By Mike Kerchner and Sheena Baker

CONCORD, N.C. — There was construction all around The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, but it did little to hamper the third running of the Circle K Colossal 100 dirt-late-model event Friday and Saturday night.
The original dirt track pit area is now gone and is part of the under-construction drag strip on the LMS property. With the drag strip rising tall behind the third and fourth turns of the four-tenths-mile oval, a new pit area to house the competitors that there is not room for on the dirt track property, was located on the opposite side of an access road off the backstretch.
While the pit area does not provide competitors there a bird’s eye view of the track, neither did the original pit area that has now been consumed by the drag strip. With a new access road running between turns three and four and the drag strip, late-model teams had an easy route into the pit area despite the congestion and construction.

• Two-time defending Colossal winner Scott Bloomquist was a late arrival, showing up only 20 minutes prior to Friday night’s hot-lap session. Bloomquist struggled all weekend and was eventually eliminated from the 100-lap feature in a multi-car accident.

• An early evening rain shower delayed Saturday night’s program by nearly two hours, and more than likely contributed to the carnage in the feature, which saw 16 yellow flags and one red and took nearly 90 minutes to complete.

OUCH: Scott Bloomquist clips a banana box during Saturday night's Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway. (Phil Cavali Photo)

• The Bloomquist Mafia, which swept the top three finishing positions in the 2007 Colossal, brought eight cars to LMS this year, with Bloomquist and fellow drivers Chris Madden, Jimmy Owens, Eric Jacobsen, Brady Smith, Shanon Buckingham, Dale McDowell and John Blankenship all steering Bloomquist chassis late models. Madden was the best finisher, taking second at Saturday night’s checkered flag. All eight cars pitted side by side in the turn-one pit area.

• The 24 drivers that qualified through Friday night’s heat races drew for starting positions in the Colossal, with Steve Francis the lucky driver to select the pole. Francis led all 100 laps en route to the $50,000 payday.

• Estimated at around 10,000, Saturday night’s crowd was the largest in the three runnings of the Colossal.

• Chub Frank was uninjured when his late model hooked the cushion and flipped against the turn-four fence during Saturday night’s feature.

• Billy Moyer set a track record for late models at The Dirt Track. Moyer lapped the four-tenths-mile oval in 14.672 seconds. The previous record, 14.905, was set by Steve Shaver during last year’s World of Outlaws World Finals.

• Shannon Babb was guaranteed an 11th-place starting position in the Circle K Colossal 100 thanks to his victory in October’s World of Outlaws Late Model event at The Dirt Track. Babb got as high as second during the feature, but was unable to get around Francis and came home in sixth.

• “The Ice Man” Jimmy Mars had the chance to make a sweep of events at Speedway Motorsports, Inc.-owned facilities Saturday night. Mars has victories at Bristol Motor Speedway, The Dirt Track @ Texas Motor Speedway and The Dirt Track @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was not to be, though, as Mars finished 32nd after completing only 15 laps of the 100-lap feature.

• The series will run a topless event for the first time during its next visit to The Dirt Track for the Oct. 8 Armour Vienna Sausage Showdown.