Has Bloomer ever raced a Sprint car?

[weatherman85]

I'm far from a Bloomer expert so thought I'd ask this question on here to find my answer. I know Bloomquist has accomplished pretty much everything there is to accomplish in Late models. He's even proven that he can run with the best and win in Mods. I was curious if he's ever raced a sprint car or if there's ever been talks of him hopping in one.

If not, how do you think he would do? I mostly follow Late Models so not sure how others that have crossed the line between the two have fared other than Donny Schatz. He hasn't lit the world on fire in a late model but has proven he can be competitive in my opinion as he did make the 2nd feature at the World Finals.

Thanks.

[CageFaraday]

He squeezed into a midget at the chilli bowl a few years back, but didn't make the feature. That's the only OW racing I know of him doing. The different types of dirt cars today have become so specialized that I don't think we'll ever see the likes of a Jack Hewitt ever again. If a man runs non-wing sprints they typically can move around the non-wing world with great success in Sprints, Champ cars and midgets. Some can learn to win in the winged sprints, but those who've transitioned from one to the other typically struggle for a time when they try to move back. DLM's these days are so style specific in how you must drive them that it doesn't translate to anything else, same with a winged sprint car. Gone are the days, I'm afraid, when racers could jump around into different type cars with success out of the box.

[weatherman85]

Roger that CageFaraday. Thanks for the information.

[Zonks32x]

For clarification purposes only. Bloomer has entered numerous events in a modified....which I know, drive more like a LM, but they are ow racecars.

Don't ever remember him entering a sprint show, wing or non-wing, but I'd be willing to bet he's hot-lapped one a time or two.
Decades in the dirt racing deal and all the people he knows, how has he not at least tried his hand at it one time.

[jhanson]

I suspect Scott might have fit better in a sprint car when he was younger.
Jim H.

[Dlmfan123]

If Jason sides fits I think most can

[CIRF]

There is no record of ol' bloomy ever having driven a sprint car. At least not in competition. However, ol' bloomy gave the midgets a try at The Chili Bowl a couple of times back in 2002 and 2003. On both occasions he left Tulsa somewhat humbled with his tail between his legs, so to speak. Ol' bloomy never even transferred into a preliminary night A-main. If I recall correctly the best finish ol' bloomy could muster at the biggest dirt race of the year was 6th in the 2003 Saturday night C-main. I think in 2002 he finished 12th in the Saturday night C-main.

No other dirt open wheel experience is know to exist in reference to ol' bloomy. It's been said that bloomy's less than mediocre success in dirt open wheel cars is due to the fact that his "driving style" doesn't fit dirt open wheel cars. However, the really great drivers can usually adapt to most any driving style. See Kyle Larson and/or Jack Hewitt.

You take ol' bloomy out of a dirt late model or a mortified and put him in a dirt open wheel car, an ARCA car or a NASCAR truck and he's way less than ordinary. No knock on his late model career, just merely stating facts. In a dirt late model, he's right at the top of the heap.

[WisWildManFan]

Yea bloomer should of kicked their ass at the chili bowl when he out weighs most of the drivers there by 80lbs... Same thing with JD. Only race in the world with no weight limit.

[zyoung25]

The NASCAR truck deal was a mistake on Bloomquist part, he should've let them set it up and just drove it, I think the results would've been considerably different. Opting to remove the sway bar on the fly was a tactical error and it cost him.

Don't bring up the sway bar thing again. Thousands of people heard and seen Phil say it on tv that night, but ever since its not written or mentioned anywhere else on the interwebs, the open wheel guru of 4m doesn't believe it happened.

[Kromulous]

I would like to see Bloomquist wheel a Outlaw Sprinter, that would be something to see i believe.

[CIRF]

Respectfully, I'll have to disagree on Bloomquist being, "less than ordinary". Its a shade unfair to compare(Bloomquist) a man in his 40's & 50's trying something new versus the flexibility of a diminutive teen or 20 something jumping around in their prime. Hewitt was always driving various types of dirt cars through out his entire career. Bloomquist on the other hand didn't even try open wheel until he was almost 40(retirement age for most OW drivers) and then he was thrown in with 200+ others who do it week in, week out. On top of that Bloomquist is taller than most OW drivers and broader too(Excluding Robert Bell). The fact he finished 3rd in the C main I think is respectable considering the situation. Its not an apples to apples comparison to measure middle age Bloomquist against a 20's Kyle Larson. Look at Donnie Shatz trying to run DLM, he's improving but hardly the contender he is in his Outlaw car and Donnie struggles in the midgets too. I've been around to see the entire arc of Bloomquist career as well as Steve Kinser passing the torch to Donnie Shatz, but its a tall order to expect a middle age man to adapt to something radically different on the same pace as a kid, its biologically/neurologically improbable regardless of other success. The NASCAR truck deal was a mistake on Bloomquist part, he should've let them set it up and just drove it, I think the results would've been considerably different. Opting to remove the sway bar on the fly was a tactical error and it cost him. I've spent 30 years in and around DLM, but I also love open wheel non-wing sprints, so I try to be diplomatic and reach across the isle.

Now the driver I thought would do better at the Chilli Bowl and didn't, was Jonathan Davenport and his style should've translated to midgets/sprints. He also has a background in smaller quicker handling cars from running several season in Legend cars.

Cage, just for the record bloomy's best finish was 6th in the Saturday night C-main. Had he finished 3rd he'd have transferred to the B-main. He never advanced out of an alphabet race at The Chili Bowl.

With all due respect, Cage, you said it's not possible to be very good in several different types of racecars and I merely pointed out that Larson and, to a bit lesser extent, Bell go against that line of thought. We'll leave Jack out of this because he hasn't raced regularly since July of 2002 and not at all since September of 2014.

I'm not comparing bloomy to Larson because there is little to no comparison. Even with all his accomplishments driving modern generic dirt late models bloomy can't be mentioned in the same sentence as Larson, but I just did! LOL!

The original question was whether bloomy ever raced a sprint car. The answer to that is hell no. I merely pointed out how inept bloomy was in a midget. Midgets are remotely similar to a sprint car. Bloomy, simply put, got his over-sized ass handed to him while driving midgets. But, I reckon that can be explained away by bloomy being old and fat.

The bottom line is the record speaks for itself and the facts are that bloomy is as good as there ever was at driving modern generic dirt late models, but that's as far as it goes. Making excuses for his shortcomings in all other types of race cars won't ever change the record.

Yea bloomer should of kicked their ass at the chili bowl when he out weighs most of the drivers there by 80lbs... Same thing with JD. Only race in the world with no weight limit.

Yep, if he's as good as you think he is he should have kicked their asses! Sammy is old and fat and he runs up front year after year at The Chili Bowl. Ahhhh, maybe it's cause bloomy's tall and fat. Dave Darland is old and tall and he runs pretty good in a midget year after year.

Don't bring up the sway bar thing again. Thousands of people heard and seen Phil say it on tv that night, but ever since its not written or mentioned anywhere else on the interwebs, the open wheel guru of 4m doesn't believe it happened.

Okay, okay, I concede, bloomy would have easily lapped the field, Dillon and Larson included, if he would have just left that dam sway bar where it belonged. LOL!!

The sway bar excuse maybe works a little bit for the truck fiasco but how do you explain away bloomy's dismal showing in an ARCA car, especially on the dirt at Springfield? HMMMMM?

[TMaCiLLiNi39]

If Jason sides fits I think most can

Bloomquist is probably 40-50 pounds bigger than Sides

[WisWildManFan]

If the chili bowl had a weight limit it would help almost all of the late model drivers that enter it.

[weatherman85]

Wasn't S. Kinser a little bit on the heavy side?

[klemmabyna]

CIRF I have always enjoyed your pro-sprinter opinions. and will continue to do so.

but I do have a question. are there sprint car superstars that have made a big splash in dirt late models?

and this is for all: apples to oranges and all that... aj and tony. Hewitt. etc. but that was long ago...

are the differences in types of cars so much that crossover success in unrealistic?

if not, who, besides t-mac, can boast of high level success across divisions?