FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

UNION, KY (August 11, 2016) - Scott Bloomquist took over the lead on lap five and never looked back as he went on to win the 30th Annual Ralph Latham Memorial on Thursday night at Florence Speedway. The two-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion and current point leader earned $30,000 for his victory. It was his first Ralph Latham Memorial win since 2006.

In a close race for second at the finish, it was Don O'Neal in the Clint Bowyer Racing/Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Club 29 taking the runner-up spot. He was just ahead of Dennis Erb Jr. in the Vomac Truck Sales/Black Diamond, Bobby Pierce in the Allgayer Inc./Bob Pierce Race Car, and Jared Landers in the Crop Production Services/Sweet-Bloomquist entry.

Bloomquist had to hold off a furious charge from O'Neal, Erb and Pierce at the end to get the job done. "I got the signal they were gaining on me towards the end. I didn't want to get on top of that cushion. You can't take a chance of messing up and getting into the fence. I stayed right in the middle even in the slick. I can't say enough about Randy Sweet and all of my other sponsors," said Bloomquist who maintains the points lead with his series-leading 10th win of the season.

"I had to be really careful to not spin the tires, it took a lot of poise. I think I got cramps in my legs from pulling back on the accelerator. It's been a good year so far, and we hope that we can keep it up. We need to get us a North/South win on Saturday!" Bloomquist has not won the $50,000 to win crown jewel event since 2000.

Jackie Boggs took the lead at the start of the race and led the first two laps until he dropped out of the race under a caution flag. Landers then picked up the lead and led for two circuits before Bloomquist, who started sixth took assumed the point for good.

The trio of O'Neal, Erb, and Pierce had a terrific battle for second with Erb getting by Pierce at the flagstand to claim third.

O'Neal was looking for his first LOLMDS win of the season and made a strong statement with his second place finish. "Man I just had to drive too hard up there on the cushion. You really needed to be down low like Scott was. We were good enough for second. We need to be a little bit better here for Saturday night to get the win. I really didn't want to see those caution flags. I think we had something for him in lapped traffic."

Erb came home in third place for his best-ever finish at the 1/2-mile oval. "We had a good run tonight and were able to get up and grab third at the end. We had a really good car, and now we just want to get in the field on Saturday night. I think we've got a good enough car to win the $50,000."

Completing the top ten were Billy Moyer, Tim McCreadie, Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport, and Ricky Weiss.

In preliminary action, Billy Moyer set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 65 entrants, with a lap of 16.050 seconds. Jackie Boggs set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 16.361 seconds. Jared Landers, Darrell Lanigan, Brandon Sheppard, Jackie Boggs, Chris Madden, and Scott Bloomquist won their respective heat races. Jimmy Owens and Jason Feger won their respective B-Mains.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Thursday, August 10th, 2016
30th Annual Ralph Latham Memorial
Florence Speedway - Union, KY

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Billy Moyer / 16.050 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Jackie Boggs / 16.361 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jared Landers, Billy Moyer, Timothy Culp, Matt Miller, Dale McDowell, Robby Hensley, Justin Rattliff, Tim Dohm, Adam Bowman, Daniel Dial, Chad Stapleton

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Darrell Lanigan, Kent Robinson, Earl Pearson, Jr., Dustin Linville, John Whitney, Chris Brown, John Gill, Kayne Hickman, Nick Latham, Joe Godsey, Austyn Mills-DNS

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan Davenport, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jimmy Owens, Ray Cook, Gregg Satterlee, Doug Drown, Kyle Bronson, Colton Flinner, Stan Freeman, Mike Benedum-DNS

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jackie Boggs, Tim McCreadie, Ricky Weiss, Devin Moran, Mason Zeigler, Tommy Bailey, Jesse Lay, Jeff Alsip, Jason Jameson, Trevor Landrum, Mike Marlar

Sunoco Race Fuels Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Chris Madden, Don O'Neal, Michael Chilton, Josh Rice, Kolby Vandenbergh, Jake O'Neil, Ethan Burgess, Scott James, Zak Blackwood, Jerry Gibson, Jr., James Lay

ASi Racewear Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, RJ Conley, Bobby Pierce, Jason Feger, Steve Francis, Cody Mahoney, Nick Hoffman, Steve Landrum, Dustin Nobbe, Nathan Vawter

Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Dustin Linville, John Whitney, Dale McDowell, Gregg Satterlee, Matt Miller, Ray Cook, Doug Drown, Chris Brown, Robby Hensley, Colton Flinner, Chad Stapleton, John Gill, Adam Bowman, Tim Dohm , Nick Latham, Kyle Bronson, Joe Godsey, Kayne Hickman, Stan Freeman, Justin Rattliff, Daniel Dial-DNS, Austyn Mills-DNS, Mike Benedum-DNS

Keyser MFG B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Jason Feger, Devin Moran, Steve Francis, Jake O'Neil, Mason Zeigler, Tommy Bailey, Jesse Lay, Cody Mahoney, Kolby Vandenbergh, Mike Marlar, Jason Jameson, Ethan Burgess, Scott James , Nick Hoffman, Zak Blackwood, Steve Landrum, Dustin Nobbe, Trevor Landrum, Jerry Gibson, Jr., Nathan Vawter, Josh Rice, James Lay, Jeff Alsip

Feature Finish (75 Laps):


FINISH

START

CAR #

DRIVER NAME

HOMETOWN

EARNINGS

1

6

0

Scott Bloomquist

Mooresburg, TN

$30,100

2

10

5

Don O'Neal

Martinsville, IN

$5,500

3

17

28E

Dennis Erb, Jr.

Carpentersville, IL

$3,500

4

18

32

Bobby Pierce

Oakwood, IL

$2,750

5

1

777

Jared Landers

Batesville, AR

$2,250

6

7

21

Billy Moyer

Batesville, AR

$1,800

7

8

39

Tim McCreadie

Watertown, NY

$1,500

8

22

99m

Devin Moran

Dresden, OH

$1,400

9

11

6

Jonathan Davenport

Mount Airy, NC

$1,300

10

14

7w

Ricky Weiss

Headingley, MB

$1,280

11

16

97

Michael Chilton

Salvisa, KY

$1,260

12

12

71c

RJ Conley

Wheelersburg, OH

$1,240

13

9

7R

Kent Robinson

Bloomington, IN

$1,220

14

23

15F

Steve Francis

Bowling Green, KY

$1,200

15

13

C8

Timothy Culp

Prattsville, AR

$1,200

16

19

20

Jimmy Owens

Newport, TN

$1,200

17

24

75

Colton Flinner

Allison Park, PA

$1,300

18

15

1

Earl Pearson, Jr.

Jacksonville, FL

$1,200

19

5

B5

Brandon Sheppard

New Berlin, IL

$1,200

20

20

25F

Jason Feger

Bloomington, IL

$1,200

21

3

15L

Darrell Lanigan

Union, KY

$1,200

22

25

18L

Trevor Landrum

Erlanger, KY

$1,200

23

21

D8

Dustin Linville

Lancaster, KY

$1,200

24

2

4B

Jackie Boggs

Grayson, KY

$1,200

25

4

44

Chris Madden

Gaffney, SC

$1,200

Race Statistics
Entrants: 65
Lap Leaders: Jackie Boggs (Laps 1 - 2); Jared Landers (Laps 3 - 4); Scott Bloomquist (Laps 5 - 75)
Cautions: Chris Madden (Lap 2); Colton Flinner, Trevor Landrum (Lap 2); Earl Pearson Jr. (Lap 13); Dustin Linville (Lap 14); Jared Landers (Lap 49); Jason Feger (Lap 60)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Steve Francis; Colton Flinner
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Wrisco Feature Winner: Scott Bloomquist
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Dennis Erb Jr. (Started: 17th; Finished: 3rd; Advanced 14 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Scott Bloomquist
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Dennis Erb Jr.
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Don O'Neal
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Colton Flinner
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Andy Durham Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Sweet-Bloomquist Race Cars
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jeremy Justice (Don O'Neal)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Jackie Boggs (Lap #1 - 17.2118 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Scott Bloomquist (70 Laps)
PFC Brakes Tough Brake Award: Brandon Sheppard
Time of Race: 54 minutes 13 seconds

Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:


POS

CAR #

DRIVER NAME

HOMETOWN

POINTS

EARNINGS

1

0

Scott Bloomquist

Mooresburg, TN

5730

$259,875

2

6

Jonathan Davenport

Mount Airy, NC

5405

$200,450

3

777

Jared Landers

Batesville, AR

5200

$110,375

4

B5

Brandon Sheppard

New Berlin, IL

5145

$98,775

5

39

Tim McCreadie

Watertown, NY

5020

$81,275

6

28E

Dennis Erb, Jr.

Carpentersville, IL

4865

$72,150

7

5

Don O'Neal

Martinsville, IN

4850

$84,475

8

15L

Darrell Lanigan

Union, KY

4755

$76,800

9

1

Earl Pearson, Jr.

Jacksonville, FL

4620

$76,125

10

20

Jimmy Owens

Newport, TN

4610

$108,900

11

15F

Steve Francis

Bowling Green, KY

4190

$47,375

12

75

Colton Flinner

Allison Park, PA

3340

$22,775

*Points are unofficial until Close of Business on the Tuesday following Race Day*