Scott Bloomquist Recalls Hitting Rock Bottom | The Dale Jr. Download

Overseas, you talk about how your life turned upside down and we don't have to go into details, whatever you're comfortable with, but you got arrested for cocaine possession in '93, I mean, you're still running, so , what's happening? Know? It means that you know that everyone makes mistakes that you are able to overcome, that you keep running and then you stop running and your life turns upside down. What I mean is the reality of um, I would, I didn't get it, they charged me with possession of something that they found had some residue on it or whatever, but anyway, they actually charged me with sale, which I didn't do. and because ever since we moved to Tennessee and my dad built a runway and got airplanes and people assume things.

That wasn't true, so that's what I wanted just if I could interrupt you. I have long forgiven my ignorance. This is ignorant. This is ignorant. Something I did, but somehow at some point in my life. From the late '90s to probably a couple of years ago I kind of saw similarities in you and you just mentioned it. He ran in Florida and was very sad, so obviously I don't think I thought you and Gary would do the same thing. Gary, you know he got reported for smuggling, yes, yes, he smuggled marijuana, yes, no, I didn't even know him, but when I heard your name, I thought he would do the same thing because I read somewhere that you had this arrest.

So Then I would think that you know that you would hear rumors or you would hear stories about you dealing drugs down the road with the tires, your race car, right, crazy things without having met you, you've never been in your world, you've never been around your world. You thought that sounds exciting I thought I thought well, it fits the wild, crazy, tough man Person, yeah, you're like, you know, you just know, Lawless, um, you know it fits them a little, a little bit that way, but not in In that way, you know, I mean, I've definitely been Lawless, but uh, and I think if people wanted to think, I think they wanted, I think they wanted, we're doing, you were doing a lot more than what was the reality, absolutely because fits that narrative. there and the hair didn't help, no, and the plane, the runway and the planes, and it's something that naturally people are going to want to talk about and really, if they can't beat you, they're going to want to try to make you look. bad, okay, that's really true.

I was very surprised. Do you remember Rock Bottom was there? How strange and I was telling you girls out front there, this, like I never forget walking through the trade show and Chris Economaki is at a booth and I didn't really care if he was or not who he was. I mean, I knew who he was, but I was walking by with my first wife and he says Scott Scott, he said, "I notice you don't subscribe to my magazine or my newspaper, you know, the speech forum, whatever, and I say , if you". You're right, I said I don't subscribe to people not doing good research into what they write because I said something you didn't.

He had won forty thousand dollars that month in the races they printed. I received forty thousand dollars that month. in cocaine sales, what really, yeah, oh, I mean, there's so many things. Here's the problem with the magazine, it's not just the racing papers, it's all the radio stations, all the local television stations. I have had enough success and I have to listen to you being talked about on the radio and on television you know what I did I turned everything off I didn't read any newspapers I didn't listen to the radio I didn't listen I didn't watch TV I stayed home and went fishing and and you'll all know the truth someday because you're all wrong and I won the only cheating case in the state of Tennessee, yeah, but it was again, that's Rock. when you talk about your world turning upside down, that's what you're talking about, yeah, no, it was definitely an eye-opener and you learned that it's a lot of fun because, yeah, you had a lot of people that you know well and there are people that I know they're leaving, man, I know you're making that man with a damn record, you know, yeah, like no, you know it wasn't like that and then you have others that don't even talk to you again and just turn their head every time. time they see you and you thought you were friends, then you learned a lot about people and damn, it's something I'm not saying everyone should experience, but you really do learn a lot about people, so it's okay.

First, I got a lot of questions, one is, I'm an example of when you were going through that time and you mentioned that you had a Tampa Dell. I mean, that's when I first heard about Scott Bloomquist and he was someone from work. Who said I mean he was in high school and they said, hey, let's go to Cleveland Speedways, Cleveland Tennessee, right, Cleveland Speedway and Scott Bloomquist is going to be there and we're going to go see Scott Bloomquist in Tampa. series and I'm like I've never been in a race Scott, I've never been and this was in '94. so this was recent, I mean I think it was '94 or '95. um, so you would have Just gotten out of this arrest, I got right, I'm at the right time, it was the right one, I think it was right in 95, uh, you know, I was running with Barry Wright and Barry.

God I love him. You know he had to endure a lot of that. me, but he, you know, we kept racing and he told me that he knew of any drivers that he had raced with, he said he was surprised that my personal life didn't affect my career and I kept winning and I kept going, but I knew it just wasn't real, It wasn't me, I wasn't even the person who was part of the transactions or anything like that, but they want to be so bad that they turned everything around. and that's why they lost, you know, that's why it didn't work out for them, but it still allowed me to get an important education about life and about people.

I guess my point about it is that whether it's a good thing or not, a bad thing or true or false, if you were even more, it would be larger than life 100, yeah, and that's what my lawyer said at the time, he says which may seem bad right now, but he said that in so many years he said that they will only remember the name and won't remember why they know the name, but they will never forget the name. I can't think of an example anymore where you know, an arrest actually built almost a brand that Drew more people to attract and I remember people had to come and just look at you, and I was one of them that day in Cleveland, so did you serve time in jail because now I'm confused about this no actually what ended up happening is uh?

Did they find straw on our Pro on the property, who knows who? I don't know what I was doing there, but I guess I had some residue, they said, so they charged me with paraphernalia and possession of a straw, yeah, that, and the judge went. They could call him Beckner maximum, so he gave me maximum, but all I had to do was check in at night and leave in the morning for six weeks, so I never, ever wore an orange suit if that's what you mean , no, no, well. No, the reason I ask is because you continue to compete.

Yes, because I went to the Labor Prison. What does that mean? That really pissed off the judge, but the sheriff said this is my jail. You run your courtroom. I will run my prison. and he was a racing fanatic and I had to go out and race well and I never stopped racing and I kept winning and every weekend I would go out and win both events and the judge was just angry beyond belief and I tried to get to the sheriff to not let me out anymore and he continued to let me out so it was really weird because the people who actually knew, uh, they checked me in at nine o'clock and it was really funny because all of a sudden I'm in this annex and they're just beds, it's not a jail, but all these beds and then all of a sudden I hear Boom Quest come to the front like the first time, you know, so I go in. in the front and there are three pizzas there so I sit there and eat pizza and talk nonsense with them and then I come back and go to bed.

I actually had the greatest rest of my life then, but I got out. I left at seven in the morning. in the morning and I had to come back at nine at night, that was it, it was really a good experience for me, it made me meet interesting people through this, uh, you stopped running, I guess from 95 to 2003, no, never. you stopped, you won a championship, I never stopped running more than a few months in '96, in '96, uh, '97, that's when I took my break, when I went to the Grand Canyon and everything, but I mean, it was only for a few months, if you want. conversation with Scott Bloomquist the Otto, let's do the full podcast Dale Jr

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