Scott Bloomquist at Lucas Oil Speedway. (Ron Mitchell) Lucas Oil Series: Francis Dominance Ends in Disappointment; Bloomquist Gets "Diamond Nationals" James Essex
WHEATLAND, Mo. – July 16. After inheriting the top spot when race leader, Steve Francis suffered
driveline failure with six laps to go, Scott Bloomquist went on to lead the rest of the way to win the fifth
annual CMH "Diamond Nationals" on Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Tyler Reddick led the first 15 laps of the race before Bloomquist took over with 18 laps
scored. Bloomquist’s lead was short-lived as Francis took his car to the high side of the track and swept
by Bloomquist for the lead on lap 21.
Tyler Reddick with his Dad after the California teenager set fast time, won his heat
race, and led the first 15 laps of the "Diamond Nationals" before finishing an impressive fourth at the
Lucas Oil Speedway event. (Ron Mitchell)
John Blankenship moves under #20 Jimmy Owens before completing to strongest run of
his season to date with second place at LOS. (Ron Mitchell)
Francis pulled away from Bloomquist as he continued to power around the top side of the
track. Bloomquist ran a solid second during this stretch as a terrific battle for third was going between
Reddick, John Blankenship, Jimmy Owens, and Bub McCool went back-and-forth for the rest of the
race.
Francis was in command with an eight to ten-length lead and appeared to be on his way to his first win of
the year, with two lapped cars between himself and Bloomquist as the sizable lead looked strong enough at the
time. With six laps to go, however, Francis slowed suddenly on the backstretch as
his
Iowa's Chris Simpson scopes out #53 Ray Cook and #777 Jared Landers before
moving by both to finish seventh as his stats continue to improve. (Ron
Mitchell)
Scott Bloomquist (#0) inherited the lead when #15 Steve Francis' big lead ended
with driveline failure with just six laps to go in the "Diamond Nationals" at Lucas Oil
Speedway. (Ron Mitchell)
driveline failed, ending his night. Bloomquist then inherited the lead, but a caution with five laps
to go for Jared Landers set up a five-lap dash to the finish. Reddick held second briefly, but a
three-wide race between Reddick, Blankenship, and Owens resulted in Reddick getting shuffled back.
Blankenship and Owens tried their best to stay with Bloomquist, who went on to win for the ninth time in
LOLMDS competition this season. He extended his points lead to 60 over Owens. “Sometimes you have to be
lucky and we were
Reid Millard takes a slow roll during during heat race #1 at Lucas Oil
Speedway. (Ron Mitchell)
tonight," Bloomquist said. "Francis went to the top before I could get there and he was strong tonight -
no doubt about it. It looked like we were going to finish second again here, but to come home with the win, it
feels good. The car is running exceptionally well.”
Blankenship matched his career best, followed by Reddick, Owens, and McCool.
Lucas Oil Racing Series regular Earl Pearson, Jr. stops in at Chris Simpson's
pit. Simpson, a frequent competitor with the Cornbelt Clash Series, knocked down a respectable seventh at
LOS. (Ron Mitchell)
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Big Gains for Hubbard, Pearson, Ogle - The A-Team Has Been Updated 05-15-12
Scott James battles #13 Barry Doss in heat race action at Florence (Ky.) Speedway, but in the $2,000-to-win feature, the only thing anyone saw was the tail end of James' #81 car. (Roy Walker)
After plenty of trash-talking via the electronic media between Jeff Matthews and Ivedent Lloyd last week, it was #21 Lloyd who got the final word as he reeled in #33 Matthews to win Friday's LM feature at Oclala, Fla.'s Bubba Raceway Park. (R.E. Wing)
Fans at Markleysburg, Pa.'s Roaring Knob Motorsports Comlex were treated to dual LM features Saturday - one a makeup from a May 5th rainout. (Above) Tim Senic challenges eventual regular feature winner Chuck Harper, while Jared Hawkins (below) claimed the makeup race. (Tommy Micheals)
Henley, Missouri's Jason Russell leads the way to Victory Lane in the ULMS Late Model feature at Lucas Oil Speedway Saturday. (Chris Bork)
Some fierce racing action at Lucas Oil speedway. (Chris Bork)
Dalton, Ga.'s Craig Reece returned to Dixie Speedway Saturday and led all the way to win the Crate LM victory. (Steve Hixson)
Ray Guss Jr. races last week's Quad City Speedway winner, Mike Murphy, Jr. This time, it was advantage Guss. (Chris Damitz)
With a strong motor back into his mount, Veteran Lamar Scoggins claimed last Friday's Crate LM victory at Boyd's Speedway. (Steve Hixson)
Veteran racer Lance Matthees navigates Spring Lake, Minnesota's Deer Creek Speedway before taking Saturday's WISSOTA Late Model checkers. (Jason Durst)
Racing hard at mid-pack, it's the dueling 55s of Cory Mahder (inside) and Greg Nippoldt at Deer Creek. (Jason Durst)
Ryan King (above and below) swept both the Ltd. Late Model and Crate Late Model features Saturday at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. (Chad Wells)
Still riding his wave in Iowa, Mike Murphy, Jr. in early action before taking the main event win at Davenport last Friday. (Chris Damitz)
Jason Jameson ran a gauntlet to finally capture another win Friday night at Moler
Raceway Park (see main page). (Roy
Walker)
After holding back a charge from Alex Ferree, Chub Frank drove home with a Friday night win at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (John Stivason)
Bobby Pierce, Brett Sievert, and Mike Glynn race in a tight pack in Kankakee (Ill.) Speedway's "Crosstown Cup", but (below) it was ultimately Shawn Toczek (42) here racing the high side of Mike Provenzano, who sailed to the win. (Dan Simpson)
NALMS Suspends Remaining Season
In a statement released to the racing media Monday, Northern All All Stars Late Model Series (NALMS) owners Shawn Hall and Bob Mooney relased the following statement:
To all NALMS drivers and fans,
Northern Allstars Late Model Series regrets to inform all of our drivers and fans that as of today (May 14, 2012) we will suspend all series races for the remaining 2012 season. The primary reason for the decision to discontinue the series was mainly economics. Tracks, teams and fans are having a hard time these days with the cost of living in general. With the cost of fuel, parts, tires, tickets and lodging, many people just cannot afford to travel to our shows, so we feel it's best to stop for now and try to regroup for the 2013 season.
Our series needs to be able to have at least 18 to 20 shows to cover our cost of putting on these shows and our drivers point funds. With many tracks cutting back on their special events and other tracks just choosing not to have specials at all, it's has really cut our options for race tracks down to a very few unless you are willing to travel several hours away from the Central Illinois area, and that is not cost effective for the racing teams or fans.
In closing we would like to thank all of the drivers and fans whom have supported the series over the years and we hope to be able to come back with a bigger and better season for everyone in 2013.
A-Team Leaders from 1997-2011 (Click on link for complete rundown)
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