8/28 Chub & Team Race in Milan Tenn.

Chub & Team Race in Milan Tenn.

Photo By Jim Butler

Milan, TN

August 28, 2004

By Tommy Hinson

Thunderstorms were predicted to roar all day and night Saturday in Milan, Tennessee. It was a forecast that race fans all over West Tennessee were dreading. The rain did come to Milan sparing only a small parcel of land. Fortunately, that land was Milan Speedway. “The Bullet” only received a light sprinkle as Outlaw stars timed in. This passed quickly, and to the delight of the crowd and race teams alike, the green flag came back out for good.

Scott Bloomquist in the #0 Miller Brothers Coal/Hawkeye Trucking/Custom Race Engines/All-Star Performance/Hoosier Tire/Sweet Manufacturing Ford Taurus would jump to an early lead from his outside pole starting position with Rick Aukland in the #12 Ostrom Painting and Sandblasting; Malcuit Engines Dodge Intrepid and Dan Schlieper in the #9 Miller Brothers Coal/Hawkeye Trucking/Pro Power/Rayburn Chevrolet Monte Carlo would run side by side for second.

Tim McCreadie in the #39 Sweeteners Plus/A-C Speedworld/Texaco Havoline/Rocket Chassis Chevrolet Monte Carlo would move in on Aukland and Billy Moyer in the #21 J&J Steel/McCarthy One Hour Heating and Air/Banner Valley Hauling Chevrolet Monte Carlo to make it three wide for the third position.

Bloomquist would pull out to a small lead over Schlieper with Clint Smith in the #44 JP Drilling/CSR Aluminum Fabrication/Rocket Chassis Chevrolet Monte Carlo following in third. Aukland would take the high groove as he battled with Moyer and McCreadie. Moyer and McCreadie would pull ahead of Aukland. Both Moyer and McCreadie would continue to jockey for position amongst themselves. McCreadie would be the one finding the advantage for fourth.

“Zero” would continue to build his lead on the top of the track as he came into lapped traffic. Clint Smith would get to the inside of Schlieper for the second position, but a lap car would hold up Smith, letting Schlieper retain the position temporarily. “Cat Daddy” Smith would battle back to the inside and retake the position.

Steve Francis in the #15 Valvoline/Mopar/Freeport Recycle Center/Action Auto Mart/Rocket Chassis Dodge Intrepid would sneak inside of McCreadie for the fourth position, but could not overtake the #39 machine.

Bloomquist would find himself in more lapped traffic, allowing Schlieper to gain some ground on him, as McCreadie continued holding off the charging Francis.

Bloomquist would once again build a large lead after working masterfully through lapped traffic, as Schlieper gave himself breathing room over the #44 of Smith. Francis continued to pressure McCreadie on lap 34 for the fourth position, but still could not gain an advantage over him.

Dale McDowell in the #17m Larry Shaw Race Cars/S&H Motorsports/Dover Cylinder Head/Racetek/Petroff Towing/ J&J Steel/New Vision Graphics/Rocket Chassis Pontiac Grand Prix and Chub Frank in the #1* Lester Buildings/Corry Rubber Corp/All-Star Performance/The Slavic Group/Rocket Chassis Chevrolet Monte Carlo battled door-to-door with Frank taking the advantage over McDowell for the sixth position. Bloomquist would pull to a very large lead with Schlieper still second, and Smith running in third.

Schlieper picked through lapped traffic easily, but could not gain any ground on the black #0. Chub Frank jumped inside of Francis on the last lap for the fifth position but could not find a way around him.

Bloomquist would go on to take the payday in his #0 Miller Brothers Coal Ford Taurus, with Schlieper, Smith, McCreadie, and Francis rounding out the top five in the fifty lap, caution free event.

For the “Zero” team, the victory at Milan was especially sweet. Earlier in the day, the trailer carrying both cars caught fire on the interstate. A back-up generator allowed the crew to save some of the equipment, but the trailer was a complete loss. There was some doubt as to whether the Late Model star would even make the race. Fortunately for the team and fans alike, Bloomquist was able to make the last Heat race of the evening to qualify for the Feature.

When asked about the win, Bloomquist was quite philosophical. “It was good to win, but right now it’s more about the big picture with the points and the rest of the season.” He was also complimentary of his team and the people that made his appearance possible at Milan. “We had a lot of our friends and other people help get us here tonight. It’s good to have people you can count on.”

Unlike many of the other World of Outlaw Late Model stars, Scott Bloomquist had run the Milan track before, but it had been several years since he had broken up the dirt on “The Bullet”. Coming back, he was impressed with the racing surface. “The track surprised me . . . it really surprised me. I was shocked you could race so good on it. There’s no way anything could hold you up out there. It was three lanes . . . it might have been four lanes in the corners. I’m really looking forward to coming back.”

Feature 50 Laps

1. Scott Bloomquist 0
2. Dan Schlieper 9
3. Clint Smith 44
4. Tim McCreadie 39
5. Steve Francis 15
6. Chub Frank 1*
7. Dale McDowell 17M
8. Terry English 96
9. Rick Eckert 24
10. Bart Hartman 75
11. Billy Moyer 21
12. Darrell Lanigan 29
13. Rick Aukland 12
14. Mike Balzano E1
15. John Blankenship 23
16. Danny Christian 5
17. Bronson Berry 00
18. Steve Ross 25
19. Rex Berry C21
20. Jerry Inmon D7
21. T. J. Herndon 39X
22. Eric Hickerson 98
23. Rick Briggs Jr. 1B
24. Todd Reed 47

Chub Frank Racing

Rt.1 Box 146

Lottsville Niobe Rd.

Bear Lake, PA 16402