FLASHBACK: Bloomquist’s Lone Truck Series Start

Scott Bloomquist (51) battles Jason Bowles in 2013 at Eldora Speedway. (Russell LaBounty/Autostock for NKP photo)

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Some fans might forget that, for one night in the summer of 2013, dirt late model Hall of Famer Scott Bloomquist strapped in for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

Bloomquist, who tragically passed away in a Friday morning plane crash near his Mooresburg, Tenn., home, was a legend of his primary discipline. The 60-year-old won nine national championships and more than 600 feature races during his legendary career.

But he did, in fact, venture into stock car racing twice in that four-decade-plus span. The first stint was in 1991, when Bloomquist dabbled briefly in the ARCA Menards Series. He failed to finish all three starts.

It was Bloomquist’s second splash in stock cars that garnered much more attention, however, because it was during the inaugural Mudsummer Classic at famed Eldora Speedway – the site of 12 of Bloomquist’s crown-jewel dirt late model victories.

A multi-time winner in both the Dirt Late Model Dream winner and the World 100, Bloomquist was considered “a lock” by many in the industry to add starpower to Eldora’s NASCAR debut. After Kyle Busch Motorsports – then the Truck Series’ premier organization – announced they’d tabbed Bloomquist to drive its famed No. 51 Toyota Tundra in the race, it seemed predestined that Bloomquist would contend.

Unfortunately for Bloomquist and KBM, reality hit far differently than the vision.

Bloomquist started the 150-lap feature from 21st and battled a loose handling condition throughout that night, falling a lap down to eventual race winner Kyle Larson late in stage one and never able to rally after that.

He ultimately finished 25th, two laps down, in what ended up being his lone start in a NASCAR national touring series. KBM teammates Joey Coulter and Bubba Wallace finished fourth and eighth, respectively.

“We just fired off loose in the beginning of the race, got stuck in the bottom line and fell backwards,” explained Bloomquist post-race about the night. “After that the truck was better, but the track didn’t widen out and it was hard to make up any ground.”

While the end result wasn’t what Bloomquist had hoped for, that the pairing happened at all was thanks to then-team owner Kyle Busch winning the Prelude to the Dream charity late model race at Eldora in 2012 driving one of Bloomquist’s Team Zero Race Cars chassis.

“When NASCAR announced that the Truck Series was officially going to Eldora, we immediately contacted Scott about driving one of our Tundras – he’s won so many big races there and we [felt] like he [gave] our team a really good shot at winning a historic race,” Busch said at the time.

“I was able to win the Prelude driving one of his late models … [it was cool] for Scott to return the favor and drive for us.”

The Truck Series chassis Bloomquist raced Wednesday, July 24 at Eldora was KBM-20, originally built for a different Toyota team but never raced and eventually repurchased by Kyle Busch Motorsports.

It wouldn’t go down in history as an Eldora winner that night, but it was historic for a different reason – the sheer fact that one of the best ever in dirt racing was able to try something different, at least for one evening in small-town Ohio.