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Pierce to Lead 63rd Pay Less Little 500 Field; Bloom Bumps Way Into
Field
Click to View:
Round 1 Qualifying Results
- Round 2 Qualifying
Results -
Staring Lineup
BY KEN de la BASTIDE
CNHI NEWS SERVICE
(May
26, 2011) – There was plenty of drama surrounding three-time Pay
Less Little 500 champion Jeff Bloom bumping his way into the field as the
final car of the day.
Bloom, who made the field for his 35th time, had to accomplish the feat in a
borrowed car from the team of Jacob Wilson.
Bloom, had been in the starting field for 29 consecutive races and 35
overall, battled an ill-handling race car on during first day qualifying and
during his first attempt on Friday.
On his final attempt in his primary car Thursday to make the field, Bloom’s
first lap was 12.811-seconds. He then turned the final three laps in the
11.3 to 11.5 second range.
Bloom rolled a back-up car and with fans yelling encouragement, he made one
last chance at making the race. He turned four laps at 78 mph to become the
first alternate.
Determined to make his 35th start, Bloom then climbed into a back-up car
provided by Jacob Wilson’s team for a final try, rolling to the qualifying
line with 30-seconds remaining.
Bloom ran three laps without a transponder to record his lap times and was
given one final run. He than ran four laps at 78.4 mph and will start 29th.
Throughout Bloom’s attempt to make the field rookie Kyle Wiegard, sat in his
Mike Blake owned car riding the bubble. After being bumped Wiegard was given
one chance to make the field, but didn’t complete his run.
While it was a dramatic day for Bloom, that wasn’t the case for Alexandria
driver Donnie Adams Jr.
Adams had mechanical problems on Thursday and the team spent the night
working on the car trying to find cause of the misfire.
“We don’t know what was wrong,” he said. “We changed a lot of stuff and put
it on the dynometer this morning. We’ll be okay.”
Adams turned in the fastest time of the second day at 80.79 miles per hour
and will start 16th in his sixth Little 500.
The 33-drivers in the fastest field ever assembled for a Pay Less Little 500
will be competing for a total purse of $115,050 with the winner guaranteed a
minimum of $25,000.
Gates at Anderson Speedway open at 4 p.m. with an autograph session
scheduled for 6 p.m., on-track activities at 7 p.m. and the start of the
race at 8 p.m.
Daleville driver Aaron Pierce captured his second pole position for the
Little 500 by breaking both the one and four lap averages, records that
stood for more than a decade.
Tony Hunt was the first driver to record a 10-second lap at Anderson
Speedway on Saturday.
“I was really surprised it didn‘t hold up,” Hunt said Friday. “We’re happy
to be back at Anderson. We didn’t have any practice here, so I was running
conservatively.”
Hunt is using a softer compound Hoosier Tire and believes the tire will hold
up during the race.
Brian Tyler, briefly had the four-lap record, but figured someone would beat
it during the day.
“Everyone was running quick,” he said. “It was the fastest I ran all week. I
thought it was possible, but I knew there were two or three guys capable of
laying down some good laps.”
With a softer tire and ideal weather conditions on Thursday, Tyler said it
was a driver’s “dream”.
“We’ll have to see if the (softer) tire lasts,” Tyler said. “We’ll see what
happens on the first run and than decide what to do.”
Three drivers found enough speed on Friday to bump their way into a top 15
starting spot led by Fishers’ veteran Brian Gerster, who will start seventh,
Florida driver Troy DeCaire, driving with a broken hand, starting eighth and
Michigan driver Dave Baumgartner, who will start 13th .
Utah driver Ryan Burdett, the 2010 rookie of the year, got bumped by Chad
Goff and then immediately went out and bumped Goff from the field. Burdett
turned the four laps at an average of 79.21 mph, good for 23rd in the
starting field.
Rookie Kevin Atkins gave car owner Jerry Powell two cars in the Little 500
field. Powell, the 1970 rookie of the year at the Pay Less Little 500, has
rookie Brian Olson starting on the front row and Atkins will start 20th.
Atkins was bumped early in qualifying by rookie Jeff Rankin and then went
out and turned four laps at an average of 79.49 mph.
Tickets are available for the historic 63rd Pay Less Little 500 at $28 for
reserved seating. For more information, contact the Anderson Speedway Ticket
Office at (765) 642-0206.
Tickets are available for the historic 63rd Pay Less Little 500 at $28 for
reserved seating. For more information, contact the Anderson Speedway Ticket
Office at (765) 642-0206.
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