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Bloomquist Pockets $50,000 And Takes USA Nationals Title
New Richmond, WI - 8/6/2006 - Tradition. That was the word of the
weekend at Cedar Lake this past weekend as the legendary speedway played host
to the 19th edition of the famed USA Nationals late model race. The race
has such a rich and successful history that the name alone brings race fans
from all across the Midwest and as far north as Canada. As for the
drivers, the $50,000 winner’s check along with the bragging rights brings
the best late model pilots the country has to offer. “The track up
here is always extremely fast. And with the corners this wide and this
banked, it makes for great racing every time we visit” said Earl Pearson Jr
who calls Jacksonville, Florida home. Defending race winner Scott
Bloomquist added, “The Nationals are always a highlight on our schedule,
both the race track and the race fans are some of the best we see all
year.” That was evident as 66 high performance open late models
entered the event and vied for their share of one of the biggest late model
purses in the country.
The show was divided into two full evenings of racing. Friday night
showcased the 66 machines time trialing around the lightning fast, high banked
oval. The six heat races were set up by the time trial results, except
with an interesting twist added to the mix. The top 24 qualifiers were
inverted for their heat races. The inversion placed top qualifier Earl
Pearson Jr in the fourth starting spot in the sixth heat race; second fast
qualifier Terry Casey to the fourth starting spot in the fifth heat and so
fourth. The six heat race winners that advanced to the dash later in the
evening included in this order; Brian Birkhofer, Pat Doar, Steve Casebolt,
Denny Eckrich, Scott Bloomquist, and Don O’Neal. The two fastest time
trial qualifiers were also guaranteed a spot in the dash, meaning Earl Pearson
Jr and Terry Casey earned spots in the dash as well.
In addition to the USA Nationals open late model show, the DTRA Super late
model series also held two complete shows on the weekend. The great
thing about these shows is that Cedar Lake has such a high caliber local late
model division that not only do the fans get a great open late model show, but
the local show is usually just as entertaining. Many of the local guys
enter the open show and in the past have run right with the traveling
teams. In the DTRA portion of Friday night’s show, four heat races
were run with twin ‘B’ features setting up the night’s feature
race. In the $2,500 to win 30 lap feature, Joey Jensen started up front
and battled with Pat Doar for almost the entire race before crossing the
stripe first to pick up the feature victory in front of the near capacity
crowd. It was also the first night of the “Chase for the DTRA
championship” for the local late models in which the top 10 in season points
were split from the rest of the field and became eligible to win the series
season championship.
On Saturday night, twin ‘B’ features set the final six spots in the 24 car
field for the 19th annual USA Nationals event to conclude the weekend.
The DTRA late model feature was run before the USA Nationals 100 lap
feature. In that race Brad Seng and Lance Mathees started on the front
row for the 30 lap event. It didn’t take long for Joel Cryderman to
make his way out front and lead the field through the majority of the
event. But a few cautions flew throughout the event, each time bringing
the field to the bumper of Cryderman. One of the cars using the yellows
to his advantage was Pat Doar as he quickly pulled even with Cryderman at the
halfway point and soon disposed of him as he took command of the show.
Once out front it was all Pat Doar as Cryderman pedaled hard to keep up but
didn’t have enough as Doar cruised to the checkers to pick up the cash and
checkers. Doar quickly had to refuel and change tires as he was also
slated to start in the sixth spot in the USA Nationals main event next.
The big show was the only one left on the weekend with “Birky” Brian
Birkhofer and “The Real Deal” Don O’Neal leading the absolutely stacked
field to the green flag of the 100 lap event. The capacity crowd shook
the grandstand as the field took the green flag with Birky taking the early
advantage over O’Neal and Bloomquist who started the event from the inside
of the second row. Behind Bloomquist it was Earl Pearson Jr,., Terry
Casey, Deny Eckrich, Shannon Babb, Darren Miller, Brady Smith and Steve
Casebolt rounding out the top ten positions. At the 25 lap mark it was
still all Birkhofer with O’Neal three car lengths back and Bloomquist two
lengths behind O’Neal. Lapped machines became a factor as Birky and
company laid down a blistering pace.
At the 35 lap mark Bloomquist dove to the inside of O’Neal and the pair went
side-by-side for the second spot for several laps until Bloomquist completed
the pass and set his sights on leader Birkhofer. The first caution of
the event flew on lap 40 as the 21H machine of Brian Harris spun right in
front of leader Birkhofer coming off turn two. Both machines were OK and
Birkhofer was given the lead back. On the restart Birkhofer now had a
whole slew of hungry predators on his tail lead by the dreaded 0 car of
Bloomquist. Birky held the lead but soon had a new suitor in Darren
Miller as he got by Bloomquist for the position. Just nearing the
halfway mark the caution flew for the second time as third place runner
O’Neal pulled out of the groove and pulled into the pit area. His
night was finished. Leader Birkhofer lead Bloomquist and Miller the line
at the restart with Bloomquist diving low into turn one but not able to make
it stick as Birky held strong up top. Behind Bloomquist it was Miller,
Babb, and Pearson Jr rounding out the top five. Bloomquist pulled even
with Birky as the pair hit the 55 lap mark with Bloomquist down low and Birky
up top as the pair went side-by-side. At the 60 lap mark Birky still
held off Bloomquist up front but Elk Mound, WI driver Jimmy Mars had driven
into the sixth spot and was working on Pearson Jr for the fifth spot. On
lap 66 Bloomquist threw a grand slide job at Birky and almost took out both
machines. It didn’t’ work that lap but on the next lap Bloomquist
tried it again and this time it stuck as he inherited the lead on lap
71. Once out in clear air Bloomquist began putting distance between
himself and Birkhofer in second.
Behind Birkhofer it was still Miller, Babb and now Mars who was coming
strong. Birky soon caught the black and silver car of Bloomquist by lap
78 and the pair again continued the race-long battle. Bloomquist got
stuck behind lapped machines on lap 80 and that allowed Birky to pull even
with the leader as the crowd rose to their feet! Birky just didn’t
have quite the momentum needed to complete the pass as Bloomquist held
strong. With 10 laps left Bloomquist still held all the cards as Birky
had about 5 car lengths to make up. As the final laps wound on, it was
all Bloomquist as he was simply the machine to beat tonight. Bloomquist
drove off into the money as he took the double-checkers ahead of Birkhofer and
staked claim to the title of USA Nationals Champion and the accompanying
$50,000 payday! Congratulations to Scott and his team on a great weekend
and hard earned victory. Birkhofer came home second in front of Darren
Miller, Jimmy Mars and Matt Miller had a great run coming home
fifth.
A big thank you goes out the crowd who filled the grandstands and campgrounds
for the weekend. Tickets and camping spots are on sale for next year’s
20th annual USA Nationals event. Check out the website www.cedarlakespeedway.com
to purchase or for more information on the event. Also call the
toll free number 866-4CLSFUN for directions or race information. We look
forward to seeing you in the grandstand for the next race at the legendary
Cedar Lake Speedway.
Results:
Heat #1: Birkhofer, Babb, M Miller, Mathees, Follmer, Egersdorf, Hucovski,
Nutzmann, England, Bear, Foss
Heat #2: Doar, Berck, James, Moran, Goodremote, Dave Eckrich, Laursen,
Larson, Friendt, Fegers, Emerson
Heat #3: Casebolt, D Miller, Owens, Fegers, Parker, Cramer, Shulte, Peterson,
T Patchen, B Laursen, Nesbitt
Heat #4: Denny Eckrich, Vanwormer, Mars, Jensen, Hansen, Sietz, Anderson, Seng,
Moss, Provinzino, Mudrak
Heat #5: Bloomquist, B Smith, Casey, Harris, Kaanta, Hesselink, Johnson,
Keeney, Raboin, B Jensen, Simpson
Heat #6: O’Neil, Pearson, Cryderman, Hanestad, Schlieper, Redetzke, F Smith,
Stockwell, Hayward, McKay, Bahr
Dash: Birkhofer, O’Neil, Bloomquist, Casey, Pearson, Doar, Casebolt, Denny
Eckrich
B-Feature: Fegers, Mathees, Harris, Follmer, Shute, Kaanta, Cramer, Hesselink,
Nutzmann, Johnson, Hucovski, T Patchen, Keeney, Simpson, Parker, England, B
Laursen, Raboin, Egersdorf, Bear, Peterson, Foss, B Jensen, Nesbitt
B-Feature: Moran, Hansen, Schlieper, Dave Eckrich, J Jensen, Goodremote,
Hanestad, Seng, Sietz, McKay, Stockwell, Moss, Freddy Smith, Hayward, S
Laursen, Provinzeno, Larson, Anderson, M Fegers, Mudrak, Friendt
USA Nationals finishing order: Scott Bloomquist, Brian Birkhofer, Darren
Miller, Jimmy Mars, Matt Miller, Shannon Babb, Earl Pearson Jr., Brady Smith,
Steve Casebolt, and Kyle Berck in 10th.
Jeep Vanwormer, Brian Harris, Scott James, Denny Eckrich, Don O’Neal, Terry
Casey, Donnie Moran, Justin Fegers, Jimmy Owens, and Pat Doar in 20th.
Kerry Hansen, Dan Schlieper, Lance Mathees, and Joel Cryderman rounded out the
finishing order.
DTRA Late Models: 42 Cars
Friday August 4th
Heat 1: B Larson, Foss, Doar, Hipsag, J Patchen, Nutzmann, Carlson, Peterson,
Provinzeno, Mudrak, Raboin
Heat 2: Breeschoten, Cryderman, Casey, Anderson, Egersdorf, Bahr, Sietz, B
Laursen, Wennen, Hucovski, Brust
Heat 3: J Jensen, Birkhofer, Goodremote, Fegers, S Laursen, J Keeney, Patchen,
Chrest, Bear, Nesbitt
Heat 4: Redetzke, Kaanta, Schreiner, Mathees, Seng, Hesselink, Friendt, B
Jensen, Hayward, Emerson
B Feature: Nutzmann, Keeney, Provineno, Peterson, Nesbitt, Chrest, Carlson,
Bear, Mudrak, T Patchen
B Feature: Sietz, Brust, Friendt, Hesselink, B Laursen, Wennen, Hucovski,
Hayward, B Jensen
Feature: J Jensen, Doar, Foss, B Larson, Cryderman, Breeschoten, Redetzke,
Kaanta, Mathees, Casey, Anderson, Goodremote, Nutzmann, Egersdorf, S Laursen,
J Patchen, Hipsag, Sietz, Seng, Fegers, Keeney, Schreiner, Brust, Birkhofer
DTRA Late Models 37 cars
Saturday August 5th
Heat 1: Goodremote, S Laursen, Anderson, B Larson, Wennen, Peterson, Bear, B
Jensen, Nelson
Heat 2: Hesselink, Foss, Casey, Jensen, Kaanta, Chrest, Patchen, Hucovski,
Mudrak
Heat 3: Cryderman, Egersdorf, Mathees, Carlson, Nesbitt, T Patchen, Nutzmann,
B Laursen, Raboin, Sietz
Heat 4: Doar, Breeshoten, Seng, M Fegers, Hipsag, Provinzeno, Schreiner,
Keeney, Hayward
B Feature: Chrest, Provinzeno, Nelson, Schreiner, Nutzmann, Peterson, Keeney,
Laursen, Hucovski, J Patchen, Raboin, T Patchen, B Jensen, Mudrak
Feature: Doar, Cryderman, Anderson, Jensen, Foss, Goodremote, Mathees,
Breeschoten, Egersdorf, Nesbitt, Schreiner, Kaanta, Carlson, Nelson, Seng,
Hesselink, Hipsag, Fegers, Chrest, B Larson, Provinzeno, Wennen, Casey, S
Laursen
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