Many of our readers – especially those from the UK – will likely not recognize the name Scott Bloomquist. Many in America, however, will if besides music they also enjoy stock car racing. Australians may know of him, too, as some years he would go racing and surfing there while winter blanketed North America.
To fans of racing, Bloomquist was a rock star. Besides winning over 600 races, including more major events than any other Dirt Late Model driver, he became known for being cocky and the bad boy. “His persona was built around the skull that was painted inside the zero on his race car,” said close ally Gerald Newton, whose Arizona Sports Shirts company designed all the racer’s merch.
Bloomquist liked rootsy rock music, and if you had to compare him to a musician it would be Tom Petty. Besides being ultra-talented, both men were ambitious, had a rebellious spirit and expressed this by conducting careers on their own terms, often at odds with the (racing or music) industry. Both men were stars but kept a desire to stay genuine throughout, never being phony, refusing to be steered in directions they didn’t choose to go.
Bloomquist was born in Iowa and later lived in California, where his father worked as an airline pilot. The family wanted to move east and purchased a farm in Tennessee. His career began with a race car his father bought but no longer wanted. “He would do work for people, make a little bit of money to buy a tire, go win a race,” Newton said. “He’d take that money, reinvest in the team. The rest is history.”
Well, I started out down a dirty road / Started out all alone / And the sun went down as I crossed the hill / And the town lit up, the world got still. – ‘Learning to Fly’ by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Just as Petty was dedicated to making great music and was relentless in his pursuit of the “right groove” for a song, Bloomquist’s approach to winning races was every bit as relentless. Finding the right groove was also important for him, both on the track and in his mindset. Petty’s music resonated with a vast audience. Bloomquist’s mastery and flair made him the driver everyone wanted to see.
Both Petty and Bloomquist died prematurely. With Petty, he was dealing with several medical issues, most significantly a fractured hip, a knee injury and emphysema. His wife remarked that he had been in a good mood and was looking forward to what was going to be, in his mind, his last tour. The cause of death was an overdose of pain meds. Bloomquist seemed in good spirits the last time I spoke with him and was preparing race cars for the big end-of-season events. But he had been struggling with medical issues of his own – lower-body injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash, a diagnosis of prostate cancer, back surgery, a recent hospitalization due to complications from a horsefly bite as well as the effect turning 60 could possibly have on his ability to compete against younger drivers. He died after flying his private plane into a barn on his property.
I’m learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings / Coming down is the hardest thing
Why am I telling this story? Until retiring in 2007, I published a magazine on dirt track late model racing in America. One of the few drivers I stayed in touch with was Bloomquist. One morning last August (2024), he called and asked me to write his biography. I said yes, definitely all in, because, well … here are the words of NASCAR star Tony Stewart. “Scott Bloomquist was one of a kind, and he’s probably the smartest guy I’ve ever been around when it comes to dirt racing. What he could do behind the wheel of a racecar was matched by the ingenuity he put into building his racecars. He was a force on the track and off, with a personality as big as his list of accomplishments.”
It would be no stretch to propose that in dirt racing he was unquestionably the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time). There would be dozens of stories to tell. He was also a controversial figure and a conflicted person with a desire to consider the big questions of existence. He informed me that I was the only person he trusted to write his story. And his was the only story that I had interest in writing.
It was what he said after conversing excitedly about what might be in the book that still haunts me a year later. Bloomquist called one morning and requested that I come to his home in Mooresburg, Tennessee and start right away. I had planned to drive eight hours to Knoxville in just two to three weeks, going right past his place and suggested we begin then. Before hanging up, he had twice more asked me to change my mind. It made more sense to spend the time gathering background and photos, so I put him off. But there was something else. He mentioned that he had been thinking about going up in his plane and crashing it into the barn. Naturally, my response was stop messing around, you can’t be serious. He laughed it off and said, maybe you’ll be able to come out sooner.
Later that week, my wife and I got the call from his mother, Georgie. Scott had made good on the threat I had disregarded.
There comes a time for all of us. Bloomquist may have felt that rather than his car passing all the others on the track, soon racing would pass him by. He was depressed about that. Think of Tom Petty no longer able to write songs to the best of his ability, ones that his fans would love to hear. Bloomquist once told my wife that he was tired of living in the world. “Life is not going fast enough for me. It just goes too slowly.”
Some say life will beat you down / Break your heart, steal your crown / So I’ve started out, for God knows where / I guess I’ll know when I get there.
Scott Bloomquist had an understanding that life does not end when the body dies. He had an advanced spirituality. There are certain details about that crash that aren’t mine to tell. I will say that he left this world knowing there was more to his existence than the failing physical body of a champion racer.
Among the multitude of tributes, there was one from former NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer that hit where it hurts: “Sad to hear of the passing of Scott Bloomquist. The stories are endless. You simply couldn’t fit his life into just one movie. It’ll take a series.” Or a biography should one ever be written.
Ruby Leigh is a singer from Missouri who finished second in 2023 on the television series, “The Voice.” At the request of Bloomquist’s daughter Ariel, she performed several songs for an audience gathered at Scott’s home racetrack in Bulls Gap, Tennessee to celebrate his life. One of those was a cover of ‘Please Come to Boston’ by Dave Loggins, which she kindly agreed to record for this article.
Hey ramblin’ boy, why don’t you settle down?…. / There ain’t no gold and there ain’t nobody like me / I’m the number one fan of the man from Tennessee.
I am one of the few from the UK who knew about Scott, I saw him race many a times, and became a fan and followed his career in dirt late model racing. I also read, and subscribed, to Dean’s publications! Seems Scott had a similar taste in music to me as well.