Scott Bloomquist with second and third finishing Jimmy Owens (right) and Don O'Neal (left) after his "Jackson 100" win at Brownstown Speedway on Sept. 24th. (Robert Sell)

Lucas Oil Series: Bloomquist Claims Fourth Career "Jackson 100" at Brownstown

James Essex

BROWNSTOWN, Ind. - Sept. 24. Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn. won his fourth consecutive Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race and his fourth straight "Jackson 100" Saturday at Brownstown Speedway. 

The event earned Bloomquist $20,000 after he held off the late race charges from Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn. to take the win. Owens finished second, followed by 19th starting Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., and Scott James of Lawrenceburg, Ind. 

After racing from 19th place, #71 Don O'Neal a peek at second place, but he would ultimately settle for third behind #20 Jimmy Owens at Brownstown. (Robert Sell)

Brad Neat paced the field for the first 34 laps until he spun in turn four while leading the race. Bloomquist inherited the top spot. Owens and James battled it out for second as O’Neal, made his way into the top three around James on lap 48. At the halfway mark, Bloomquist was followed by Owens, O’Neal, James, and John Blankenship.

The race was red-flagged with 57 laps scored when Josh McGuire flipped his car in turn one. McGuire was unhurt in the incident.  

Scott Bloomquist at Brownstown Speedway. (Robert Sell)

Jimmy Owens was able to put some pressure on leader Scott Bloomquis late in the race, but not enough to keep Bloomquist from taking the win and stretching his new point lead over Owens. (Robert Sell)

In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 14th time this season, Bloomquist was elated with the win. “The car was good all night, Brad was running well there for a long-time and I don’t know what caused him to spin. Once we got the lead, I thought we had pulled out enough over Jimmy, but I hooked the rut down there in four and it nearly cost me,” said the 47-year-old driver. “We fortunately got it back going again and I saw Jimmy there, then I had the traffic to deal with, Jimmy made it close at the end, but we held on.”

Bloomquist now holds a 40-point lead over Owens heading into to the series’ next race, Tuesday Night at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway. “I thought I might get him there at the end,” said Owens, who started alongside Bloomquist in row number three. “The car was fast all weekend, I saw him hit that hole in four, and I thought maybe I had a chance on the last lap, I tried to get underneath him, but I just didn’t have enough grip to pass him.”  

O’Neal had the crowd on its feet as well with his charge through the field. ”That’s why they are the two best drivers in the country right now,” said O’Neal, who maintains third in the series points. “The car was awesome, we were just behind the eight ball after the heat race, if we could have started closer to the front it might have been a different story.”

Lucas Oil Series at Brownstown Speedway 1) Scott Bloomquist, 2) Jimmy Owens, 3) Don O'Neal, 4) Jared Landers, 5) Scott James, 6) Jared Hawkins, 7) Brad Neat, 8) Dale McDowell, 9) John Blankenship, 10) Joe Janowski, 11) Greg Kendall (prov.), 12) Tyler Reddick, 13) Earl Pearson, Jr., 14) Steve Casebolt, 15) Josh McGuire, 16) John Mason, 17) Ray Cook, 18) Dillan White (prov.), 19) Steve Francis, 20) Brian Birkhofer, 21) Kent Robinson, 22) Eric Wells, 23) Greg Johnson (prov.), 24) Mike Jewell, 25) Justin Rattliff Fast Time: Jimmy Owens (14.198); Heat winners: Blankenship, Francis, James; B-Main winners:Reddick, Jewell
Robert Sell photo