“If you pay attention, you’ll see ’em.” Scott Bloomquist was not one to hide his opinions of the world. 600 wins, a technical genius, and most of all, a controversial figure. That’s what NASCAR remembers about the late Scott Bloomquist. More than that, they remember him as the controversial legend who rose to the top and gave the fans the show they deserved.

It’s important to remember the legends that make dirt racing the exciting sport it is. Let’s take a look at one of the most controversial figures in NASCAR.

Scott Bloomquist was the life of the party in the racing scene

A few months ago, the American motorsport community bid a tearful farewell to a racing legend. Back in August, World of Outlaws and Late Model legend Scott Bloomquist passed away at the age of 60. Bloomquist lost his life when his airplane crashed and he was flying it at the time. First invited to a motorsports event by his father’s friend, Bloomquist got the racing bug and quickly adapted to it. In no time he was racing in NASCAR. However, it was the dirt Late Model series where he truly established himself as an icon of the sport.

According to Gateway Dirt Nationals founder Cody Sommer, Bloomquist knew what the dirt racing arena was going to be. One of his favorite memories of the late legend came in 2016 when Sommer first burst onto the scene. As he walked out for driver introductions, the fans were booing him. However, his team and the organizers let him do his thing.

So as they waited, people simply kept booing Bloomquist. However, the driver was completely unfazed in the face of all the adversity. When he walked out, all it took was one simple pose, and the crowd was on his side in an instant. From there, he went on to dominate the race. Afterward, he pulled up alongside Sommer and demanded $200 for a bet that he had lost to the driver. For him, it was all about the show and he reveled in it.

Sommer told FloRacing, “Scott was the most polarizing figure in all of dirt racing. Especially dirt Late Model racing. All Scott did, his whole career, was showmanship. Everything that he did and he embodied, coursed through his veins, was a show. It’s part of why he grew to the fame he grew to. So when you combine those two together, it was like a beautiful marriage. He literally embraced it from day 1, and I’ll never forget talking about it with him. I was really kind of blown away with how much he was like, all about it.”

The perfect example to remind fans of Bloomquist’s ideas is his philosophy behind the number #0 on his car. Initially, Bloomquist raced with #18. When he visited China, he met billionaire Francois Choi, who explained just how lucky the #18 was. It got Bloomquist thinking, and as he would explain it, nothing was more lucky than #0. “On my way home from China I thought about all that. I thought, if we’re gunna use that kinda thought process there’s nothing in the world more powerful than a zero. Because every cell in your body and everything on this planet is made up of nothing but zero’s.”

That’s not all. In an episode of Dale Jr. Download, Bloomquist impressed fans with his technical knowledge. However, just an hour into the podcast, Bloomquist turned the conversation towards alien encounters. He went as far as to answer Dale Jr.’s questions about aliens. Moments like these made Bloomquist fascinating for NASCAR fans. His unique personality combined with the look of a rockstar turned him into one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR.

Even as a racing driver, his influence was indelible

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As mentioned before, Tyler Reddick owes a lot to the 60-year-old. When he was just a teenager, Reddick’s family built his Dirt Late Model cars in workshops that Bloomquist owned. Back in August, Tyler Reddick confessed that when the news broke, it took some time for him to just process the information. According to the 23XI Racing star, he learned so much about race cars from the late driver.

When the two met, Bloomquist elected to become Reddick’s mentor. To this day, the #45 driver can proudly say that he still retains all the lessons that the Late Model legend instilled in him. So when he won the Cup race at the Michigan International Speedway, he dedicated his win to Scott Bloomquist.

After his mentor’s passing, Reddick paid a heartfelt tribute, appreciating Bloomquist’s unapologetic side. “Probably one of the favorite things about him is just, he’s not afraid of confrontation. If you do something wrong to him or if there’s a dispute or something going on. It gets easy in this day and age for people to kind of back away from it. He’s never that way, he’s always just gonna, something’s going on, he’s going to address it. He’s not going to be shy about it, and so, there’s so much more there, but yesterday was a really tough day for motorsports.”

In a poetic gesture to the man who taught him everything, Tyler Reddick paid took a moment to dedicate his win at the Michigan Speedway this year to his late mentor. One thing is for sure, the late racing driver will forever be remembered by the community. Whether it is for his driving prowess, showmanship or his influence, Bloomquist is going to be cherished for eternity.