2024-08-17 13:35:02
Dirt track racing legend Scott Bloomquist is believed to be the sole fatality in the crash of a single-engine, vintage plane on the Bloomquist family farm in Tennessee on Friday morning.
He was 60.
NASCAR titan Kenny Wallace on Friday called Bloomquist “the greatest dirt racer to ever live.”
The Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the remains are “believed to be that of Scott Bloomquist,” but official identification will come later from county forensics officials.
Reid Millard, owner of the popular dirt track Moberly Motorsports Park in Moberly, Missouri, cited a Bloomquist family member when he reported on Facebook the crash took place on the Bloomquist family farm in Mooresburg, Tennessee.
The crash was reported to the Hawkins County Rescue Squad at 7:47 a.m. on Brooks Road, near the address for Scott Bloomquist Racing, the driver’s organization, team, shop and merchandise shop.
The squad also indicated in its statement that the plane crashed into a barn and set it ablaze. A body was removed from the aircraft and sent to forensics investigators, it said.
Only the pilot was on board, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The plane was a Piper J3C-65 Cub, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash.
The model debuted in 1937 and was deployed by the U.S. Army in World War II, according to the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Dirt track racer and journalist Nick Graziano said in an obituary for the World of Outlaws racing website that Bloomquist was 60. He’s also listed as 60 in a dirt racing series announcement on his planned return to the track from March.
Bloomquist was inducted into the Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in 2002. His accomplishments also include the following: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion in 2009, 2010 and 2016; World of Outlaws champion in 2004; DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion in 1990, 1991 and 2002; driver with the most wins in the Hav-A-Tampa Series and Lucas Oil Series.
Dirt track racing, around since the 1920s, includes two main types of vehicles: tall, winged, open-wheel sprint cars, and more traditionally bodied stock cars or “late model” cars, which Bloomquist drove.
Dirt tracks can attract some of motor sports’ most skilled drivers, particularly those from stock car racing looking for an edge, because it involves nonstop attention to steering and acceleration. The cars are on a constant hunt for balance and traction as they race in a tail-out drift a majority of the time on their short tracks.
Bloomquist started his career in California, according to the World of Outlaws obituary, but eventually moved to Tennessee so he could help on the family farm and continue racing.
NASCAR legend Tony Stewart, speaking on social media platform X, said Bloomquist “made dirt racing better.”
“Scott Bloomquist was one of a kind, and he’s probably the smartest guy I’ve ever been around when it comes to dirt racing,” Stewart continued. “What he could do behind the wheel of a race car was matched by the ingenuity he put into building his race cars.”
Wallace agreed in a video on X: “It’s a very sad morning for me. He was the smartest dirt racer of all time.”
Bloomquist planned to return to dirt track racing with fuller participation than the occasional race he participated in during his later years, according to the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series in March. It isn’t clear if he made that return.
In his statement, Millard, the track owner, said: “Along with Scott’s daughter Ariel his parents his sister and along with all of you who knew and loved Scott — you are in our hearts and prayers of all our Millard Family.”
He continued, “God’s speed Scott. May you fly high on an Eagle’s wing forever.”
Jay Blackman contributed.
