Scott Bloomquist Details Recent Mechanical Issues

Scott Bloomquist talks about his recent mechanical issues – The LOLMDS points leader says he’s not running on 7 cylinders

The Scott Bloomquist team has been plagued with mechanical issues for the past few weeks. Since his win at the Dream on June 10th, a host of various issues have surfaced.

Problems; Magnolia Motor Speedway (June 15), Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway (June 24) and most recently at Portsmouth Raceway Park (July 1)

The last two were the most curious. At Lernerville, he was forced to the pits, just after the parade laps before the field ever took the green flag. At Portsmouth, the issues began under caution. At both of those races, the engine would sputter and eventually stall completely. Unable to re-fire.

Scott Bloomquist Magnolia Motor Speedway 1535
Scott Bloomquist at Magnolia Motor Speedway

Issues in the previous two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series races have significantly tightened up the points battle. Upon leaving the Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway (May 28) Scott Bloomquist had 135 point lead on Tim McCreadie.

Following mechanical problems at both Magnolia and Portsmouth, the point lead has been sliced significantly. After Mansfield Motor Speedway, Bloomquist now leads by just 55 points over Josh Richards.

Ahead of last night’s event at Mansfield Motor Speedway, I checked in with Scott to see what issues Team Zero has been chasing.

What’s going on with your car in the last two Lucas Oil races? [Magnolia + Portsmouth]

Scott Bloomquist, “The last two have not been the [same] issue. We had an issue at Lernerville, the Outlaw show. Then, a similar thing happened again [at Portsmouth].”

“We’re trying to pinpoint it. It’s like it’s vapor lockin’ and it just quits running.”

You still don’t know why?

Team Zero is on it, “We’ve changed the pump. It ran, without any trouble, until 30 laps into the race [at Portsmouth Raceway Park]. It was after slowin’ down and pulling into the pits that it happened.”

Scott Bloomquist Working on Car 3293
Scott Bloomquist works on the car after the engine stalled during the heat race at Portsmouth Raceway Park

“The pump connects to the power steering pump. We don’t know if maybe the power steering pump is just getting too hot. So, we’ve taken some precautions.”

Bloomquist explains the symptoms, “As long as you’re racing, there’s plenty of fuel flowing through the pump and it stays cool. If you stop or if you have a caution, that’s where the problem is. So, I sure can’t stand to dig in.”

Bloomquist details those precautions, “We changed the power steering pump and the fuel pump and door. And made some other precautionary measures hopefully to keep it cool.”

The mechanical issue at Portsmouth Raceway Park wasn’t the same thing that happened at Magnolia?

Scott Bloomquist, “No, that was electrical [at Magnolia].”

“All these issues, it’s sometimes difficult to figure out exactly, what is causing it. There’s nothing on the car the same.”

I’m hearing whispers in the pits of you purposely trying to run 7 cylinders. Is there any truth to that?

A smile comes on his face but Bloomquist shoots it down, “No. I don’t know what we’d do that for. I don’t know why anybody would want to do that really.”

He explained where those rumors surfaced from, “That’s from an interview I gave. I lost a cylinder and I took the engine out to the pack. It’s not something we’re trying to do.”

Issues Resolved?

Possibly. Scott Bloomquist ran without issues last night at Mansfield Motor Speedway. The sputtering was gone. He finished 6th.

Scott Bloomquist Mansfield Motor Speedway 4829

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