Tyler Reddick reflects on relationship with late mentor Scott Bloomquist in wake of plane crash

On Friday morning, dirt late model legend Scott Bloomquist died in a plane crash. He was a mentor for Tyler Reddick. Growing up racing on dirt, Reddick learned a ton from Bloomquist before he made it to NASCAR.

Scott Bloomquist was one of those larger-than-life figures in racing. His impact cannot be measured. His impact on Tyler Reddick was immense.

While speaking to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Reddick opened up about how he is processing the passing of Bloomquist. He also touched on their relationship a bit.

“It was really nice, really moving to see all the messages, stories shared, everyone in the racing industry chime in and have something to say,” Reddick said. “I myself, I just, don’t know what to say. Been thinking about it just the last 25, 26 hours now. Just still trying to process it. I was up late thinking about it, about him, thinking about our relationship last night in his honor you know, sipping some Crown Royal and just sitting there. Just taking in our experiences together. So, yeah I’m still trying to process the whole thing but it was really nice, helped get me through the day to see all the messages shared on social, it was nice.”

There are a lot of ways for drivers to make it to NASCAR. For Tyler Reddick, it was on the dirt. He moved up with help from people like Scott Bloomquist.

“I learned so much about race cars with him. Taught me a lot about being a racer, taught me a lot of things outside of racing and just in life. You know, probably, one of my favorite things about him is just he’s not afraid of confrontation,” Reddick continued. “If you do something wrong to him or there’s a dispute or something going on, I feel like it’s easy for people in this day and age for people to back away from it. He’s never that way, something’s going on he’s going to address it and he’s not going to be shy about it. There’s so much more there but yeah, yesterday was a really tough day for motorsports.”

Tyler Reddick was a teenager when he was building his cars out of Bloomquist’s shop. Now he is in the thick of a regular season championship battle with three races left in the season.

It is clear that Bloomquist meant a lot to Reddick and his family.