CONCORD, N.C. — Many of the near-capacity crowd on hand counted Scott Bloomquist out prior to the start of Friday’s World of Outlaws Late Models Series feature on the opening night of the inaugural World Finals at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Those folks made a big mistake.
Dirt late-model racing’s biggest star had to win the first of two B mains just to start the 40-lap feature on the four-tenths-mile dirt track. He started 19th, but pitted on lap seven of the event which was slowed by 10 caution periods.
But from there, his familiar No. 0 Bloomquist chassis was riding on rails.
“When we first took off, the car was a little bit off,” said Bloomquist. “I dropped back, and then I went in and we made a few adjustments real quick.”
Bloomquist patiently worked his way through the field, taking second on lap 33. From there, he reeled in leader Ricky Elliott and the pair raced side by side for four laps before Bloomquist took the lead on lap 44.
“As the groove widened out…I just never say die. We’re gonna keep on it until either it happens, or we’re in the fence.
“I love this race track when it’s smooth,” Bloomquist said. “The cushion gave it a little bit of character, made it where you could definitely make a mistake and had to operate on a thin line.”
Elliott held on for his career-best WoO LMS finish in second, while Earl Pearson, Jr., Steve Francis, who clinched the series championship merely by showing up for Saturday’s finale of the World Finals, and Josh Richards rounded out the top five.
“It’s just a lot of relief now,” said Francis, who finished second in the WoO LMS standings in 2004 and 2005. “We’ll change the motor tomorrow. We’re having some fun tonight.”
The summary:
First Heat (10 laps): Eric Jacobsen, Steve Shaver, Ricky Weeks, Jeff Rine, Randy Weaver, Tim Tungate, Steve Blackburn, Doug Dodd, Jay Smith, Josh McGuire,  Jeff Smith, Shannon Babb, Dan Schlieper.
Second Heat (10 laps): Donnie Moran, Shane Clanton, Randy Korte, Michael England, Tommy Kerr, Scott James, Rick Eckert, Ben Adkins, Jared Hawkins, Tim Allen, Jayme Zidar, Chad Ruhlman.
Third Heat (10 laps): Matt Miller, Josh Richards, Earl Pearson, Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Ray Cook, Brian Barber, Chuck Harper, David Scott, Matt Lux, Wayne Chinn, Don O’Neal, Anthony Huber.
Fourth Heat (10 laps): Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Elliott, Austin Dillon, Clint Smith, Tim Dohm, Dan Stone, Tim Fuller, Jason Dunn, John Lewellyn, Walker Arthur, Chris Combs, Eric Wells.
Fifth Heat (10 laps): Miller, Lanigan, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Mike Balzano, Junior Pearce, Jackie Boggs, Ken Schrader, Alex Ferree, Rodney Combs, Jeff Cooke, Kerry Jones, Jordan Bland.
Sixth Heat (10 laps): Chris Madden, Chub Frank, Steve Francis, Brian Shirley, Jeep VanWormer, Tony Knowles, Freddy Smith, Jerry Bowersock, Johnny Cloer, Jr., Ronnie DeHaven, Jr., Austin Hubbard, Larry Blankenship.
First B Main (12 laps): Bloomquist, England, Eckert, Rine, Kerr, James, Weaver, Scott, Tungate, Hawkins, Barber, Dodd, Adkins, Smith, Harper, Lux, Cook.
Second B Main (12 laps): VanWormer, Shirley, Balzano, F. Smith, Stone, Bowersock, Pearce, Knowles, Dohm, Boggs, Lewellyn, C. Smith, Cloer, Fuller, Dunn.
Feature (50 laps): Scott Bloomquist, Ricky Elliott, Earl Pearson, Jr., Steve Francis, Josh Richards, Rick Eckert, Matt Miller, Brian Shirley, Eric Jacobsen, Shane Clanton, Darrell Lanigan, Chris Madden, Austin Dillon, Chub Frank, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Ricky Weeks, Junior Pearce, Ben Adkins, Jeremy Miller, Steve Shaver, Jonathan Davenport, Randy Korte, Donnie Moran, Jeep VanWormer, Michael England, Clint Smith.