BRISTOL, Tenn. — Legendary dirt late model driver Scott Bloomquist will be among the top dirt late model drivers hunting big money during the final weekend of the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bloomquist scored finishes of second and 12th place during the opening weekend of action and is ready to cash in on some of the big money that is still up for grabs during this weekend for the XR Super Series Late Models.
There will be feature races for the popular category on both Friday and Saturday nights at the dirt-transformed Bristol Motor Speedway. Each one of those races will offer a $50,000-to-win prize.
A $100,000 bonus is also on the table for the racer that averages the highest finish over all four of the XR Super Series Late Model events during the two-week event.
Last year Larson posted a pair of second place finishes in the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals.
Bloomquist, who earned a pair of victories at BMS back in 2001 and ’02 when the track was first converted to dirt, says he enjoys the challenge of racing on the half-mile high-banked bullring.
“First of all, it is a rush because you end up running a lot of laps without even lifting off the fuel,” Bloomquist said. “With the cubic-inch engines that we run in the car, as fast as we’re running around that place is serious. Your brain has to get up to speed and you’re downloading a lot of information really fast. I’ve always enjoyed the faster, the better. Bristol is absolutely one of my most enjoyable places to come and race.”
With more than 600 career feature victories on his résumé, Bloomquist says racing at Bristol requires some pre-race adjustments and a take-no-prisoners attitude behind the wheel.
“There’s a different preparation that is necessary for Bristol, just because of the speed,” Bloomquist said. “Mentally, I’ve never been on a track that I thought was fast enough yet. I love Bristol, I love all the big race tracks.”
Last weekend’s Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals $50,000 Super Late Model winners were Chris Madden on Friday night and Chris Ferguson on Saturday night.
Both of those talented drivers also will be in the mix to take home the $100,000 bonus, as will Jonathan Davenport, who was consistent with a pair of fourth place finishes. Others to watch include Ricky Weiss, Devin Moran, Dale McDowell, Kyle Strickler, Brandon Overton and Newport’s Jimmy Owens, to name a few.
NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is also entered in this weekend’s events.