By Bret Emrick

BARBERVILLE, Fla. -October 29, 2005- Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg,TN captured the 2005 season ending World of Outlaws Stacker 2 Late Model Series event Saturday at Volusia Speedway Park in Daytona Beach (Barberville),FL pocketing the $30,000 top prize in the “Gator 100”.

Bloomquist jumped in front from his outside front row starting position and led all the way for his fourth WoO victory of the season taking the checkered flag 3.717 seconds ahead of newly crowned World of Outlaws Stacker 2 Late Model Series Champion Billy Moyer. Steve Francis entered the season finale a scant 2 points ahead of Moyer for the Championship and finished third when Moyer worked his way past Francis with one lap remaining in the 100 lap affair.

Moyer, starting 13th, and Francis, starting 9th, actually tied for the Championship in the final points but Moyer won the tie-breaker of having more second place finishes than Francis during the season, five to two, to secure the Championship title. Rick Eckert rode home fourth with 14th starting Tim McCreadie fifth followed by pole sitter Chub Frank in sixth then Darrell Lanigan, 16th starting Clint Smith, 23rd starting Dale McDowell and Dan Schlieper tenth after pitting twice for blown tires.

Bloomquist was very happy with the victory stating it was a good way to end the season driving the Miller Bros. Coal/Hawkeye Trucking No. 0 Scott Bloomquist Racing Bloomquist Chassis/Vic Hill Racing Engines Ford Taurus.

“Yeah, this is a good way to wrap up the season”, stated Bloomquist. “It was a rough year for us. We went through a lot of engine trouble and Vic Hill is doing our engines now and I can’t say enough for them. That’s turned us around more than anything. It’s nice to come on strong at the end of the year. Nobody remembers the ones at the first of the year. But, if you end up the season the way we have it gives us something to think about over the winter.”

Leading all 100 lap had Bloomquist in lapped traffic several times throughout the event but Bloomquist stated that the lapped cars presented no problem at all.

“No, it didn’t bother us at all. We could go just about anywhere we wanted to go. The lapped traffic didn’t bother us at all”, said Bloomquist. “The car was just so good that we really couldn’t do anything wrong.”

Moyer was ecstatic with his Championship and when asked what he thought about getting past Francis with only one lap to go the Batesville, AR veteran chuckled and then stated, “It’s funny it turned out that way. I tell ya’, it just seemed like the other guys were fading at the end of the race and our stuff came to us. I’m really at a loss for words. I just need to thank my guys and sponsors for standing behind us. They would do anything I asked them to do. I really need to thank Bill (Schlieper) and the folks at Pro Power Racing. They have all been great for our team and not just with the motors. They’re help has been invaluable.”

The driver of the J&J Steel/Banner Valley Hauling/McCarthy’s One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning/Petroff Towing No. 21 Billy Moyer Racing C.J. Rayburn Race Cars/Pro Power Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo was very gracious with his comments for Steve Francis. “I really need to congratulate Steve”, said Moyer. “He did everything you could possibly do to try and win the Championship. Probably being in the position he was in knowing he was ahead of me the entire race had to have been harder on him than it was for me. After our heat race I thought the race track stayed racy but didn’t know what it was going to do for the feature. Really no one did. If it would have rubbered up I would’ve been in real trouble where we were starting at. I thought it’s probably good that I could sit back and watch him throughout the race. Then at the end here we were right together again. Steve drove a great race and his guys worked real hard too. It’s kinda’ funny we started the season here and end the season here and it ended so close in the points. I’m just relieved we were able to get the job done.”

Francis was obviously disappointed with the outcome but was still proud of the job his MOPAR Performance Parts/Valvoline/Freeport Recycling No. 15 Steve Francis Racing Rocket Chassis/Stanton Racing Engines Dodge Intrepid R/T team did.

“Yeah, I’m disappointed we lost the Championship on a tie-breaker. But, I’m proud of MOPAR and Valvoline and everybody associated with our team. At least we’ve been here in the hunt two years in a row. I mean we lost the tie-breaker but we tied for the Championship. I’m sure Billy would’ve rather have won it out right and I wish we would’ve won it outright had it been a tie-breaker the other way. He’s going to get the bigger point find check tomorrow. But, when you go to the off-season trade shows, yeah, he can say he was the Champion but I can say we tied. That’s about all you can say about it. Actually we had a good year.”

Francis also felt that three caution periods in the final eight laps of the event may have had a great deal to do with how how things shook out at the end stating, “It damn sure seemed there were a lot of cautions for some reason at the end of the race. Those guys apparently were having some problems but then again you really don’t know either. There was five, six, seven lapped cars between us and we had all those cautions at the end of the race. I’ve never been a real fan of taking lapped cars out of the restart order. But, that’s the way it worked out. It wasn’t meant to be for us. I’ll go on and we’ll try it again next year.”

Teen sensation Josh “Kid Rocket” Richards of Shinnston,WV didn’t have the type of performance he would’ve liked in the “Gator 100” but was extremely happy to earn the 2005 World of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series “Rookie of the Year” title.

When asked in a post-race interview what was going through his mind knowing he had done what he set out to do at the beginning of the campaign driving the Seubert Calf Ranches/ACE Metal Works/MCB Motorsports No. 1 Mark Richards Racing Rocket Chassis/Cornett Racing Engines Pontiac Grand Prix “Kid Rocket” said, “Oh, not much. I mean I’ve had an awesome year. Maybe not tonight. I didn’t have any power steering from lap one on. We came in and fixed it but I think we were faster without it. I’ve had a good year. My goal was to win a race and we did that at Lebanon Valley Speedway. We had some top fives and some top tens so all in all I think it was a pretty good year.”

Frank and Bloomquist brought the field to the green flag with Bloomquist winning the drag race into turn one leading Frank, Lanigan, Eckert and Shane Clanton at the end of the first circuit. Lanigan used the outside lane to wrestle second from Frank on lap 2 as Bloomquist opened up some distance. Eckert worked his way past Frank for the third position on lap 5. Bloomquist entered lapped traffic on lap 9 but it never slowed his pace.

With 10 laps in the books, Bloomquist held a six car margin on Lanigan with Eckert, Frank and Clanton trailing with Schlieper sixth followed by Billy Decker, Francis, Smith and McCreadie with Moyer sitting eleventh.

Eckert caught Lanigan on lap 11 to snare the second spot but before lap 12 could be completed the yellow lights flashed on when Johnny Collins spun in turn one. On the restart both Schlieper and and Francis roared past Clanton dropping him to seventh. Francis then overhauled Schlieper on lap 14. Three laps later Lanigan saw both Frank and Francis shoot past to take third and fourth respectively as Bloomquist motored ahead of the pack unchallenged. Bloomquist again entered lapped traffic on lap 21 allowing Eckert to close to within two cars lengths of the leader.

With 25 laps down Bloomquist had cleared some of the backmarkers giving him some breathing room over Eckert while Frank ran third, Francis fourth and Lanigan fifth followed by Schlieper, Smith, Moyer, Clanton and McCreadie. Ten more laps would go in the books before Richards came to a stop on the backchute and headed pitside with the steering problems. Richards would return to the race several laps down after repairs were made to correct the power steering problem.

Francis made a hard charge on Frank on the restart working past the pole sitter on lap 36. Frank lost another position the next circuit as Schlieper swept past. Bloomquist again caught the lapped cars at lap 44 but easily worked his way through. Eckert meanwhile had his hands full with Francis losing the runner-up spot on lap 47. The top ten rundown at the halfway point had Bloomquist in from with Francis, Eckert, Schlieper and Frank sitting second through fifth followed by Moyer, Lanigan, McCreadie, Smith and McDowell. Schlieper’s great run would be thwarted on lap 55 when the right reat tire exploded on his car in turn three bringing out the caution.

Moyer moved into the top five on lap 56 while up front Bloomquist was in total control of the race despite catching the backmarkers at lap 63. The action for fifth between Frank, McCreadie and Lanigan was simply outstanding as the trio sliced and diced for several laps until the caution waved at lap 77 when Johnny Cloer slowed with mechanical problems. The running order at this point saw Bloomquist still leading with Francis second, Eckert third, Moyer fourth and Frank fifth trailed by McCreadie, Lanigan, Smith, McDowell and Schlieper.

Lap 82 would see Moyer work his way past Eckert for third and the drama for the Championship began. With ten circuits remaining Moyer sat three car lengths behind Francis who had a lot of ground to make up to catch Bloomquist. The caution would wave at lap 92 when Michael Lloyd suffered mechanical problems bunching the field back together. Two more laps would be completed before another slow down period appeared this time for another flat right rear tire on Schlieper’s car. On the restart the caution would come right back out when Tim Fuller’s car suffered right front suspension problems dropping him from the race.

Bloomquist pulled away from Francis on the restart while McCreadie made a bold move getting by Frank for the fifth position with five laps to go. Moyer caught Francis at lap 97 and raced side by side with Francis through lap 98. Exiting turn four for the white flag Moyer kept his momentum up by running the outside and worked his way past Francis entering turn one pulling ahead for the second spot as they raced off of turn two. Bloomquist took the checkered flag and Moyer held off Francis by .356 seconds to secure the Championship.

The $100,000 plus purse saw 26 drivers on hand for the two-day event with Eckert earning quick time honors in time trials with a fast lap of 16.793 seconds around the semi-banked ½ mile at an average speed of 107.188mph. Taking heat race wins were Eckert, Lanigan and Clanton. Collins grabbed the “B” Main while Frank scored the dash win.

The 2005 World of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series will officially close the season Sunday, October 30th when the richest ever dirt Late Model point fund of $540,000 will be awarded at The Shores Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach Shores,FL.

World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series Race Report For 10-28-05&10-29-05 Round No. 39-2005 Season-“Gator 100"

Volusia Speedway Park-Barberville,FL-1/2 Mile Oval $100,000 Purse-$30,000 To Win-100 Lap Feature Event RESULTS Showing Finish Pos.,Start Pos.,Car#,Driver,Residence,Laps Completed,Reason Out(if any) and Purse Money Won
1. (2) # 0 Scott Bloomquist - Mooresburg,TN 100 Running $30,000
2. (11) #21 Billy Moyer - Batesville,AR 100 Running $15,000
3. (9) #15 Steve Francis - Ashland,KY 100 Running $8,000
4. (4) #24 Rick Eckert - York,PA 100 Running $6,500
5. (12) #39 Tim McCreadie – Watertown,NY 100 Running $5,500
6. (1) #1* Chub Frank – Bear Lake,PA 100 Running $5,000
7. (3) #29 Darrell Lanigan – Union,KY 100 Running $4,500
8. (14) #44 Clint Smith – Senoia,GA 100 Running $4,000
9. (23) #17M Dale McDowell – Chickamauga,GA 100 Running $3,500
10. (5) # 9 Dan Schlieper – Sullivan,WI 100 Running $3,000
11. (6) #25 Shane Clanton – Locust Grove,GA 100 Running $2,500
12. (15) #23 John Blankenship – Williamson,WV 100 Running $2,000
13. (8) #91 Billy Decker – Unadilla,NY 99 Running $1,950
14. (20) #23L Michael Lloyd – Jacksonville,FL 95 Running $1,900
15. (24) #23S Patrick Sheltra – Indiantown,FL 95 Running $1,850
16. (22) #1L Homer Leonard – Jacksonville,FL 93 Running $1,800
17. (19) # 5 Johnny Collins – Jacksonville,FL 92 Mechanical $1,750
18. (17) #19 Tim Fuller – Watertown,NY 90 Suspension $1,700
19. (11) # 1 Josh Richards® - Shinnston,WV 84 Running $1,650
20. (10) #5WP Eric Jacobsen – Santa Cruz,CA 77 Mechanical $1,600
21. (18) #41 Johnny Cloer – Chatsworth,GA 76 Mechanical $1,550
22. (8) #44M Chris Madden – Grey Court,SC 70 Mechanical $1,500
23. (16) #33 Aaron Hatton – Mt. Sterling,KY 34 Mechanical $1,500
24. (21) #0* Steve Lade Ormond Beach,FL 2 Mechanical $1,500


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