Scott Bloomquist tells the fascinating story of the #0

Scott Bloomquist: “After the guy in China saying 18 was the luckiest number in the world, it made me do a little thinking after he gave me the reason why. I decided I disagreed.”

Scott Bloomquist’s father once bought a race car. The #90 went to the track with Scott’s father behind the wheel, one time. The next week, Bloomquist piloted his first race car. Little did we all know, a star was born.

Years later, Bloomquist is now fast approaching the 600 win count. Most of those wins came from behind the #0. However, for 15 years, Bloomquist entered the dirt tracks with the #18.

He’s since turned that ‘zero’ number into a brand. Some of you might see Bloomquist as a guy that’s floating somewhere around Pluto. But, zero didn’t just come from nowhere. Or maybe it did. I guess, it just depends how you look at the following story.

Number 17, 18 and 90

“I started out with number 17 because I was 17 [years-old]. I drove number 90, which is a car my father bought for himself to race. That’s how I got involved. He raced it once and decided that’s not what he wanted to do. The next week, he let me try it,” Scott Bloomquist told the 1/5 Dirt Oval Racing Network.

“It was in a late model class. But, today it would be move of a super stock class, I guess. I did it well enough and enjoyed it enough that he get a tubular chassis from Dillon Chassis.”

“That’s when I had a silver Corvette body with a #17 on it. When I turned 18, I changed to number 18 and planned on changing it every year.”

“But, I liked the number 18.”

The switch to Zero

The switch from 18 to the number zero is pretty awesome. There’s a specific story behind that change.

“I went to China with Fred,” Bloomquist details the setting.

Fred Wagenhals is the man that owned Action Racing Collectibles. Better known as ARC, they created die-cast cars and other merchandise for multiple racing series including Dirt Late Model Racing, NASCAR and the NHRA. The company linked with Hasbro in 1996 and did $44 million in sales that year, doubling sales from 1995.

In the early 90’s, Wagenhals paid $300,000 for the rights to produce the #3 car driven by Dale Earnhardt. In 1997, they paid $5 million for the rights to produce Jeff Gordon die-casts. That same year, Action Performance had about 50-60% of the entire die-cast market.

In 2005, ARC was sold to Motorsports Authentics, a division of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. for $245 million. Currently, SMI has a lease agreement with Lionel Racing to distribute various brands of the Motorsports Authentics line, including ARC.

“I met Francis Choi who’s the richest man in Hong Kong today. That’s who he [Fred] did business with then. He was the fourth richest man then. Now, he is the richest.”

Francis Choi, the “king of toys” is the founder and chairman of Early Light International Ltd. They are the largest manufacture of toys in the world.

“When I was over there, I had some stuff that had #18 on it. He looked at me and said, ‘#18, that’s the luckiest number in the world.’ He wanted everything I had with #18 on it.”

“I wasn’t gunna let him get by with just saying it, without explaining it. ‘Explain why #18 is the luckiest number in the world.’ “

“He said, ‘#8, universal flow, it never stops, infinity. It’s the single most powerful number but put a number one in front of it there’s nothing they can’t accomplish.”

“On my way home from China I thought about all that. I thought, if we’re gunna use that kinda thought process there’s nothing in the world more powerful than a zero. Because every cell in your body and everything on this planet is made up of nothing but zero’s.”

Atoms are essentially a complex version of binary code that’s used in the electronic device you’re reading this on. Binary code is nothing but 1’s and 0’s. That’s why the power button features both a 1 and a zero, intertwined.

The Chinese have a philosophy that the world is made up of Yin and yang. Two opposites that are complimentary to each other. In the past, the yin-yang symbolwas featured on the dirt late model for Scott Bloomquist.

“Every planet you look at is a zero. Everything’s a zero. Just millions and billions of them hovering close to each other. I said, ‘if we’re gunna go with that system, I’m changing my number.’ “

“I went to zero. But, I leave the #18’s on there just in case he was right.”

Intricate details of the #0

What about the Chinese symbol inside of the number? What does that mean?

“That’s not a Chinese symbol, that’s international. Basically, it’s the first symbol of God,” Scott Bloomquist explains to RacingNews.co .

“In movies and such people say ‘aum or om’ in mediation. Aum is the first symbol of God.”

Do you meditate?

“I’m not saying I do. But, I have. I think I probably do, all day long.”

At what point did you say I’m going to build a brand around this? Planet Zero.

“After the guy in China saying 18 was the luckiest number in the world, it made me do a little thinking after he gave me the reason why. I decided I disagreed.”

I love that part. Here this guy telling you that 18 is the luckiest number in the world. And you decided to take the idea on the number that he had and improve on it.

“Yeah. Well, I was already that [#18] and I’ve been that number for 15 years. He’s wanting everything I had with #18 on it, for luck. Because he went to the casino and gambled until he won a million or lost a million.”

“So, I gave him everything I had with me and it got me thinking. It just kinda clicked. Then, I got to thinkin’ of different ways to use that.”

“Again, there’s nothing more powerful than a zero.”

Why did you take the yin-yang symbol out?

“I thought the message was stronger with the aum symbol.”

Scott Bloomquist interview video

Links

Scott Bloomquist | LOLMDS | Shane Walters

Scott Bloomquist tells the fascinating story of the #0