UNION, KY – 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 Press Release. Photo credit: Heath Lawson