By: Chris Santos
4/18/23... Tulare California: Friday Night, Dylan Bloomfield & the Vertullo Motorsports Team would once again be in NARC action at the Tulare Thunderbowl for Night 1 of the Dennis Roth Classic. A solid field of 26 Winged 410 Sprint Cars would pack the pit area & kick off the 2023 Dennis Roth Classic.
He would kick his night off with qualifying, where he would be the 12th of 26 cars to hit the 3/8th mile clay oval. Dylan would end up laying down a solid lap. That lap would put him 17th quickest overall in qualifying.
"Qualified 17th quick, not so good but not so bad out of 26 cars."
That would line Dylan up on the outside of row three in the 6th spot for his heat race. Lining up 6th, Dylan would have a very tough heat race on his hands. He would battle hard but would finish where he would start the heat race in the 6th spot.
"Started 6th in the heat race, was up to 4th but fell back to 6th & finished 6th in the heat race."
In the feature event, Dylan would roll off from the outside of row nine in the 18th spot. It was a race of attrition as there would be four laps after the 1st lap was completed. Dylan was able to gain some spots from other drivers issues, and would continue on to gain some more spots & work his way up to 9th where he finished.
"In the main event I started 18th & was up to about 15th when a couple crashes happened," Dylan added. "Then we were able to pass a few guys & were able to finish 9th. It was a good night."
Dylan & the Vertullo Motorsports Team would ride the top-10 into Saturday, where this time he would be doing double duty.
The night would get started in qualifying, where Dylan would time in the 360 first & set a time of 14.972, putting him 15th quick. In the 410, Dylan would head out pretty late. That would prove to put him at a disadvantage as he would set a time of 15.502 & put him 22nd quick.
In his 360 heat race, Dylan would line up in the 5th spot. The track would be a one lane track around the bottom & Dylan would have to play follow the leader to a 5th place finish. The 410 heat race would be a little more racey but it would still be tough to pass. Dylan would start 8th & only gain one spot, finishing 7th.
Next up would be the B-main in the 410 for Dylan. He would roll off from 3rd on a very hooked up track. Dylan would get into 2nd but would end up falling back to 3rd where he would finish, and transfer to the feature event.
"Started 3rd & got into 2nd for a little bit, but fell back & stayed 3rd."
First up would be the 360 feature for Dylan. He would roll off from the 15th spot. Despite starting deep, they seemed to hit on the setup as Dylan had some solid speed. He would battle his way forward to a 9th place finish.
In the 410, Dylan would roll off from deep, as he would start in the 21st spot. Starting deep, Dylan would still battle some very tough competition in the back. While battling, the leader would quickly catch lap traffic & would put him a lap down before a caution would come out. Dylan would still run some solid laps in the back but with being a lap down, he was limited on how many spots he could gain. He would end up coming home in the 18th spot.
"Started somewhere in the back & made it up to 15th or 16th then fell back a little," Dylan continued. "All in all, it was a good night & we learned a lot."
Overall it was an impressive weekend for Dylan and the Vertullo Motorsports Team. He would show some really good speed all weekend & continues to improve in Tulare. Dylan was able to bring home a pair of top-10 finishes to round out the weekend.
Dylan would like to thank his sponsors; Gary Silva Ranches Teresa Schimandle Silva, Chris Magoon Air One HVAC Systems, Starr Property Management, Vallejo Coin Exchange, Martinez Coin And Jewelry Exchange, G&N Construction, Morrison Concrete, Bryant Heating and Cooling, Simpson Race Products, King Racing Products, System 1 Pro Ignition, Michael Sellers, Slade Shock Technology, Red Line Synthetic Oil, ButlerBuilt Motorsports Equipment, & 83v racing.
Next Race: 4/22, Merced Speedway, Sprint Car Challenge Tour
2023 season stats: 6 events, 5 features, 0 wins, 0 top-5's, 4 top-10's