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During last week’s night of destruction a legend in sprints was at Kalamazoo Speedway to promote the USAC Sprint Car Series racing this weekend. I was humbled to sit down with Jeff Bloom No. 26 and his wife Linda. When talking to Jeff it is hard to decide what question to ask first, so why not go back to the beginning. “My dad and my mom both raced and I went to my first race when I was six weeks old. I’ll be sixty years old this summer. Once you get racing in you blood, its worse than drugs but it’s legal. Once you get going and have some success it becomes addicting.”

What did you get your start in? “Sprint car super modified. That’s what my dad raced and he quit in 1959 and I started racing in 1967. Back then you had to be 18 years old to race. I started in June of 67’ and I didn’t turn 18 till August of that year. They fudged it a little bit so I actually started when I was 17. I’ve won a feature race all but two years. The first year I won four or five heat races. What we did was built a six cylinder modified to run against the v-eights. Basically because it was real cheap to do and it’s like my dad said we’re going to find out if you have it and if you don’t there is no sense in spending the money. The second year we put a V-8 in it and won in that car and it has gone from there.” Jeff has an ability that has given him success over his years and is currently running against third generation drivers.  Jeff says, “There’s really only been a handful of guys that have the knack to be fast and competitive everywhere we go. Some guys are good at certain tracks and not so much at others.”

Jeff is getting support from long time friend and current Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart. The two have had a history together and the story Jeff told me was one of the funniest I’ve heard. “We met at the races when he first started racing. It’s funny because I have a different nickname for him and that is bonehead. It was Tony and Jeff Conroy, we were at Indianapolis Raceway Park and I was pitted where Tony was on one side and Jeff on the other. They went out on hot laps when you try to concentrate on getting your car in. They were racing each other and crashed and they crashed both cars bad enough that they couldn’t run. USAC, being that I’ve been around forever wanted to know if I would sit down and talk to them. I got them together and set them on the pit wall and said you’re both a bunch of boneheads because hot laps don’t pay a dime. Now you’ve got crashed racecars just because you’re trying to beat the other guy. I said you go out and try to set your car up for as fast as it will go and you don’t worry about the other guy. If you come up to him you back off and run your own laps to feel your own car out. That’s where my nickname for him comes. Jeff quit racing about five years after that, and they’re still good friends and we hang out with Tony, not as much because he is so busy with NASCAR.”

These are only a couple stories that Jeff shared with me and I am sure this is not the only time that I’ll be sharing a story from Jeff. Charlie Muste, a friend of Jeff’s and a member on the team along with his wife Linda both say that you can see how much Jeff means to the sport. On race day other drivers are stopping by the trailer just to listen to Jeff and learn something from someone who has so much knowledge.

Linda Bloom is also known because her father is Dick Beebe, founder of the MARC Times newspaper. Dick’s recent passing has hit the racing world hard and is evident in her eyes as she remembers the man that he was. Jeff’s blue and red sprint car rides in memory of Dick and all he has done for the sport of racing in our community. Jeff is sponsored by Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway, Lane Automotive, Swanson Engines, Sterling Express Ltd., Cross Welding, and PGG Enterprises.