Lewis Bloom (1 Viewer)

[Notch1320]

I've known Lewis since he was a 16 year-old kid, he came to E'Town every time we were open. We had an open-mike call for announcers and Lew came up to the tower, auditioned and got hired on the spot. If you ever see him ask about how I and some other racers crashed his birthday party in his garage.

Anyway, point being that in this day & age there's been a lot of lay-offs in every industry including drag racing. I have dozens of friends, like Lew, that lost their job through no fault of their own. Lew is okay, he'll do well but to have a thread about him turn into how the NHRA is done is stupid.

What's going to happen in the future? Nobody knows but I do see a dismal future for drag racing in 2021. My advice is don't buy advance tickets for anything...

 

[Professional Fan]

I'll bet Lewis never realized how beloved and appreciated he was by NHRA fans. Hope he is monitoring the comments being posted. Might take some of the sting off.

 

[DanTheFan]

What’s the scorecard of who works for Nhra vs Fox? Tony and Brian are Fox but Lewis and Amanda, John and Jamie are Nhra? So who is next on the block? Would have loved to see Lewis get a shot replacing Tony but I guess they don’t even have the same employer? I think Tony has improved but not enough. Don’t mean to hijack the thread but it is related. Lewis is def in the good guys column.

 

[DAN]

I thought nobody worked for Fox in the current lineup, given that the NHRA produces their own show (therefore bringing all their own talent)?
Back on topic, Lewis leaves an incredible legacy in NHRA Drag Racing and seems to be such a likeable guy. I'm sure the days ahead will be very kind to him. And from all us fans, thanks Lewis for putting so many historic moments into context, making 'that run' or 'that final round' even more incredible with your stats and commentary.

 

[Rajunz]

47 years never working a day in your life, (you know the saying) in drag racing/nhra!?!? That would be an awesome career! 47 years, even if he started when he was 16, do the math hes probably ready to go fishing.

He doesn't even look like he's 47 years old......

 

[Notch1320]

He's in his sixties...

 

[BaldyLochs]

Well hopefully, if he wants to, he could pick up some media gig work, consulting, writing, podcasts, historical book, writing or something like that. He’s certainly got the knowledge

 

[PJ]

Shame to see him go, I was most shocked that he was doing this for 47 years. I had previously guessed he was only a few years older then that.

Good luck to whatever he decided to do. I like the book idea someone mentioned before or perhaps a Drag Racing stories podcast

 

[.]

Bummer.
Thank you Lewis for your contribution to drag racing. It made the product better.
And there is NFW he is older than 35, 36. Holy moly I never would have guessed!
Well, he can have lots more time for surfing.

 

[TSK]

Who is NHRA going to get to manage their historical records? Bloom fit that role perfectly.
I enjoyed his segments during the broadcasts where he showed stuff that happened decades ago. I still like seeing and hearing about the early days of drag racing.

 

[z28]

I'm sure Lewis can stay involved in the sport in some manner if he chooses to. We are all hired to someday be replaced or discarded. I suspect NHRA is trying to cut corners everywhere it can to stay in operation. Lewis hasn't been featured at all on the recent telecast so someone must have decided he wasn't needed. I always enjoyed his insight.

 

[stitcherbob]

When John Force and Don Prudhomme team up and buy the NHRA in bankruptcy for a song, they can bring back Dunn and Lewis in the booth, replace Pro Stock with Pro Mod, replace Pro Mod with Nitro Coupe, and bring back Modified Production too.

 

[Fireball]

Lewis is 61 and looks maybe 42-50... I'm 63 and I wish I looked as good as he does.

 

[Cliff]

Bob, you been drinking coffee again? Anyhoo, get DSR involved and maybe call it AHRA...... hahahahahahahahahaha

 

[stitcherbob]

 

[Cliff]

I miss Steve Evans. He managed Lions at the end and I used to make sure that I sat next to a loudspeaker to hear what he had to say. He'd always tell stories about the racers (usually edited ha ha).

 

[stitcherbob]

Bob, you been drinking coffee again?

that explain anything?

 

[Jack]

If he is 61 and worked for NHRA for 47 years that means he started at 14?

 

[none]

Just to be clear, he hasn't worked for NHRA 47 years, he's worked in Drag Racing 47 years. Beserko alluded to it before. Lewis started hanging out at E-Town when he was a kid, until they put him on the payroll. Then like many of us, he made contacts within the NHRA from his work at Raceway Park and eventually started working the NHRA events.

We will certainly miss him, but he will be just fine. He has skills far beyond being a stat guy. As I said before he already had his retirement plans in place, this just moved up the timetable.

Alan

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

He came to our home track, Bunker Hill Dragstrip in northern Indiana the summer after my Dad passed away when they had a feature on the track. He had seen the dedication we had put on the back window while he was walking through the pits. He came over and asked me some details about him and we ended up sitting in the trailer for about a half hour. Very nice guy, down to earth. I enjoyed it.

Sean D