BLOOMQUIST WINS 4TH USA 100 @VMS

SCOTT BLOOMQUIST WINS 4TH USA 100; BENJI HICKS INHERITS FASTRAK USA 100 VICTORY AT VIRGINIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Story By: Dave Seay/Virginia Motor Speedway

Photos By: Harry Meeks/RacersGuide.com

Jamaica, VA – Despite dropping a cylinder on lap 23 of the 60 lap feature, Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN swept the 41st Annual USA 100 presented by Commonwealth Motorsports for the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series at Virginia Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Bloomquist was the Fast Qualifier, won his eight-lap Heat Race, and then led all 60 laps to claim the $20,000 top prize.

The win now lists Bloomquist as the only four-time winner of the USA 100, and he seemed really impressed that is was his first career win with the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series, after racing many times with the Regional series.

“I think we might have burned up a spark plug wire when we lost the cylinder, but the car was still fast, and those seven cylinders left gave all of the traction I needed,” Bloomquist said. “I didn’t realize I had never won a race with the ULTIMATE Series until tonight, so that’s something impressive.”

Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL and Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA battled side-by-side on the last lap of the race for the second spot, making contact on the backstretch as they headed to the checkers. Pearson finished second with McDowell taking third. Rounding out the top five were rookie Tyler Millwood and 22nd starting Kenny Moreland.

In other action Benji Hicks of Mount Airey, NC took home the victory in the Fastrak Racing Series “USA 100” Pro Late Model portion of the event after Ross Bailes was light at the scales. Hicks victory was worth $3,000. Ryan Montgomery, Justin Williams, Tyler Bare, and Logan Roberson rounded out the top five finishers.

Bloomquist took the lead at the drop of the green flag to start the race, but Ross Bailes of Clover, SC spun in turn four to bring out the first of four caution flags. That necessitated a complete restart, and Bloomquist again took the lead followed by Pearson, McDowell, Ferguson and Greg Satterlee.

Ferguson passed McDowell for the third spot on lap two, while Bloomquist began to pull away from Pearson, but that was void when the caution flag came out on lap seven when Austin Hubbard of Seaford, DE stalled in turn four to light up the yellow caution bulb. Bloomquist led Pearson, Ferguson, McDowell, Satterlee, Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA, Bailes, Millwood, Justin Williams of Concord, VA, Hollidge for the double-file restart.

Satterlee got by McDowell for the fourth spot on the restart, as the field raced under green flag conditions for one lap before Jackie Boggs of Grayson, KY spun in turn four on lap eight to bring out the third caution flag. After the restart, McDowell reclaimed the fourth spot by passing Satterlee on lap ten.

Satterlee would race for six more laps before falling off the pace and parking his race car in the infield pit area. Davenport lost a driveshaft from under his Barry Wright house car on lap 18 to bring out the final caution flag of the race. When the field went back to green flag action, Bloomquist opened up a half straightaway lead on Pearson, who had raced his way back up to second.

Coming by the front straightaway grandstands on lap 23, the note of the engine under the hood of Bloomquist’s race car went off song, but not only was he able to maintain his lead over Pearson, he opened it up even more! Not even lapped traffic would slow Bloomquist down.

At the halfway point, Bloomquist led Pearson, McDowell, Millwood, Ferguson, Moreland, Erwin, Hollidge, Bailes and Dohm. In the last ten laps of the race, Bloomquist opened up a big lead over Pearson, who was beginning to feel the heat from McDowell. The second and third-place drivers battled side-by-side for the last to laps of the race, while Bloomquist took a 4.207 second margin of victory under the checkered flag.

Matthew Nance took the lead at the start of the FASTRAK Pro Late Model main event followed by Walker Arthur, Bare, Williams, and Ross Bailes. After starting 11th, Bailes was on a mission, as he passed Williams and Bare to move up to the third spot on lap five.
The first of five caution flags slowed the field on lap 11 when Darrell Dow hit the turn two guardrail. Nance led Arthur, Bailes, Williams, Hicks, Roberson, Knight, Quade, Montgomery and Ford down for the restart, with Bare on the tail of the field after pitting. Bailes and Hicks got by Arthur to move up to second and third respectively after the restart.

Roberson spun in turn four and out of the fifth spot on lap 15 to bring out the second caution flag. When the field went back to green flag action, two battles at the front of the pack developed. Nance and Bailes went at it for the lead, while Walker came back to challenge Hicks for the third spot. Hicks hung on to third by lap 17, but the battle for the point stayed hot and heavy.

Bailes was able to get an inside run on Nance coming off the fourth turn on lap 20, and took the lead at the scoring loop under the flag stand where the crossed flags were being displayed to signal the halfway point in the race. Nance then began to back up to Hicks in third, with Hicks taking second on lap 22.

Arthur spun out of the fourth spot in turn four on lap 23 to light up the yellow bulb for the third time in the race. Bailes led Hicks, Nance, Williams, Montgomery, Ford, Almond, Quade, Davis Lipscombe and Roberson down for the restart.

Montgomery and Ford got up on the wheel, as they both leapfrogged Williams and Nance to move up to third and fourth respectively when the green flag came back out of the restart. Williams was able to work his way around Nance for the fifth spot, and then passed Ford for the fourth spot in lap 26.

Dow brought the caution flag out on lap 28 with a spin in turn four. The top ten for the double-file restart was Bailes, Hicks, Montgomery, Williams, Ford, Nance, Roberson, Almond, Bare, and Quade. Williams passed Montgomery for the third position on the restart, but Montgomery retook the spot on lap 30.

A three-car tangle in turn three on lap 31 involving Troy Frazier, Carl Vaughan, and Tyler Hoy brought out the final caution flag of the race on lap 31. With the race inside of ten laps to go, it was a single-file restart.

On the restart, Hicks got a run on Bailes down the front straightaway. Bailes took his normal line into turn one on the high side of the track, while Hicks drove hard to the bottom of the track in turn one. Hick’s momentum had him sliding in the front of Bailes in turn two, but Bailes made a hard left, and drove back under Hicks to retake the lead he would never relinquish.

“I knew my only chance to win the race was to drive as hard as I could into turn one and hope I had enough right-front tire left to make it work,” Hicks said. “I needed a little more tire than what I had, so he was able to drive back around me for the lead while I tried to keep the car out of the fence.”

The Speedway will return to racing next Saturday June 10th and host Northern Neck Chevrolet Night and week 6 of the Aaron’s Dirt Series Championship weekly racing action featuring the Victory Lap Pro Late Model, Truckin Thunder Sportsman, Budweiser Modified and Collision One Limited Stock Car divisions.

Admission price for adults is only $12, seniors (60+) $10; military (active/retired w/ proper I.D.) $8, students 11 – 17 years old $6 and children 10 and under admitted free. Pit passes will be $20.

Competitor gates for Saturday June 10th will open at 4pm with spectator gates opening at 5pm. On track activities will begin at 6:30pm with hot laps.

Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway is a ½ mile dirt oval track is located on U.S. Route 17, eight miles north of Saluda, VA and 25 miles south of Tappahannock, VA in Jamaica, VA. The speedway is just a short drive from Richmond, Fredericksburg, Southern Maryland and the Hampton Roads area.

Race fans can go to www.vamotorspeedway.com to view the complete schedule Virginia Motor Speedway’s 2017 season, find detailed event information, get the latest news, and get complete ticket and camping information. In addition, fans can get social with Virginia Motor Speedway by following @vamotorspeedway on Twitter, clicking “Like” at www.facebook.com/VaMotorSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/VaMotorSpeedway.

RACE RESULTS FOR 41st ANNUAL USA 100 presented by COMMONWEALTH MOTORSPORTS, SATURDAY JUNE 3, 2017:

ULTIMATE SUPER LATE USA 100 A MAIN (60 LAPS) – 1. 0B-Scott Bloomquist, [1]; 2. 1-Earl Pearson, [2]; 3. 17M-Dale McDowell, [3]; 4. 31-Tyler Millwood, [9]; 5. 24-Kenny Moreland, [22]; 6. 22E-Russell Erwin, [20]; 7. 22F-Chris Ferguson, [5]; 8. 17-Zack Dohm, [15]; 9. 0-Dale Hollidge, [14]; 10. 88-Ricky Elliott, [16]; 11. 29-Jason Welshan, [13]; 12. 79-Ross Bailes, [4]; 13. 2-Dennis Franklin, [11]; 14. 22-G.R. Smith, [17]; 15. 02B-Rodney Brickhouse, [21]; 16. 94-Jason Miller, [19]; 17. 23-Michael Rouse, [18]; 18. 4B-Jackie Boggs, [12]; 19. 49-Jonathan Davenport, [7]; 20. 89-Justin Williams, [10]; 21. 22S-Gregg Satterlee, [6]; 22. 5-Glenn Elliott, [23]; 23. 11-Austin Hubbard, [8]

HEAT 1: 1. 0B-Scott Bloomquist, [1]; 2. 79-Ross Bailes, [3]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport, [4]; 4. 89-Justin Williams, [2]; 5. 29-Jason Welshan, [7]; 6. 88-Ricky Elliott, [6]; 7. 94-Jason Miller, [5]

HEAT 2: 1. 1-Earl Pearson, [1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson, [3]; 3. 11-Austin Hubbard, [2]; 4. 2-Dennis Franklin, [6]; 5. 0-Dale Hollidge, [5]; 6. 22-G.R. Smith, [4]; 7. 22E-Russell Erwin, [8]; 8. 24-Kenny Moreland, [7]

HEAT 3: 1. 17M-Dale McDowell, [1]; 2. 22S-Gregg Satterlee, [3]; 3. 31-Tyler Millwood, [2]; 4. 4B-Jackie Boggs, [5]; 5. 17-Zack Dohm, [6]; 6. 23-Michael Rouse, [7]; 7. 02B-Rodney Brickhouse, [8]; 8. 5-Glenn Elliott, [4]

FAST QUALIFIER: Scott Bloomquist, 16.671 Seconds

FASTRAK PRO LATE MODEL USA 100 A MAIN (40 LAPS) – 1. 55-Benji Hicks, [5]; 2. 12M-Ryan Montgomery, [7]; 3. 2-Justin Williams, [2]; 4. 30-Tyler Bare, [4]; 5. 17-Logan Roberson, [8]; 6. 24T-Philip Thompson, [15]; 7. 83-Jensen Ford, [10]; 8. 7A-Corey Almond, [12]; 9. 24-Matthew Nance, [1]; 10. 8-Ron Parker, [14]; 11. 71-Davis Lipscombe, [18]; 12. 66X-Matt Tarbox, [13]; 13. 71T-Tyler Hoy, [23]; 14. 40-Brent Bordeaux, [16]; 15. 28-Carl Vaughan, [20]; 16. 42-Cla Knight, [9]; 17. (DNF) 47-Matt Quade, [3]; 18. (DNF) 44-Dylan Lewis, [21]; 19. (DNF) 0-Troy Frazier, [17]; 20. (DNF) 5J-Darrell Dow, [19]; 21. (DNF) 87-Walker Arthur, [6]; 22. (DNF) 38-Nick Love, [22]; (DQ) 79-Ross Bailes, [11]

HEAT 1: 1. 24-Matthew Nance, [1]; 2. 30-Tyler Bare, [4]; 3. 12M-Ryan Montgomery, [3]; 4. 83-Jensen Ford, [2]; 5. 66X-Matt Tarbox, [5]; 6. 40-Brent Bordeaux, [6]; 7. 5J-Darrell Dowell, [7]

HEAT 2: 1. 2-Justin Williams, [1]; 2. 55-Benji Hicks, [2]; 3. 17-Logan Roberson, [3]; 4. 79-Ross Bailes, [5]; 5. 8-Ron Parker, [4]; 6. 0-Troy Frazier, [6]; 7. 28-Carl Vaughan, [7]; 8. 38-Nick Love, [8]

HEAT 3: 1. 47-Matt Quade, [1]; 2. 87-Walker Arthur, [3]; 3. 42-Cla Knight, [4]; 4. 7A-Corey Almond, [2]; 5. 24T-Philip Thompson, [8]; 6. 71-Davis Lipscombe, [5]; 7. 44-Dylan Lewis, [6]; 8. 71T-Tyler Hoy, [7]