Scott Bloomquist plane crash: Dirt track racing legend dies aged 60 in plane crash while flying his vintage aircraft near home

The 60-year-old reportedly died on Friday morning (16 August). News of Bloomquist's death was confirmed by authorities, according to The Rogersville Review.

Fellow racing driver Reid Millard took to Facebook to pay tribute. He wrote: "Scott Bloomquist was a great friend of mine along with a lot of people in the Dirt Late Model and racing community. His mother Georgette just called me and wanted me to announce that he lost his life this morning.

"At 7:15 EST this morning Scott was out flying his vintage airplane and had a crash on the Bloomquist family farm. The local fire department and law enforcement are still on the scene."

Bloomquist is survived by his parents, sister, and daughter, Ariel, as per FloRacing. More tributes were posted on X, formerly Twitter. One fan said: "One of the saddest days in dirt racing history." Another wrote: "Dude was a legend and such a cool character. RIP Scott”.

Bloomquist will go down as one of the sport's all-time greats. He made his on-track debut driving his dad's old car in 1980 at just 16 years old.

Over the next 44 years, Bloomquist would win 100 races and five series titles in the Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series. He also won 94 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series races, winning the series on three occasions. His dominance also saw him rack up another 33 wins in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, along with one title.

Bloomquist also dipped his toes into the world of Nascar over the year. In 1991, he participated in three races in the ARCA Menards Series, with an average finish of 29.7. Three years later, he participated in two races in the Nascar Southeast Series, finishing in the top five on both occasions.

Bloomquist was also an avid aviation enthusiast. He was taught to fly by his dad and first took to the skies alone when he was just 16. In an interview in 2021, he showed off his vast plane collection, including a World War II training aircraft, a World War I biplane, a Fokker triplane, and another biplane built by his dad.