From Must See Racing
Holly, MI — (May 15, 20130 — Veteran sprint car driver Jeff Bloom has been running at Winchester Speedway for a long time. Bloom’s racing career began back in 1968. It wasn’t until 1972 that Bloom began competing in the sprint cars and in particular, the American Speed Association (ASA).
Since his sprint car debut at Winchester in 1972, Bloom has twenty-seven second place finishes. Track statistician, Bob Lemons, claims that Bloom holds the record for more second place finishes than anyone in the tracks 100 year history. “How many times should I have won at Winchester? A lot” states Bloom. ”Something always seemed to happen for one reason or another. I know I’ve finished second three times in the King of Wings race.
Bloom is eagerly looking forward to Sunday’s Xtreme Speed Challenge at Winchester Speedway. It will be the third race of the season for the Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series (MSRXSS) and first for the Must See Racing Super Modified Series (MSRSMS).
If you ask Bloom, he will quickly tell you he loves racing at Winchester Speedway. ”I love the race track. But I will tell you this about Winchester. It’s the only race track that I’ve run where you go in the corner hard and you don’t know for sure if you’re gonna exit the corner. You race the track and not the competitors. The second time I ever ran Winchester, I had fast time and tied the track record with a lap of 16.18 seconds for a long time”.
Sunday’s return to Winchester will technically be his first race back since he suffered severe burns in a frightening crash at Marne, MI last August. Bloom attempted his comeback April 14 during the Glen Niebel Classic at Anderson Speedway. Motor issues didn’t allow Bloom the opportunity to compete in the feature event. Sunday’s event will allow Bloom the first chance at extended laps in live competition. “I feel fine. I felt fine at Anderson with what few laps I got before the motor problems”.
The Xtreme Speed Challenge will start what will be a hectic week for Bloom. In addition to
Winchester, Bloom will compete in the Must See Racing 60 at Anderson May 22, and the Little 500 three days later. Bloom is a three-time Little 500
winner.
Bloom, who will be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame next month, is fairly confident he will have a good day Sunday. “My expectations are to run up front and be competitive. My chances of winning are up in the air because you never know what can happen. But the last time I ran there last, started on the pole, and ran up front. So we’ll see what happens” concluded Bloom.