitter Jonathan Davenport was able launch his Barry Wright machine into the lead as the twenty-four-car field spilled out onto the back straightaway. Brad Neat motored along in second as the full field entered turn three. Suddenly, with a tight group of cars battling for second, Neat's machine snapped around in the middle of turns three and four. Cars split the Dunnville, Kentucky native's MasterSbilt to the left and right averting a major disaster. Neat was able to refire his machine and rejoin the field none-the-worse for wear.
Without a completed green flag lap, the field reset into their original double-file line-up. Yet again Davenport lurched away on the start. Neat followed in Davenport's tracks over the next several laps. It was just a matter of a few laps until Davenport reached backmarker traffic. First in line was Ben Faircloth. Davenport looked for a route around Faircloth but found himself facing a heavy onslaught from Neat. Then, seemingly from out of nowhere, 17 year old Hubbard moved in to the mix to challenge the top two . Hubbard's machine was strong around the bottom, which allowed him to move in and make it a three-car battle for the point.
Hubbard made his move, driving deep into turn three and taking over the top spot on the tenth circuit. Davenport tried to rally back to Hubbard's inside, but couldn't make it work as Hubbard began to pull away. As Davenport and Neat continued to work lapped traffic Bloomquist moved in to bypass Neat and challenge Davenport. Bloomquist nosed to Davenport's inside but Davenport wasn't ready to go away. The two drivers battled wheel-to-wheel over the next three laps until Bloomquist was finally able to squirt ahead and cover the spot. After clearing Davenport, Bloomquist set his sites on the leader.
By the race's twenty-fifth circuit Bloomquist, riding the highside, had caught Hubbard and stalked him for the race lead. Bloomquist, carrying a ton of momentum, dove to Hubbard's inside entering turn three and blew past him to over the lead. Hubbard ponied up and tried to fight back but Bloomquist was just too strong. Once out front, Bloomquist put his machine on cruise control and motored away over the final fourteen circuits to take his twenty-third career Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series win. "We've got our program really good. We struggled a little last year but we tested a lot and we've learned a lot. I think we are ready for this year." Bloomquist said from victory lane.
Notes: Bloomquist's self designed and built chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and has sponsorship from Miller Brothers Coal, Hawkeye Trucking, Sweet Manufacturing and Allstar Performance.
Official Finish
1 - 0 Scott Bloomquist - Mooresburg, TN
2 - 49 Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA
3 - 11 Austin Hubbard - Laurel, DE
4 - 41 Brad Neat - Dunnville, KY
5 - 116 Randy Weaver - Crossville, TN
6 - 28 Dennis Erb, Jr. - Carpentersville, IL
7 - 15 Steve Francis - Ashland, KY
8 - 44 Earl Pearson Jr. - Jacksonville, FL
9 - 44 Chris Madden - Gray Court, SC
10 - 39 Tim McCreadie - Watertown, NY
11 - 1 Josh Richards - Shinston, WV
12 - 17T Tim Dohm - Crosslanes, WV
13 - 16 Justin Ratliff - Campbellsville, KY
14 - 32c Vic Coffey - Caladonia, NY
15 - 15 Dean Bowen - Whitesville,. NC
16 - 6 Steve Shaver - Vienna, WV
17 - 3 Chesley Dixon - Swainsboro, GA
18 - 27 Ben Faircloth - Swainsboro, GA
19 - 9 Dan Schlieper - Sullivan, WI
20 - 5 Eric Jacobson - Seacliff Beach, CA
21 - 20 Jimmy Owens - Newport, TN
22 - 22x Jon Henderson - Aiken, SC
23 - 31 Scott Creel - Franklinton, LA
24 - 22 Chris Ferguson - Mt. Holly, NC
DNS: Keith Freeman, Doug Sanders, Eric Wells, Dale Hammond, Jeremy Faircloth, John Blankenship, Shan Smith, Casey Roberts, Royce Bray and Danny Mitchell.
Time of Race: 23 minutes and 18 seconds (9:13 pm to 9:36 pm)
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders: Davenport (1-8) Neat (9) Davenport (10) Hubbard (11-25) Bloomquist (26-40)
Yellow Flags: 4
Red Flags: 0
Provisional Starters: B. Faircloth and Dixon
Heat Race Results
10 laps - Top 4 transfer
Heat #1
49 Jonathan Davenport - 11 Austin Hubbard
39 Tim McCreadie - 9 Dan Schlieper
42 Doug Sanders - 31 Scott Creel
32c Vic Coffey - 18D Danny Mitchell
101 Casey Roberts
Finish: Davenport, Hubbard, Schlieper, McCreadie, Creel, Coffey, Sanders, Mitchell and Roberts (DNS).
Heat #2
44 Earl Pearson Jr. - 41 Brad Neat
44 Chris Madden - 1 Josh Richards
116 Randy Weaver - 22 Chris Ferguson
3 Chesley Dixon - F1 Keith Freeman
22x Jon Henderson
Finish: Neat, Pearson, Weaver, Madden, Ferguson, Richards, Henderson, Dixon and Freeman
Heat #3
28 Dennis Erb, Jr. - 15 Steve Francis
6 Steve Shaver - 20 Jimmy Owens
16 Justin Ratliff - 21 Royce Bray
9 Dale Hammond - 17ss Shan Smith
Finish: Francis, Erb, Shaver, Owens, Ratliff, Hammond, Smith and Bray (DNS)
Heat #4
0 Scott Bloomquist - 5 Eric Jacobson
17T Tim Dohm - 23 John Blakenship
4 Jeremy Faircloth - 27 Ben Faircloth
15 Dean Bowen - 18 Eric Wells
Finish: Jacobsen, Bloomquist, Dohm, Bowen, Blankenship, B. Faircloth, Wells (DNS) and J. Faircloth (DNS)
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