Plane Crash in Tennessee Kills a Motorsports Legend

The crash of a single-engine, vintage plane into a barn in Tennessee on Friday morning has claimed the life of a 60-year-old dirt track racing legend. The Hawkins County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the remains are "believed to be that of Scott Bloomquist," who NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace described to NBC News as "the greatest dirt racer to ever live." The FAA says the only person on board the Piper J3C-65 Cub was the pilot. The crash, reported at 7:47am, occurred on the Bloomquist family farm in Mooresburg, Tennessee—in a location close to the address for Scott Bloomquist Racing. More;

• Accomplishments: The Knoxville News Sentinel describes Bloomquist as "one of the premier dirt super late model drivers from the late 1980s through the 2010s." Among his winnings: 33 World of Outlaws Late Model races and 94 Lucas Oil Late Model races.
• A tribute: From World of Outlaws Late Model Series Director Steve Francis: "I spent six-eight weeks in Australia with him in the 1990s and just the things he talked about, knowing about with his race car, there wasn't a piece on that race car he didn't know. If it came in new, he took it apart to make sure he could take it apart and put it back together himself."
• Inside the sport: Dirt track racing is a century-old sport. As NBC News explains, drivers can use "tall, winged, open-wheel sprint cars" or the type of cars Bloomquist drove, "more traditionally bodied stock cars or 'late model' cars. ... Dirt tracks can attract some of motor sports' most skilled drivers, particularly those from stock car racing looking for an edge, because it involves nonstop attention to steering and acceleration."

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