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DAVE
BLANEY – FORD 400
HOMESTEAD – MIAMI SPEEDWAY |
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HOMESTEAD,
Fla. (Nov. 19, 2006) – Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar team
traveled to the 2006 season finale at Homestead-Miami
Speedway looking to finish what has been a season of both
ups and downs on a high note. Blaney qualified for the event
in the 25th spot and, despite experiencing both handling and
tire problems, finished in the 26th position.
Blaney was the 38th of 55 competitors to take to the track
for qualifying Friday afternoon, and his time of 30.689
seconds (175.959 mph) around the 1.5-mile oval earned him
the 25th spot on the starting grid. In the final practice
session, the Caterpillar Racing team posted speeds that
placed it among the 10 fastest teams. Blaney was set to
begin his march to the front the following afternoon.
The green flag waved for the start of the event, and almost
immediately, Blaney communicated to the team that the
handling of the Caterpillar car was good. That good news
didn’t last long, however, and before long, Blaney let the
team know that the handling was a tiny bit tight in the
center of the corners. The team received its first
opportunity to make changes to the car during a caution on
lap 16, during which time Blaney drove down pit road for
four tires and a track bar adjustment. Though he was running
16th before the pit stop, Blaney returned to the track in
35th because not many cars made pit stops.
Not long after the restart on lap 19, Blaney informed crew
chief Kevin Hamlin that the car was much tighter than it had
been. Blaney continued to struggle with the handling of the
car, but patiently made his way past slower traffic. By lap
62 of the 267 lap event, the Cat car held the 26th place.
Though the crew continued to adjust the car throughout the
day, Blaney went one lap down to leader Kasey Kahne on lap
112.
Misfortune struck the team once again just past lap 145 when
Blaney mentioned that he thought he had a tire going down.
The crew could see from the pit box that he did indeed have
a problem with the left rear tire. Blaney tried to wait for
a caution before coming into the pits, but he wound up
making slight contact with the outside wall on the
frontstretch. The caution flag then waved, and Blaney made a
trip to the pit stall to the attention of his awaiting crew.
Unfortunately, the Cat car went one more lap down while
Blaney nursed the car around the track after his contact
with the wall.
Blaney drove as far as he could among the cars two laps
down, and at the 200-lap mark, he stood in the 31st
position. He reported to his crew that the car was better
than it had been in a while. The Cat machine became tight
again with 35 laps to go, but thanks to a couple of
late-race incidents, Blaney held on to finish in the 26th
spot.
Now that the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season is over,
the team can officially begin to prepare for the 2007
season. Blaney is scheduled to spend Dec. 6 and Dec. 20
testing at Kentucky Speedway with new teammate Jeremy
Mayfield. |
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HOMESTEAD-MIAMI
SPEEDWAY NEWS AND NOTES |
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•
HOMESTEAD’S HOTROD…The No. 22 Caterpillar car Dave Blaney is
scheduled to drive this weekend in the Ford 400 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway is chassis No. 78.
• PHOENIX RECAP…Blaney and the Cat Racing team started the
event in 31st and struggled with the handling of the car for
a while. Just when the handling began to improve, Blaney was
caught in someone else’s mess late in the race. The crew
spent time on pit road making repairs to the left front and
toe and was able to do so without losing a lap. Blaney took
the checkered flag in the 23rd spot and picked up one spot
in the owners’ points standings in the process. The No. 22
Bill Davis Racing team now stands just 88 markers outside
the top 25.
• BLANEY’S CAREER STATS…Blaney will make his 235th career
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start when the green flag waves
Sunday afternoon on the final event of the 2006 NEXTEL Cup
season. He made his first career Cup Series start in October
1992 at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway and finished
23rd after qualifying in fourth in his first Cup Series
start at Homestead in 1999. Like this weekend, Blaney was
aboard a Bill Davis Racing-owned machine.
• BLANEY AT HOMESTEAD…Homestead-Miami Speedway ought to be a
place Blaney looks forward to visiting. In six starts on the
1.5-mile oval, Blaney’s three top-10 finishes have
contributed to his average finish of 19.2. With an average
starting spot of 15.2, Blaney’s also not too shabby when it
comes to qualifying. In fact, he has never started outside
the top 10 at the South Florida facility.
• BDR AT HMS…Competitors driving Bill Davis Racing-owned Cup
cars have been racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway since 1999
and have made 13 starts. Bill Davis Racing drivers have
earned two top-10 finishes in competition at the Miami area
track.
• FISH ON…Blaney will participate in the Miccosukee Resort &
Gaming Hot Rods & Reels Charity Fishing Tournament Saturday
morning at the track. The event benefits the non-profit
Darrell Gwynn Foundation to Cure Paralysis and the Betty
Jane France Pediatric Center "Speediatrics" at Homestead
Hospital.
• ONE LAST TIME…Blaney will sign autographs at the
Caterpillar merchandise trailer following final practice
Saturday afternoon. Stop by the Cat souvenir trailer or
visit www.daveblaney.com for updates and additional
information.
• HOMESTEAD BROADCAST SCHEDULE…Qualifying for the NASCAR
Nextel Cup Ford 400 is scheduled to start at 3:10 p.m. ET
Friday, Nov. 17. The 267-lap event is scheduled to start at
2:55 p.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 19, and will broadcast LIVE on NBC
(TV), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio Channel 144.
DAVE BLANEY ON HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY…”It’s actually hard
to believe that were headed to the last race of the season.
I always have mixed feelings this time of year. On the one
hand, I’m one of the guys who would race all year round if I
could, but at the same time, I think I could use a little
break from it all right now. The good news is that everyone
at Bill Davis Racing and Caterpillar is really excited about
next year, and we think things are really going to be a lot
better than this year. I don’t think anyone on this team
expected us to struggle as much as we have at times. That’s
been tough, but we’ve held our heads high, and we’ve plugged
away at it. Our goal of being in the top 25 points is still
reachable, and that’s what we’re going to concentrate on
this weekend in Homestead.” |
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DAVE
BLANEY – CHECKER AUTO PARTS 500
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY |
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AVONDALE,
Ariz. (Nov. 12, 2006) – With just two events remaining on
the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series schedule, Dave Blaney and the
Caterpillar Racing team traveled west to Phoenix
International Raceway with hopes of a strong finish to the
season. Blaney qualified the car in the 31st position and
had a run-in with another car while trying to avoid a bigger
accident late in the race. Despite this, Blaney and the team
fought back for a 23rd-place finish in the Checker Auto
Parts 500 Sunday afternoon.
Blaney was the 12th of 51 competitors to take to the track
Friday afternoon, and his time of 27.354 seconds (131.608
mph) around the one-mile oval earned him the 31st spot on
the starting grid for the event. Although Blaney’s
qualifying time was .2 seconds faster than his fastest
practice time, the early qualifying spot the team drew did
not work to its advantage, as the track seemed to get faster
as the day progressed. Nevertheless, both practice sessions
on Saturday went well, and the team was confident it had a
good car to work with Sunday.
The green flag waved for the start of the event, and almost
immediately, Blaney communicated to the team that the
handling of the Caterpillar car was tight in and loose off
the corners. The first caution flag of the afternoon waved
on lap 70, and the Cat team performed a four-tire stop with
a wedge adjustment one lap later. Blaney restarted in the
30th spot.
Blaney ran into the same problems during the next run and
went one lap down to leader Kevin Harvick on lap 132 while
still running in 30th place. Another opportunity to make
changes to the car came during a caution period on lap 153.
The team made air pressure, wedge and track bar adjustments
during the pit stop and sent the No. 22 machine back out on
the track in the 27th position.
Blaney fought to be the first car one lap down and got a
break when the yellow flag waved again on lap 188. Blaney
earned the Lucky Dog award and returned to the lead lap.
During that same caution, the team made additional chassis
and air pressure adjustments in an effort to make the
handling of the car more to Blaney’s liking. The team broke
into the top 25 near the 200-lap mark and entered the top 20
about 25 laps later.
The Caterpillar machine was much better in the last third of
the race, and Blaney was 17th on lap 247 before he
encountered battery problems on lap 258. Blaney switched to
the back up battery, then focused on regaining the positions
he had lost, as he now stood 28th. He regained some of those
positions, but unfortunately, several cars got together in
front of him in turn one not long after his battery
incident. Blaney was unable to avoid making contact with
another car during the melee, and he drove down pit road so
the Caterpillar team could assess the damage to the left
front of the machine. Blaney made several stops during the
ensuing caution period so the team could repair the damage
and reset the toe, which had been knocked out during the
accident.
Blaney was running in the 25th spot with seven laps
remaining in the event. A one-car accident prompted the red
flag with fewer than five laps to go, and when the checkered
flag finally waved, Blaney held the 23rd spot. The top-25
finish moved the team up one spot in the owner point
standings to 26th place. The Bill Davis Racing team now
stands just 88 markers outside of 25th.
The NEXTEL Cup Series will head to the 1.5-mile
Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend for the season finale.
Qualifying for the Ford 400 is scheduled for Friday, Nov.
17. Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a
2:55 p.m. ET start, will broadcast on NBC (television), MRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio.
It was also announced prior to the race in Phoenix that
Blaney will drive the No. 32 Toyota Camry full-time in the
NASCAR Busch Series for Braun Racing in 2007. This is in
addition to Blaney’s full-time commitment as the driver of
the Caterpillar car in the NEXTEL Cup Series. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – DICKIES 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY |
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FORT WORTH,
Texas. (Nov. 5, 2006) – Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar
Racing team headed back to Texas Motor Speedway with high
hopes for the weekend. After qualifying in the 30th spot,
Blaney ran into trouble midway through the race, which
resulted in damage to the left front of the Cat car and
wreaked havoc with the toe. The team worked hard to repair
the damage and Blaney took the checkered flag in the 32nd
spot.
Blaney was scheduled to be the 33rd of 50 competitors to
take to the track for his qualifying run Friday afternoon.
His time of 28.246 seconds (191.178 mph) around the 1.5-mile
oval was not exactly what the crew had been anticipating,
but was fast enough to earn them the 30th spot in the
starting grid for Sunday’s event.
Rain delayed the start of the event for almost an hour and
the 43-car field began the race under yellow. The green flag
finally flew on lap five of the 334-lap event and Blaney
moved up several positions early on while communicating to
the Caterpillar crew that the car was tight through the
corners. NASCAR through a competition yellow flag on lap 40
and every team took advantage of the caution period by
making the first round of pit stops of the day. Crew chief
Kevin Hamlin called for a wedge adjustment in addition to
four fresh tires and fuel before the crew sent Blaney back
to the track for the lap-46 restart in 29th place.
Though the changes made to the car seemed to help in the
beginning of the next run, the car tightened up as the laps
wore on. Hamlin and the Cat crew made additional track bar
and wedge adjustments during the next round of pit stops
which occurred on lap 91. Blaney restarted in the 30th spot
and continued to struggle with the handling of his car
despite additional adjustments that were made during the
middle stages of the race.
Blaney ran into trouble on lap 173 when the No. 21 car,
which was running in front of him, veered hard into the
inside wall. Though he did his best to take evasive action,
Blaney clipped the No. 21 machine, which resulted in
extensive damage to the left front of the Cat car and also
wreaked havoc with the toe of the car. Blaney made several
pit stops during the ensuing caution and the team worked to
repair the damage to the left front without losing a lap. A
left front tire rub forced Blaney into the pits on lap 191
and the team lost four laps making more repairs and then
several more during a caution period on lap 198 as the crew
reset the toe.
Blaney was running in the 35th spot with 25 laps to go in
the event. A multi-car accident with two laps left resulted
in a green-white-checkered-flag finish and Blaney crossed
the finish line in the 32nd spot.
With two races remaining in the 2006 season, the NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series will return to the one-mile Phoenix
International Raceway next weekend. Qualifying for the
Checker Auto Parts 500 is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 10.
Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 3:25
p.m. ET start, will broadcast on NBC (television), MRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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HIGH POINT, N.C.
(Aug. 25, 2006)
– Bill Davis Racing (BDR) announced today that Dave
Blaney, current driver of the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing
entry, will remain in the Caterpillar car for the ‘07
season and Jeremy Mayfield will join the organization to
drive the No. 36 Toyota Camry the team will field in
2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series competition.
“We’re happy
to have Dave back in the Caterpillar car next year, and
we’re just as excited that Jeremy has decided to join
our team,” said Team Owner Bill Davis. “Both of these
men are very talented and capable drivers who are
veterans of the sport and yet still hungry to win. Both
Jeremy and Dave are extremely knowledgeable and will
play an important part in taking our race team to the
next level.”
Blaney, a
Hartford, Ohio, native, has been behind the wheel of the
Caterpillar car the entire 2006 season. His first
partnership with Bill and Gail Davis came back in 1998,
when Blaney drove part-time in the NASCAR Busch Series.
He joined the Cup Series in 2000 and remained with Bill
Davis Racing through 2001. After departing to race for
Jasper Motorsports in 2003, he returned to BDR to drive
part-time in the Cup Series in 2004. In 2005, Blaney
was invited drive for Richard Childress Racing, where he
posted two top-10 finishes. In all, Blaney has made 222
starts in NASCAR’s premiere series and has captured one
pole position and 19 top-10 finishes during his tenure.
“It’s
certainly nice to know with half the season left where
I’ll be next year, and I’m glad it will be back with
Bill Davis Racing,” Blaney stated. “This is the place I
have always considered home, and though we’ve struggled
a bit more than anyone thought we would this year, we
all think the future is bright for BDR. I’m excited
about the opportunity to be a part of Toyota’s entrance
into the Cup Series, and I’m looking forward to working
with Jeremy next year. I think next season has the
possibility to be the best one Bill Davis Racing has
ever seen.”
360 OTC™
joins Bill Davis Racing to serve as the primary sponsor
of the No. 36 Toyota machine beginning with the ’07
Daytona 500. Headquartered in Athens, Ga.,
Rockford-Montgomery Labs, Inc. is the developer of 360
OTC, a brand of FDA-approved Over-the-Counter (OTC) pain
relief medicines. Included in the 360 OTC family are
360 OTC Relief, which relieves symptoms of headache,
fatigue, heartburn, upset stomach and generalized aches
and pains associated with a hangover, and 360 OTC Lite
Relief, a caffeine-free version of 360 OTC. Other
products include 360 OTC Ignite, a fast-acting alertness
aid that safely helps restore mental alertness during
times of drowsiness and fatigue, and 360 OTC Hangover
Relief, which relieves generalized aches and pains
associated with a hangover.
“We have done an incredible
amount of research to find the perfect combination of
ownership, team chemistry, driver performance and
manufacturers support,” said Michelle Shearer, CEO of
Rockford-Montgomery Labs. “There is no question that we
have found the best business partner in NASCAR to
entrust the value of our brand. “ Having Bill and Gail
Davis, Tommy Baldwin, Jeremy Mayfield and Toyota behind
our brand on the track every week is a direct reflection
of our commitment to NASCAR fans, our retailers and our
shareholders. We need to get the 360 OTC No. 36 Toyota
Camry in victory lane, and we are very fortunate to have
this winning combination at BDR to accomplish that
goal.”
“We feel
like we’ve put together a winning combination,” Davis
said. “Rockford-Montgomery Labs, Inc. is a solid
company which has learned in the short time they have
been involved in the sport just how big a marketing tool
NASCAR can be. They were interested in finding a
spokesperson that can get their No. 36 Toyota to victory
lane as well as appeal to the people in their market.
Everyone agrees that Jeremy is that guy. He’s a proven
winner and is obviously a talented and consistent
driver, as well as a smart businessman. He brings with
him Chase experience and a great deal of excitement, and
we feel fortunate to welcome both he and 360 OTC to our
family.”
Mayfield
most recently competed for Evernham Motorsports. The
37-year-old driver, who hails from Owensboro, Ky., has
made 402 starts at NASCAR’s highest level and was a
contender in the Chase for the Championship during both
the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
“I’m very,
very excited about the opportunity to be a part of Bill
Davis Racing,” Mayfield said. “I’ve always thought a
lot of and had a lot of respect for Bill and Gail, and
I’m thrilled to be a part of their organization.
Obviously, I’m looking forward to working with Toyota,
Todd Holbert [General Manager of Triad Racing
Development, Inc.], Tommy Baldwin and everyone involved
with the Toyota program, and I’m
looking
forward to being a part of Toyota’s entrance into NEXTEL
Cup racing as well as working with them for a long time
to come. Rockford-Montgomery Labs and 360 OTC has also
given me a great opportunity, and I’m happy to have the
chance to represent their company, their people and
their products.
“From what
I’ve seen at Bill Davis Racing, they have the resources
in place and the desire to do whatever it takes to be
competitive, and those are the kinds of people and the
type of place that I want to be involved with.”
Mayfield
made his first Cup Series start in 1993 before teaming
with Cale Yarborough the following season. He remained
with that team through most of the 1996 season, before
uniting with car owner Michael Kranefuss, who eventually
joined forces with Roger Penske in 1997. Mayfield spent
the next four seasons with the Penske organization. He
scored his first career victory at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway
in 1998, and went on to finish seventh in the
championship standings that year. Mayfield earned two
more victories in 2000. He joined Evernham Motorsports
beginning with the 2002 season, where he continued to
prove his talent by winning races in 2004 and 2005.
Mayfield has five NEXTEL Cup victories under his belt,
has started from the pole position nine times and has
posted 96 top-10 finishes throughout his career.
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HIGH POINT, N.C. (July
31, 2006) – Bill
Davis Racing (BDR) announced today that Tommy Baldwin Jr.
will join the organization serving as Competition Director
for its NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series multi-car efforts,
effective August 1, 2006. Baldwin returns to the team after
having spent four seasons with the organization from
1999-2002.
Included in Baldwin’s
responsibilities as competition director will be overseeing
Bill Davis Racing’s conversion to Toyota for the 2007 NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup season. Baldwin will work closely with leaders
from Toyota Racing Development, Inc. (TRD) and Triad Racing
Development, Inc. (a technical partner to TRD) to ensure a
smooth transition and will also work with existing Bill
Davis Racing crew chiefs to guarantee an efficient and
effective transformation to Toyota.
“Tommy has worked
successfully with Todd Holbert (General Manager of Triad
Racing Development, Inc.) in the past and we see that as a
huge asset as we move forward with our program,” commented
BDR General Manager Mike Brown. “We look forward to their
continued teamwork to play a vital role in the future
success of Bill Davis Racing.”
“Tommy brought a lot of
success to Bill Davis Racing during his time here and we’re
looking forward to his return to our organization,” stated
team owner Bill Davis. “Not only will he play a key role in
the team’s physical conversion to Toyota, but he will also
serve as the BDR representative in that change. Tommy is
extremely qualified and driven to succeed and we can’t think
of anyone who would do a better job working with the other
Toyota team competition directors to make sure the program
gets off on the right foot. We feel fortunate that he was
available to us and we are looking forward to his return.”
Baldwin, a 39-year-old native
of Bellport, N.Y., began his tenure as a leader in NASCAR’s
premiere division in 1997 and joined BDR at the end of the
1998 season. Baldwin led the No. 22 Caterpillar Racing team
to four victories in four years, including two wins at
Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and one at New Hampshire
International Speedway in addition to a victory in the
prestigious Daytona 500 in 2002. Baldwin spent the 2003
season at Ultra Motorsports before heading to Evernham
Motorsports to serve as a team director in 2004. In 2005, he
guided Kasey Kahne to victory lane at Richmond (Va.)
International Raceway, scoring Kahne’s first career win and
Baldwin’s fifth. Before making the move back to Bill Davis
Racing, Baldwin was serving as a crew chief at Robert Yates
Racing and grabbed the pole position earlier this year at
Talladega Superspeedway.
“This is an exciting time at
Bill Davis Racing and I can’t wait to be a part of it,”
commented Baldwin on his return to the team. “To have the
opportunity to play a key role in the successful
introduction of Toyota to the Cup Series is a once in a
lifetime opportunity. It would mean a great deal to me to be
able to help BDR achieve the success it had several years
ago. Bill and Gail Davis have always been like family to me
and I’m glad to be back home." |
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RACING
COMMUNITY REACHES OUT TO HELP SANTA MARIA MAN |
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SANTA MARIA,
Calif. – On Saturday July 29th, the Orcutt
Youth Recreation Hall in Santa Maria, Calif. will be the
sight of a unique and very personal benefit auction. NASCAR
Crew Chief Kevin Hamlin and his wife Patti will host a
NASCAR/ NHRA collectable auction to benefit Patti’s brother
Kevin Miles.
Miles, a 40 year
resident of Santa Maria, was diagnosed with Liver Cancer in
November of last year. Although he has medical insurance,
his coverage does not cover all of his expenses prompting
the Hamlin’s to host this benefit event.
Hamlin has
served as a crew chief in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series for
many years. He has worked with a number of drivers during
his career including Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Jeff
Burton, Mike Skinner, and most notably the late Dale
Earnhardt. Hamlin is currently the crew chief on the number
22 Caterpillar Dodge driven by Dave Blaney.
“When my
brother-in-law was diagnosed with Liver Cancer, Patti and I
felt helpless,” said Hamlin who lives in Mocksville, NC.
“Living on the east coast and so far away from Santa Maria,
we felt powerless to help him. With Kevin’s medical bills
mounting, and his insurance covering only a fraction of the
expense, it occurred to Patti and I that the best way we
could help him would be to host a benefit in Santa Maria.
“Patti and I
have been together for seven years and during that time
Kevin has attended many NEXTEL Cup races. At many races he
and his buddy Joey Eames have treated the drivers and crews
to Santa Maria style Bar-B-Que, along the way making many
friends in the garage area.
“Prior to our
marriage my wife Patti worked for many years in NHRA drag
racing. First for Santa Maria drag racing legend Alan
Johnson, and then as a public relations representative for
many NHRA teams. During that time her brother was a fixture
at the west coast races, making lots of friends at the drag
strip along the way.
“It occurred to
Patti and I that in a race crazy town like Santa Maria a
NASCAR/ NHRA memorabilia auction would raise a lot of money.
We decided to ask our friends for donations. When we started
talking to people about the benefit we were amazed to find
that everyone we talked had been touched by cancer in one
form or another. Everyone we talked to in both NASCAR and
NHRA were eager to donate anything that would help Kevin. We
are absolutely astonished by the love and generosity of the
racing community.”
“In the last
couple months my brother-in-law has been going through
chemotherapy. Just about everyday he tells us sad stories of
other patients at the Marian Hospital Cancer Treatment
Clinic who are going through real hardship because their
insurance does not meet their needs. Good working class
people who are losing their homes while they are fighting
for their lives. Because of this we decided to split the
proceeds of the auction and set up an endowment for cancer
patients at the Marian Hospital Cancer Treatment Clinic who
are in need of financial help.
“We are hoping
for a good turn-out. We would like to raise enough money to
make a difference for the patients at the Marian clinic, and
my brother-in-law.
“Cancer is a
terrible disease that touches everyone’s life. When you look
at the big picture what we are doing is small, but if it
helps Kevin and the clinic then it is worth all the hard
work.”
The benefit will
be on Saturday July 29th at the Orcutt Youth
Recreation Hall on Foster Road in Santa Maria, Calif. The
evening will start with a reverse drawing at 6:00 PM which
be followed by both a live and silent auction. Doors will
open for the general public at 7:00 PM with the live auction
to starting at 7:30 followed by the silent auction.
Fast Facts:
The Kevin Miles
NASCAR / NHRA Benefit Auction hosted by Kevin and Patti
Hamlin will take place on Saturday July 29th at
the Orcutt Youth Recreation Hall in Santa Maria; Calif.
Event Schedule:
Doors will open at 4:00 PM
No host cocktail hour from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
Santa Maria Style Bar-B-Que Dinner and reverse drawing will
start at 6:00 PM.
Doors will be open to the public at 7:00 PM.
The live auction will
start at 7:30 and will be followed by the silent auction.
- All proceeds
for the Kevin Miles NASCAR/ NHRA Benefit Auction will be
divided between the Kevin Miles medical fund and an
endowment for patients with needs being treated at the
Marian Hospital Cancer Treatment Clinic.
Cash donations
may be made to:
Kevin Miles
Medical Fund
Community Bank of Santa Maria
1421 South Broadway
Santa Maria, Ca 93454
Account # 01126010
-Ticket for the
Santa Maria Style Bar-B-Que and Reverse drawing are
available by calling Debbie Jeffers at 805-4314256 or Patti
Hamlin at 704-957-3940. |
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Congratulate
Dave on 25 years of racing by attending the 9th Annual
Dave Blaney Fan Club Meeting at Sharon Speedway Saturday
afternoon, July 29, 2006 from Noon to 2 p.m.
Dave will be
there to sign autographs and answer any and all
questions. Also, there are plans to have the #22
Caterpillar show car as well as the Caterpillar souvenir
trailer.
Fan club
members can purchase discounted tickets for Saturday
evening’s races at Sharon Speedway. Tickets are normally
$11, but members can purchase a ticket for only $6.
Contact Sharon Speedway for more information at (330)
772-1186.
Unlike last
year’s meeting, I can almost promise no snow or freezing
temperatures.
Only current
fan club members can attend.
Other fans
and friends can join the fan club at the door, but we
would much rather have you join before the meeting in
order to keep the line moving. Have them go to
www.daveblaney.com
and click on sign up now in the lower right hand
corner of the main page.
We have had
well over 100 fan club members attend the last couple of
years, so be sure and get there on time.
You can also
bring your camera if you would like.
So we have an
idea of how many to expect, please call or email me if
you plan to attend the meeting.
The fan club
office number is (918) 743-1220 and the email is
fanclub@daveblaney.com.
Directions to Sharon Speedway from Interstate 80
(Hubbard, Ohio Exit 234B)
From the off
ramp, turn left and take Rt. 7/62 north 1 mile.
Stay in the left lane, (Route 62 and 7 split) and
continue north on Rt. 7 four miles into Brookfield.
Stay on Route 7 for five miles. Turn right onto Rt. 305
for one mile.
Turn right onto Custer-Orangeville Road.
The track is on the right.
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CAT® Footwear to sponsor #22 Caterpillar®
Dodge and Driver Dave Blaney
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Rockford, Michigan, USA-
CAT Footwear is pleased to announce the 2006
sponsorship of the Bill Davis Racing #22 Caterpillar
Dodge and driver Dave Blaney. While CAT Footwear has
long sponsored drivers of the #22 Caterpillar car,
this marks the brand’s first year of car
sponsorship.
“We are excited to work with
Dave and the Bill Davis Racing staff to promote CAT
Footwear through retail and track initiatives. The
CAT Footwear consumer will identify with his
perseverance and work ethic, as an established
driver with experience at all levels of racing,”
said Kelly Ballou, CAT Footwear US Marketing
Manager. Blaney will appear on brand promotion
materials and appear on behalf of CAT Footwear at
retail and track events.
As the Midwestern son of a
sawmill owner, Blaney grew up around heavy machinery
but traded logging for left turns as soon as he
graduated from high school. Though he has risen
through the ranks of racing from sprint cars to the
Busch Series to the Nextel Cup Series in his 25
years in racing, Blaney is still in touch with his
roots. He is the owner of his home track in Ohio, a
dirt track where he first raced sprint cars. He
also enjoys a strong following that includes
thousands of “Blaniacs”, as members of his fan club
are known.
“I am excited to have CAT
Footwear on board as a sponsor and look forward to
representing the brand. Whether in the garage or
getting my hands dirty back home at the dirt track,
heavy-duty footwear is a must. And for a guy like me
who also wants to be as comfortable as possible, CAT
Footwear is the perfect fit,” Blaney said.
CAT Footwear produces shoes
and boots that represent the long-standing values of
the Caterpillar brand. Known globally for
manufacturing high quality work and rugged casual
footwear, the company is committed to developing
innovative comfort, durability and
technology features. Brand and
product information available online at
www.catfootwear.com.
CAT Footwear is a division of
Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW), with global
headquarters in Rockford, MI., U.S.A. CAT Footwear
is a global licensee of Caterpillar Inc. With a
commitment to service and product excellence,
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. is one of the world’s
leading marketers of branded casual, active
lifestyle, work, outdoor sport and uniform footwear
and slippers. The Company’s portfolio of highly
recognized brands includes: Bates®, Hush
Puppies®, HYTEST®, Merrell®,
Sebago®, and Wolverine®.
The Company also markets footwear under popular
licensed brands including CAT®,
Harley-Davidson® and Stanley®.
The Company’s products are carried by leading
retailers in the U.S. and are distributed
internationally in over 140 countries. For
additional information, please visit our website,
www.wolverineworldwide.com.
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DAVE
BLANEY – BASS PRO SHOPS 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY |
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HAMPTON, Ga.
(Oct. 29, 2006) – Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing
team headed to Atlanta Motor Speedway hoping to recover from
a frustrating past couple of weeks. The day seemed promising
in the early stages of the Bass Pro Shops 500, and despite
fighting a tight handling condition for much of the day,
Blaney took the checkered flag in the 18th spot.
Blaney was scheduled to be the 32nd of 47 competitors to
take to the track for his qualifying run Friday evening, but
Mother Nature had other plans. Rain showers blanketed the
region all day, which prompted NASCAR officials to cancel
all on-track activities and line the cars up based on
owners’ points. Blaney and the Caterpillar team were awarded
the 26th spot on the starting grid for Sunday’s event.
The 43-car field took the green flag for the start of the
Bass Pro Shops 500, and Blaney wasted no time making his way
to the front of the field. The first caution flag waved on
lap five of the 325-lap event, and the Caterpillar driver
took that opportunity to let Crew Chief Kevin Hamlin know
that the handling of the Cat car was a little loose heading
into the corners. Blaney took the restart in the 21st spot
and broke into the top 15 by lap 32. He ducked down pit road
for the first stop of the day on lap 58. Hamlin made the
call for a slight chassis adjustment during the four-tire
stop.
Blaney remained in the top 20 for much of the first half of
the event and went one lap down to leader Jeff Gordon on lap
144 while running in the 14th position. Another pit stop
several laps later gave the team the opportunity to make
additional changes to the Cat car, including both track bar
and wedge adjustments. The caution flag waved once again on
lap 171, and Blaney let the crew know that the car had
started a little free, but it was better than it was during
the previous run.
Near the lap 200 mark of the event, Blaney began to struggle
with a car that had become extremely tight. He fell to 20th
before heading to the pits for a scheduled pit stop.
Unfortunately, despite the changes that Hamlin made during
every subsequent stop, the handling remained tight. Blaney
lost another lap to the leader on lap 242 while holding the
20th position. Blaney picked up several spots in the closing
laps of the event, and when the checkered flag waved, he
held the 18th place.
With only three races remaining in the 2006 season, the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will travel to the 1.5-mile Texas
Motor Speedway next weekend. Qualifying for the Dickies 500
is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 3. Coverage of Sunday
afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 2:55 p.m. ET start, will
broadcast on NBC (television), PRN (radio) and XM Satellite
Radio. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – SUBWAY 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY |
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Oct. 22, 2006) – Dave Blaney and the
Caterpillar team posted their best qualifying effort of the
season Friday afternoon in preparation for the Subway 500 at
Martinsville Speedway and were hoping to remain up front
when the checkered flag waved. Though they ran well in the
opening stages of the race, a power steering problem sent
Blaney behind the wall for 14 laps and relegated the team to
a 33rd-place finish.
Blaney was the 21st of 50 competitors to make his qualifying
attempt on the .526-mile oval Friday afternoon. He posted
his quickest lap time of 19.557 seconds (96.825 mph) on the
second lap of his two-lap run, which earned him the sixth
position on the starting grid. It was his best starting
position of the season.
The 43-car field took the green flag as scheduled for the
start of the Subway 500 Sunday afternoon after intermittent
rain showers all morning threatened the start of the race.
Blaney remained in the sixth spot for the first 15 laps of
the race before communicating to Crew Chief Kevin Hamlin
that the handling of the Caterpillar car was loose. A yellow
flag on lap 66 of the 500-lap event allowed Blaney to drive
down pit road to the attention of his crew, who changed all
four tires, filled the gas tank with fuel and adjusted the
car in an effort to remedy the loose handling condition. The
team gained two positions due to a quick pit stop, and
Blaney restarted in the 12th spot.
Blaney remained in the top 15 for the first 160 laps before
losing ground while struggling with a car whose handling had
become extremely tight. Just past the 200-lap mark, Blaney
went one lap down to leader and eventual winner Jimmie
Johnson. He was then awarded the Lucky Dog pass on lap 204
when the caution flag waved. As the halfway point of the
event approached, the team continued to battle a tight
handling condition. On lap 275, NASCAR officials black
flagged the Cat car because they saw smoke coming from the
rear of the car for several laps. Blaney was forced to drive
down pit road so the crew could check out the situation.
Though it initially appeared the smoke came from a rubbing
fender, once the crew got the car behind the wall and began
to survey the problem, it became clear the issue was bigger
than that. A problem with the power steering was discovered,
and Blaney remained behind the wall for the next 14 laps
while the team fixed it.
Blaney returned to the track and held the 38th spot at the
300-lap mark. Though he could run lap times consistent with
those of the leaders, he spent most of the next 200 laps
working to stay out of trouble and stay out of the way of
those fighting for the win. Blaney picked up several
positions due to attrition and eventually took the checkered
flag in 33rd place.
With only four races remaining in the 2007 season, the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is set to travel to the 1.5-mile
Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend. Qualifying for the Bass
Pro Shops MBNA 500 is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 27.
Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 2:55
p.m. ET start, will broadcast on NBC (television), PRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio |
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DAVE
BLANEY – BANK OF AMERICA500
LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY |
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CONCORD,
N.C. (Oct. 14, 2006) – Dave Blaney scored his first career
NASCAR victory Friday night in the NASCAR Busch Series race
at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and the Caterpillar team was
hoping for that same kind of success during Saturday night’s
event. A wreck on lap 17 made it clear to the team that
Blaney would not have a repeat performance, but despite
losing more than 40 laps while repairing the car, the team
still managed a 26th-place finish in the race.
Blaney was the 47th of 52 competitors to make his qualifying
attempt on the 1.5-mile oval Thursday evening. He posted his
quickest lap time of 29.093 seconds (185.612 mph) on the
second lap of his two-lap run, which earned him the 37th
position on the starting grid. One competitor’s time was
disallowed after the qualifying session, which moved the Cat
car up one spot to 36th on the starting grid.
The 43-car field took the green flag for the start of the
Bank of America 500 Saturday night, and Blaney almost
immediately found himself in the midst of trouble. On just
the second lap of the race, several cars collided on the
frontstretch, which caused a chain reaction and sent several
competitors straight to the garage area. Blaney was behind
the incident but was still forced to take evasive action
through the frontstretch grass to avoid a spinning car. He
maneuvered the Caterpillar car through the main part of the
accident, but his run through the grass affected the front
valance of the car. He stopped on pit road the next lap so
the crew could check the damage, but was relegated to the
end of the longest line on the restart because he drove down
pit road before the pits were opened.
Blaney was running in 37th position when disaster struck on
lap 17. As Blaney exited turn four, the Cat car broke free
and went careening into the outside wall, causing extensive
damage to both the front and rear of the car. Blaney drove
down pit road, where the team attempted to repair the car.
Blaney returned to the track for several laps, then reported
that the car needed more repair work. He drove to the garage
area, where the crew continued to work on the battered
machine.
The repair work was completed just past lap 60, and Blaney
returned to the track. Several accidents eliminated
additional cars during the evening, and Blaney gained
positions by simply remaining in the race. By the time the
checkered flag waved, the No. 22 car stood in 26th place.
Though Blaney and the Cat team were hoping for more from the
evening, they remained in 26th place in the owners’ points
standings following the event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and
now stand only five points outside the top 25.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series sticks close to home next
weekend as it makes its final stop of the season at
Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Qualifying for the Subway 500
is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 20. Coverage of Sunday
afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start, will
broadcast on NBC (television), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite
Radio. |
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Dave Blaney –
UAW-Ford 500
Talladega Superspeedway |
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Talladega,
Ala.
(Oct. 8, 2006)
– Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar team looked forward to the
opportunity to continue their trend of solid finishes last
weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Though it was
disappointed with its qualifying run Saturday morning, the
crew knew the car would perform well in the race. The team
lost several laps early in Sunday’s event after a flat left
rear tire but was able to rebound from the incident to
finish in the 28th place.
Blaney was the 18th of 49 competitors
to make his qualifying attempt on the 2.66-mile oval
Saturday morning. He posted his quickest lap time of
51.099 seconds (187.401 mph)
on the second lap of his two-lap run, which earned him the
35th position on the starting grid. Every car was impounded
after qualifying, and the crews were only allowed to make
minor changes to the cars in preparation for Sunday’s race.
The 43-car field took the
green flag for the start of the event, which was the last
restrictor plate race of the season. Blaney broke into the
top 25 by lap four and spent much of the race’s early stages
running three wide in the middle of the large pack of cars.
The first pit stop of the day occurred on lap 32, and crew
chief Kevin Hamlin called for four fresh tires and fuel when
about half the field drove down pit road under green flag
conditions. Blaney returned to the track in a two-car draft
with the No. 7 car, and the pair worked together to catch a
larger pack of cars just ahead. By lap 48 of the 188-lap
race, Blaney had reached the lead pack and held the 25th
position.
Blaney made a stop for fuel
only on lap 64, and reported to his crew nine laps later
that he had a flat left rear tire. By the time he made it
back to pit road, the left rear quarter panel had sustained
significant damage. The yellow flag waved so clean up crews
could clear the track of tire pieces. Meanwhile, Blaney made
several stops so the Cat crew could work on repairing the
damage to the car. The team went one lap down while in the
pits, as the green flag waved for the restart before the
repair work was complete.
Because Blaney was running
around the track alone with no drafting help, his speed was
no match for the 35-car draft. The field sped by him on lap
84, putting the No. 22 a second lap down. Blaney found
himself in the midst of a four-car pack when the caution
flag waved on lap 131. Blaney restarted 41st on lap 135
after driving down pit road for a routine four tire change.
The biggest incident of the
day occurred several laps later. Eight cars were involved in
the melee and most were either unable to continue or were
forced into the garage for extensive repairs. Blaney
restarted 33rd on lap 146, after cleanup from the accident
was completed. Blaney stayed out of trouble and passed
several cars in the closing laps of the UAW-Ford 400. He
took the checkered flag in 28th place. The Caterpillar team
dropped only one spot in the owners’
point standings
following the event at Talladega Superspeedway and now
stands in 26th place.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
sticks close to home next weekend as it makes its final stop
at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Qualifying for the
Bank of America 500 is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 12.
Coverage of Saturday evening’s race, scheduled for a 7:10
p.m. ET start, will broadcast on NBC (television), PRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – BANQUET 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY |
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KANSAS CITY,
Kan. (Oct. 1, 2006) – After three consecutive top-12
finishes, Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar racing team looked
forward to continuing the trend at Kansas Speedway. After
posting a 17th-place qualifying effort, Blaney and the crew
struggled with the handling of the Caterpillar car for most
of the day, but rallied to take home a 21st-place finish in
the Banquet 400.
Blaney was the 35th of 47 competitors to make his qualifying
attempt on the 1.5-mile oval Friday afternoon. He posted his
quickest lap time of 30.839 seconds (175.103 mph) on the
first lap of his run, which earned him the 17th position on
the starting grid.
The 43-car field took the green flag for the start of the
event, and Blaney moved into the 15th spot by lap two of the
267-lap race. By the time the first caution flag of the day
waved, Blaney had lost several places and had communicated
to crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the car’s handling was
extremely tight in the center of the corners. Blaney drove
down pit road to the attention of his crew on lap 12, and
the team bolted on right side tires, filled the tank with
fuel and made a track bar adjustment. Thanks to the two-tire
stop, Blaney lined up 11th for the restart.
Blaney ran as high as eighth during the next run before
falling just outside the top 25 when the handling once again
became tight. A wedge adjustment awaited the car when Blaney
drove into the pits for a routine four tire stop during a
caution period on lap 61. Blaney restarted the race in 27th,
moved up several spots just after the restart, and then
began to fall through the field before losing a lap to
leader Kyle Busch on lap 103. Blaney was running in the 33rd
position at the time.
Hamlin called for front shock adjustments on lap 135 in an
effort to help his driver overcome the battle he was having
with the car, as the handling had now become loose. It was a
caution flag-filled race, which gave the team another chance
to make adjustments on lap 148. Hamlin called for air
pressure and wedge adjustments this time around, and not
long afterward Blaney commented to the crew that the
handling of the Cat machine was slightly better. The team
got a lucky break when the 11th yellow flag of the day was
shown on lap 196, and Blaney was awarded the Lucky Dog
award, thus returning the team to the lead lap. Blaney
restarted in the 24th spot on lap 200 and was able to pass
several cars following the restart before the car again
became extremely tight in the centers of the corners.
Blaney was unable to hold off the hard-charging leader and
again fell one lap down with just over 30 laps to go.
Several of the front-running cars were forced to stop for
fuel in the closing laps, and the team moved into the 20th
position with six laps remaining, and Blaney took the
checkered flag in the 21st spot. Blaney’s Bill Davis Racing
team, which had picked five positions in the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series owners’ point standings in the last three races,
remained in the 25th spot in the standings following the
event at Kansas Speedway.
The NEXTEL Cup Series heads to Talladega (Ala.)
Superspeedway for its final restrictor plate race of the
season next weekend. Qualifying for the UAW-Ford 500 is
scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 6. Coverage of Sunday’s race,
scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. ET start, will broadcast on NBC
(television), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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Dave
Blaney - Dover 400
Dover International Speedway |
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Dover,
Del.
(Sept.
24, 2006)
– After back-to-back top-10 finishes in the previous two
weeks, Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team hoped to
continue their solid performances in this weekend’s event at
Dover International Speedway. After a disappointing
qualifying effort that put them near the rear of the field
for the start of the race, Blaney and the team rebounded to
post a 12th-place finish in the event, their third
consecutive finish of 12th or better.
Blaney was the seventh of 47
competitors to make his qualifying attempt on the one-mile
oval Friday afternoon. He posted his quickest lap time
of
23.748 seconds (151.592 mph) on
the second lap of his two-lap run, which earned him the 38th
position on the starting grid. Though the crew was
disappointed in the qualifying run, they were confident the
car would perform well during the race.
The sky threatened rain showers for most of the morning, but
the start of the Dover 400 went off as planned. Blaney
immediately reported to crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the
handling of the Caterpillar car was loose off the corners.
Hamlin planned to make chassis adjustments during the first
stop. The caution flag waved several times in the
early laps of the event, but it was during a caution period
on lap 25 when Hamlin opted to bring Blaney in for his first
pit stop of the day. After a four tire stop that
included track bar and wedge adjustments to tighten the
handling of the car, Blaney lined up 25th for the restart.
Blaney continued to battle a loose handling racecar, but
worked hard to fight through it. By lap 100 of the
400-lap race, Blaney stood in 27th place.
The Cat car broke back into the top 25 near the 120-lap
mark, and Blaney got lucky when the caution flag waved just
after leader Matt Kenseth put the No. 22 machine one lap
down. Blaney returned to the lead lap thanks to the
Lucky Dog award. He drove down pit road under caution
for fresh tires and additional chassis adjustments,
including the removal of a spring rubber in the right rear
and restarted in 25th place. Slowly but surely, he
began to make his way through the field after communicating
to the crew that the car was better after that last change.
On lap 185, Hamlin asked Blaney to stay out on the track
during a caution period when many cars made pit stops.
Blaney stood ninth when the race resumed.
Unfortunately, he was unable to hold off those cars with
fresher tires, and by lap 200, he had slipped to 17th.
Hamlin called for several adjustments during a pit stop on
lap 208, and Blaney remained in the top 20 despite a tight
handling condition that developed during the next run.
Around the lap 280 mark, Blaney inherited 10th place after
several of the cars ahead of him began making scheduled pit
stops. He got lucky again when the caution flag waved
when the leader was right behind him. After completing
another stop for fuel and adjustments on lap 300, Blaney
left pit road in eighth place with 11 cars remaining on the
lead lap. NASCAR officials caught the Cat car speeding
coming off pit road, and Blaney was forced to restart at the
end of the longest line.
Blaney broke into the top 10 again with less than 90 laps
remaining in the race. Due to the car’s handling
issues, he was unable to retain the 10th position and fell
to 13th with just over 50 laps to go. Blaney moved
past a car that was encountering engine problems in the
closing laps and took the checkered flag in 12th place, his
third finish of 12th or better in as many weeks.
Blaney’s Bill Davis Racing team picked up three places in
the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series owners’ point standings.
The Caterpillar team has gained six spots in the past three
weeks and now holds the 25th position.
The NEXTEL Cup Series makes its only
trip to Kansas Speedway next weekend for the Banquet 400
Sunday, Oct. 1. Qualifying for the event is scheduled
for Friday, Sept.
29.
Coverage of Sunday’s race, scheduled for a 2:10 p.m. ET
start, will broadcast on NBC (television), MRN (radio) and
XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE BLANEY –
SYLVANIA 300
NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY |
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LOUDON, N.H.
(Sept. 17,
2006)
– Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team rebounded from
a flat left rear tire early in the event to finish in ninth
place in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International
Speedway Sunday afternoon. It was the team’s second
consecutive top-10 finish.
Blaney was the 46th of 48 competitors
to make his qualifying attempt on the 1.058-mile oval Friday
afternoon. Blaney posted his quickest lap time of
29.394 seconds (129.577 mph)
on the first lap of his two-lap run, which earned him the
21st position on the starting grid.
The green flag waved for the
start of the race, and Blaney lost several spots in the
early laps due in part to a loose handling race car. Blaney
let the crew know at the lap 15 mark that the Caterpillar
car was getting better, but by lap 30, he found himself
fighting a car that had become loose into the corners and
tight through the centers. Blaney broke into the top 20 on
lap 37 of the 300-lap race and continued to climb through
the field before making the first pit stop of the day under
caution on lap 82. Like last week, the crew worked fast in
the pits, and Blaney returned to the track in the 15th spot.
Disaster nearly struck on lap
97, as Blaney communicated to the crew that he had a flat
tire. While battling for position, Blaney and Matt Kenseth
made slight contact, and the flat tire was the result.
Luckily, NASCAR officials put the field under caution flag
conditions, and Blaney ducked down pit road to the attention
of his crew without losing a lap. The team was forced to
start at the end of the longest line for pitting before the
pits were open, and Blaney restarted 28th.
Though he continued to battle
the same handling issues through the middle stages of the
race, Blaney was able to break back into the top 25 by lap
150. A pit stop on lap 171 enabled the crew to make a
jackbolt adjustment to the car, change all four tires and
fill the gas tank with fuel. On lap 189, Blaney was
fighting to stay on the lead lap when the yellow flag waved
once again. Another round of pit stops concluded several
laps later, and Blaney lined up 18th for the restart. The
green flag run was short-lived, however, and crew chief
Kevin Hamlin decided to keep Blaney on the track during the
next round of pit stops while most of the other cars made
pit stops. When NASCAR officials waved the green flag on
lap 215, Blaney was leading the race.
Blaney did his best to hold
off the cars with fresher tires and led five laps before
settling into fourth place. During a caution period that
began on lap 266, the Cat team made a four-tire stop and
returned to the same pit sequence as much of the
competition. Several teams did opt not to pit during this
caution, and several more chose to take on only two new
tires, leaving Blaney in the ninth spot for the restart.
Blaney communicated to Hamlin that the set of tires on the
car weren’t as good as the earlier sets, but he was able to
hold onto the ninth spot when the checkered flag waved. The
ninth-place finish marked the team’s second consecutive
top-10 finish. The Bill Davis Racing team gained one spot
in the owners’ point standings following its fourth-place
run in Richmond last week, and it was able to gain even more
ground on the 25th spot this weekend. Unofficially, the
team now stands only 41 points outside the top 25.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series returns
to the Monster Mile next weekend for the Dover 400 at Dover
(Del.) International Speedway Sunday, Sept. 24. Qualifying
for the event is scheduled for Friday, Sept.
22.
Coverage of Sunday’s race, scheduled for a 1:10 p.m. ET
start, will broadcast on TNT (television), MRN (radio) and
XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – CHEVY ROCK & ROLL 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY |
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RICHMOND, Va.
(Sept. 9,
2006)
– After qualifying in the 15th spot for the Chevy Rock &
Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Dave Blaney
drove the Caterpillar ride to a fourth-place finish. It was
the team’s best finish of the season and the second top-five
finish of Blaney’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career, which
now encompasses 225 starts.
Blaney was the 20th of 48 competitors
to make his qualifying attempt on the .75-mile oval Friday
evening. Blaney posted his quickest lap time of
21.306 seconds (126.725 mph)
on the second of his two-lap run, which earned him the 15th
position on the starting grid for the event. The effort
marked the third time the team had started inside the top 15
this season.
The green flag waved for the
start of the event under the lights, and Blaney immediately
began his march toward the front of the field. In the
opening laps of the event, Blaney communicated via team
radio to crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the Cat car handled a
bit tight in the center of the corners. By the time the
first caution flag of the day waved on lap 36, Blaney had
worked his way up to 13th. A lap 37 pit stop for four tires
and fuel started the night off right, as the pit crew
knocked off a fast stop and sent Blaney back on the track
for the lap 41 restart in that same spot. Blaney continued
to work his way forward and broke into the top 10 on lap 60
of the 400-lap event.
Just past the 100-lap mark,
Blaney told the crew that the Cat car was still tight, but
the crew had the opportunity to make a wedge adjustment
during a pit stop under caution on lap 122. After another
great stop by the crew, Blaney returned to the track in
10th, the same position he held before the stop. Blaney
continued to pick off slower traffic and let his team know
that the change made to the Cat machine had helped the
handling of the car. Blaney passed Mark Martin for eighth
place on lap 168, and at the halfway point of the event, he
remained in the eighth spot.
Blaney showed his competitors
no mercy, many of whom were in a tight battle to make the
Chase for the Championship. While he worked to pick off
Matt Kenseth for seventh on lap 205, Hamlin let his driver
know that his lap times were faster than those of the
leader. A yellow flag on lap 221 allowed Hamlin to make a
wedge adjustment to make sure the handling remained where
Blaney needed it to be. After the red-hot pit crew performed
a four tire and fuel stop with the wedge adjustment, Blaney
returned to the track in sixth place. He broke into the top
five on lap 242, then drove his car into the fourth spot on
lap 281.
The No. 22 remained one of
the fastest cars on the track for the rest of the race, and
the pit crew continued to shine, turning in some of the
fastest pit stops of the season. The Cat car’s handling
became loose off the corners in the final stages of the
race, but that wasn’t enough to stop Blaney from driving to
a fourth-place finish. Not only did the effort mark the
team’s best performance of the season, but it also helped
the Bill Davis Racing team pick up two places in the owners’
point standings, unofficially moving into 28th, only 123
points outside the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup Series returns to the
Magic Mile next weekend for the Sylvania 300 at New
Hampshire International Speedway Sunday, Sept. 17.
Qualifying for the event on the
1.058-mile
track is scheduled for Friday, Sept.
15.
Coverage of Sunday’s race, scheduled for a 1:10 p.m. ET
start, will broadcast on TNT (television), MRN (radio) and
XM Satellite Radio. |
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Dave Blaney – Sony HD 500
California
Speedway |
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Calif. (Sept. 3,
2006) – Dave
Blaney drove the Caterpillar car to a 28th-place finish in
Sunday evening’s Sony HD 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event
at California Speedway.
Blaney was the 26th of 47
competitors to make his qualifying attempt around the
two-mile oval Friday afternoon, and he posted a speed of
176.978
mph during his one-lap run around the course. Though that
speed wasn’t as fast as the team had anticipated, it was
enough to earn the team a spot on the inside of the 21st
row, in 41st place.
Temperatures continued to
hover around the 100 degree mark at the start of the race.
Once the green flag waved for the start of the Sony HD 500,
Blaney began his march toward the front of the field.
Though he started near the rear of the pack, he broke into
the top 30 by the fifth lap of the 250-lap race. Blaney
informed crew chief Kevin Hamlin via radio that the Cat car
handled a little tight in the center of the corner, but
overall it was good.
The first caution flag
waved on lap 10, and Blaney pitted on lap 12 for four tires,
fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment to the right rear
tire. Blaney continued his forward progress after the
restart, and by the time the next caution flag waved, he had
made his way into the top 25. He informed the team that the
car handled well in the early laps of the run and then
quickly became very tight in the center of the corners.
Hamlin planned to make changes to the car during the next
pit stop, which occurred on lap 30. The team made a wedge
adjustment during that stop.
The tight condition began
to hamper Blaney’s progress, and he fell to 30th before
making a scheduled stop under green flag conditions on lap
79. Unfortunately, before all the competitors could
complete their stops, a yellow flag waved, which left the
No. 22 team one lap down and in 33rd place. On lap 100,
Blaney told the team the car was a little better. He asked
that Hamlin continue to help him in the center of the
corner, as that was what was hurting him the most. After a
left rear jackbolt adjustment under caution on lap 113,
Blaney restarted in the 35th spot.
Blaney did his best to get
himself in position for the Lucky Dog pass, but it was
always just out of reach. The Cat machine held 32nd place by
the 150-lap mark, and the crew continued its attempts to
free up the car during every pit stop. With 50 laps
remaining in the event, Blaney stood in 29th and had found a
groove on the track that helped the car turn in the center.
The team’s final pit stop came on lap 242 - a two-tire and
fuel stop – and Blaney took the checkered flag in 28th. The
No. 22 team remained in 30th place in the NEXTEL Cup Owners’
points standings following the event.
The NEXTEL Cup Series returns
to Richmond International Raceway for the Chevy Rock & Roll
400 Sept. 9. Qualifying for event is scheduled for Friday,
Sept. 8.
Coverage of Saturday evening’s race, scheduled for a 7:40
p.m. ET start, will broadcast on TNT (television), MRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – SHARPIE 500
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY |
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BRISTOL, Tenn.
(Aug. 26,
2006)
– After Bill Davis Racing officials announced Friday that
Dave Blaney would return to the No. 22 Caterpillar car for
the 2007 season, the Cat crew hoped to prove what it was
still capable of in 2006. Blaney qualified in the 22nd spot
for the Sharpie 500 and fought his way through the field for
a solid 14th-place finish Saturday night.
Blaney was the 30th of 49 competitors
to make his qualifying attempt around the half-mile oval and
posted a speed of
123.467 mph on the second lap
of his two-lap run around the course. That speed was quick
enough to earn the team the 22nd position on the starting
grid for Saturday night’s event.
Blaney took the green flag
for the start of the Sharpie 500 and immediately
communicated to crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the handling of
the Caterpillar car was tight. Blaney fell to 33rd place
and was in danger of losing a lap when the first caution
flag of the evening waved on lap 60 of the 500-lap event.
As the field drove down pit road for the first scheduled pit
stops of the race, Hamlin and the No. 22 crew changed four
tires, fueled the car and made a track bar adjustment in an
effort to remedy the tight handling condition. Blaney
returned to the track and restarted the race in the 30th
position.
Blaney’s Caterpillar car
handled a bit better after the first round of adjustments,
and Hamlin continued to make changes throughout the race.
Pit strategy came into play when a caution flag waved on lap
115, and Hamlin decided that Blaney should remain on the
track while most of his fellow competitors made pit stops.
The Cat car moved into the fourth spot for the restart, but
Blaney continued to struggle with a tight handling machine
before the fourth yellow flag of the night waved on lap 203.
Blaney pitted for four tires and fuel and returned to the
track in 17th.
Blaney again broke into the
top 15 on lap 222 and remained around that spot for the next
200 laps. He reported to the team that the car was better
than it had been early in the race, but it still needed a
few additional changes to help it turn the way he needed.
Blaney worked hard to hold off the leader but went one lap
down on lap 443. Luck went the team’s way two laps later.
With the wave of the caution flag, Blaney was awarded the
Free Pass, enabling him to drive around the leader and
return to the lead lap. Blaney then made his last trip down
pit road. The crew changed all four tires, filled the car
with fuel, made an air pressure adjustment to the left front
tire and adjusted the track bar. The Cat car restarted
16th. Blaney worked his way past several cars before the
end of the race, taking the checkered flag in the 14th
spot. The No. 22 team’s second best finish of the year
enabled it to remain in 30th place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
owners’ point standings.
The NEXTEL Cup Series returns to
California Speedway for the Sony HD 500 Sept. 3. Qualifying
for event in Fontana, Calif., is scheduled for Friday, Sept.
1.
Coverage of Sunday evening’s race, scheduled for an 8 p.m.
ET start, will broadcast on TNT (television), PRN (radio)
and XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – GFS MARKETPLACE 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY |
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BROOKLYN, Mich.
(Aug.
20, 2006)
– Dave Blaney started Sunday’s GFS Marketplace 400 at the
two-mile Michigan International Speedway in the 19th spot
and scored a 24th-place finish at the conclusion of the
200-lap event on the track nestled in the Irish Hills of
Michigan.
After struggling a bit in the first practice session of the
weekend, the team made changes to the car before Blaney hit
the track for his qualifying run Friday afternoon
Blaney
was the 29th of 47 competitors to make his qualifying
attempt and posted a speed of
184.705
mph during his one-lap run around the course. That speed
was quick enough to earn the team the 19th spot on the
starting grid.
Blaney took the green flag for the start of the GFS
Marketplace 400 and was in 18th place when the first yellow
flag of the afternoon waved on lap five. Blaney took the
opportunity during the caution period to let crew chief
Kevin Hamlin know that the Cat car was neutral in the
opening laps, and he was pleased with the car’s
performance. Racing at MIS is typically known for its long
green-flag runs, but that was not the case Sunday. Several
laps after the lap nine restart, two cars made contact on
the track, thus slowing the field again. Blaney now
communicated that the car’s handling had become free off the
corners. He headed down pit road for the first pit stop of
the day, a routine four-tire change. Many teams opted not
to pit, and Blaney lined up 30th for the restart.
Another on-track incident prompted a third caution flag on
lap 23. The teams that chose not to stop during the last
caution made their way down pit road, and Blaney had
inherited the fifth position by the time the green flag
waved on lap 26. Unfortunately, Blaney’s older tires
couldn’t fend off the cars with fresher rubber, and he began
to fall through the field, settling in the 18th position
before another yellow flag was displayed. Hamlin called
Blaney to pit road for a four fresh tires and fuel. The
team also made a track bar adjustment in an effort to remedy
the loose handling condition Blaney experienced. The Cat
machine restarted just outside the top 20 on lap 49.
Blaney, who was still happy with the overall handling of the
car, worked his way into 17th before the next pit stop,
which occurred on lap 64. After a similar stop to the
previous one, Blaney lined up 29th for the restart. The
teams that were running a different pit strategy opted not
to make pit stops, but starting deep in the field didn’t
phase Blaney one bit. He steadily moved past slower traffic
and emerged in the 18th position by the halfway point of the
event.
The crew again went to work in the pits during a caution on
lap 116. The handling of Blaney’s ride had become tight in
the center of the corners and extremely loose off, so Hamlin
was hoping a tire pressure adjustment and the removal of a
piece of spring rubber from the right rear would help ease
the freeness off the corners. The changes did not do enough
to alleviate the problem during the next run, and Hamlin
ordered more changes during a lap 143 stop. Due to varying
pit strategies, Blaney had run as third during the previous
green flag run. But with 50 laps remaining in the event, he
stood 30th.
The team’s final pit stop of the day came under caution on
lap 162, and Blaney restarted 27th on lap 164. Blaney was
able to catch and pass his competitors, moving into 23rd
before communicating to the team that the changes made
during the last stop helped him off the corners. The
handling became tight in the closing laps of the event, but
Blaney was able to post a 24th-place finish when the
checkered flag waved. The No. 22 team gained one position
in the owners’ point standings and now stands in 30th place.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series returns
to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Sharpie 500 Aug. 26.
Qualifying for the event is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 25.
Coverage of Saturday night’s race, scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET
start, will broadcast on TNT (television), PRN (radio) and
XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – AMD AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL |
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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.
(Aug.
13, 2006)
– A top-25 qualifying run and a good-handling race car
during the final practice sessions Saturday afternoon had
the Caterpillar Racing team looking forward to a respectable
finish in Sunday’s AMD at the Glen. Unfortunately, a
multi-car incident on lap 62 of the 90-lap event resulted in
extensive front-end damage to the Caterpillar car, and the
team was eventually credited with a 40th-place finish on the
road course in Watkins Glen.
Blaney
was the 29th of 50 competitors to make his qualifying
attempt on the 2.45-mile track Friday afternoon. He posted
a speed of 119.291 mph during his one-lap run around the
course, which was quick enough to earn him the 25th spot on
the starting grid.
Blaney took the green flag to begin the AMD at the Glen. A
lap six caution flag gave him the opportunity to let crew
chief Kevin Hamlin know that that he was struggling to get
his Cat machine to turn in the corners. It was too early
for a pit stop, but Hamlin had already planned air pressure
adjustments for when the team did make a pit stop. The team
made those adjustments during a four-tire stop on lap 24.
Blaney continued to feed the team information regarding the
handling of the car. It was still not turning well enough
in the turns. Blaney continued to work hard to maintain his
position, but he ran into trouble on lap 39 while battling
with the No. 19 car of Bill Elliott. Blaney and Elliott
collided in the area of the track commonly referred to as
the “bus stop,” and the No. 22 car spun around. Luckily,
the car didn’t hit anything else, and Blaney continued
without further incident. The incident did prompt a caution
flag, and Blaney reported to the pits for service on lap
41. The team made a track bar adjustment, changed all four
tires, fueled the car and pulled out the fenders that were
pushed in during the incident.
It wasn’t long before Blaney communicated to the crew that
the changes had not really helped the car. He was running
36th at the halfway point of the race when the caution flag
waved. Blaney again drove down pit road to the attention of
his crew. The team made a four tire change and a front
shock adjustment.
Blaney continued to struggle with the car, and the crew made
a wedge adjustment during a gas-only stop under caution on
lap 56. Things went from bad to worse just after the green
flag waved for the restart on lap 62. While heading into the
esses, Blaney was forced to slow down as several cars ahead
of him checked up. Unfortunately, as is often the case on
the narrow road courses, the car that was running behind
Blaney did not slow down in time and hit the Cat car,
sending it careening into the wall. Blaney drove his
badly-damaged car back to the pit area, but the crew quickly
assessed that the damage was too great to repair before the
end of the event. The team was credited with a 40th-place
finish. The No. 22 team remains 31st in the owners’ point
standings.
The NEXTEL Cup Series returns to
Michigan International Speedway for GFS Marketplace 400 Aug.
20. Qualifying for the event is scheduled for Friday, Aug.
18.
Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 2:30
p.m. ET start, will broadcast on TNT (television), MRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – ALLSTATE 400
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY |
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INDIANAPOLIS
(Aug. 6,
2006)
– Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team were looking
forward to their trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, after
a successful one-day test at the track several weeks ago and
a streak of three consecutive top-20 finishes. Problems in
qualifying did not deter the team’s hopes for a good finish,
and the silver-and-black Cat Financial car ran well in the
middle stages of the event. When the checkered flag waved
at the famed speedway, Blaney held down 29th place.
Blaney
was the eighth of 50 competitors to make his qualifying
attempt Saturday morning. He posted a speed of 176.970 mph
during his one-lap run around the 2.5-mile speedway.
Unfortunately, that speed wasn’t fast enough to make the
field on time, and the Caterpillar team was forced to take a
provisional starting spot. Blaney was awarded the 42nd
position based on current points. It wasn’t until after
Blaney had made his run that the team realized there had
been a miscue with the air pressure in the tires, which
resulted in the disappointing qualifying time. Blaney was
back up to speed in the practice sessions that afternoon,
and the crew was confident its driver would find his way
toward the front of the field once the race started.
Blaney took the green flag for the
start of the 12th
annual NASCAR event at the Brickyard.
Early in the race, he communicated to crew chief Kevin
Hamlin that the Cat Financial car handled tight in the
center and loose off the corners. The first of two
scheduled competition caution periods occurred on lap 17,
and Blaney, like most of the other competitors, ducked down
pit road to the attention of his awaiting crew. Hamlin
directed his crew to change right side tires and make a
track bar adjustment. The crew sent Blaney back out on the
track, where he restarted 22nd.
Blaney continued to fight an ill-handling car, and when the
second competition caution flag waved at the completion of
lap 40, Blaney once again drove down pit road. The crew
bolted on four fresh tires and made both wedge and track bar
adjustments before Blaney returned to the track. Another
opportunity to make changes to the Cat Financial car came 14
laps later under caution. Despite the changes made in the
pits, Blaney was still unhappy with the handling and
immediately let his team know that the car was the worst it
had been all day. Blaney lost 10 spots in five laps, and at
the halfway point of the race, he held down the 32nd spot in
an extremely loose-handling race car.
A pit stop on lap 88 appeared to be the turning point of the
race. The routine pit stop yielded a set of adjustments
that helped the handling of the car. Blaney began to pick
off slower cars one by one and broke into the top 25 on lap
108. He continued his climb toward the front. With 20 laps
to go in the Allstate 400, he stood 23rd, poised for another
top-20 finish. Blaney made his last stop of the day under
caution on lap 144 and restarted 28th. Though he was able
to pick up several spots in the closing laps, a set of last
lap accidents resulted in the need to let off the gas and
Blaney fell several positions before taking the checkered
flag in 29th place. The team now stands in 31st
place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup owner point standings, a mere
153 markers out of the top 25. .
The NEXTEL Cup Series takes another
crack at turning both right and left next weekend at Watkins
Glen International for the AMD at the Glen, Aug. 13.
Qualifying for the event is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 11.
Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 1 p.m.
ET start, will broadcast on NBC (television), MRN (radio)
and XM Satellite Radio. Blaney is also scheduled to compete
in the NASCAR Busch Series event at the track Saturday
afternoon. |
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DAVE
BLANEY – PENNSYLVANIA 500
POCONO RACEWAY |
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LONG POND, Pa.
(July
23, 2006)
– Fresh off their best finish of the season last weekend in
New Hampshire, Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team
returned to Pocono Raceway hoping to maintain their streak
of top-20 finishes and improve upon their results from the
last time the series visited Pocono. They were successful
in achieving their goals: Blaney finished the Pennsylvania
500 with a solid 16th-place performance.
Blaney was the seventh of 47 competitors to make his
qualifying attempt Friday afternoon. He posted a speed of
166.880 mph during his one-lap run around the 2.5-mile
speedway, which was fast enough to earn him the 24th spot on
the starting grid for Sunday’s event. The team hoped to
spend the Saturday morning practice sessions with the car in
race trim, but Mother Nature had other plans. The morning
started with heavy fog, which later turned to heavy rain,
and NASCAR officials were forced to cancel all NEXTEL Cup
Series activities scheduled for the day.
Blaney took the green flag Sunday afternoon and immediately
communicated to crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the No. 22 car
handled very tight in the center and off the corners.
NASCAR officials had informed the teams that there would be
a caution on lap 20 since Saturday’s practices were
cancelled. This first yellow flag period gave Hamlin the
opportunity to bring Blaney down pit road for four fresh
tires, fuel and wedge and air pressure adjustments in an
effort to free up the car in the corners. Blaney returned to
the track in 20th place for the lap 25 restart.
The team made additional air pressure adjustments to the Cat
car during the next stop, which occurred under caution 10
laps later. When the green flag waved on lap 38, Blaney
held the 23rd spot. He passed several cars in the following
laps and placed himself solidly in the top 20 by lap 60 of
the 200-lap event. Hamlin called for both track bar and
wedge adjustments during the pit stop on lap 68, as the team
continued to make changes to the car in an effort to remedy
the tight handling condition that plagued Blaney for the
majority of the day.
Blaney remained in the top 25 at the halfway point of the
event and re-entered the top 20 on lap 120. Many of the
leaders began make what should have been their last pit stop
of the day with 40 laps to go. Blaney ran as high as third
before ducking down pit road on lap 178 for right side
tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. He soon reported to his
crew that the car was good in the corners. The caution flag
waved two laps later, and several cars opted to make pit
stops. Blaney remained on the track and restarted 12th with
15 laps remaining. Though he worked hard to maintain his
position in the final laps, he was unable to hold off
competitors with fresher tires. Blaney took the checkered
flag in 16th place. It was his third consecutive finish of
17th or higher. Unofficially, the team remains in 30th in
the owners’ point standings and stands 165 markers outside
the top 25. .
The
NEXTEL Cup Series takes a well-deserved weekend off before
heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in two weeks for the
Allstate 400 Sunday, Aug. 6. Blaney will return to Virginia
International Raceway Monday for a day of Busch Series
testing before spending the off-weekend at Sharon Speedway,
the Ohio track owned by his family.
Qualifying for the event at the
Brickyard is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 5.
Coverage of the 160-lap race at the 2.5-mile oval, scheduled
for a 2:40 p.m. ET start, will broadcast on NBC
(television), IMS (radio) and XM Satellite Radio.
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DAVE
BLANEY – LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS 300
NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY |
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LOUDON, N.H
(July
16, 2006)
– The warm front that rolled into New England at the same
time the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series arrived for a weekend of
racing at New Hampshire International Speedway did nothing
but heat up the hopes of the Caterpillar Racing team. After
a bit of a disappointing qualifying run – driver Dave Blaney
thought the lap would be much better than it was – the team
brought home its best finish of the season Sunday afternoon.
Blaney was the 26th of 47 competitors to make his qualifying
attempt Friday afternoon. He posted a speed of 127.722 mph
on the first lap of his two-lap run around the 1.058-mile
speedway. The lap was fast enough to earn him the 28th spot
on the starting grid for Sunday’s event.
Almost immediately after the start of the race, Blaney
communicated to his crew that the Cat car was good. An
early yellow flag gave the team an opportunity to gain track
position by remaining on the track while many of the lead
cars drove down pit road. Blaney restarted the race in
sixth place on lap 24, but was unable to hold off the cars
that had pitted for fresh tires. The team made a scheduled
pit stop under green on lap 78. The crew made a slight
wedge adjustment to the car while performing a routine
four-tire stop.
Blaney was in 41st place when the yellow flag waved on lap
92, but he picked up positions when the teams that had not
made pit stops headed for pit road. When the green flag
waved again on lap 96, Blaney was lined up in front of the
leader and on the tail end of the lead lap. Several cars
made contact one lap later, which forced NASCAR officials to
throw the caution flag. Heads-up driving by Blaney and a
friendly reminder by spotter Chris “Crazy” Osborne to stay
ahead of the No. 25, which was leading the race, allowed
Blaney to regain the lap he lost when the team made its
green flag stop. When the race restarted at the 100-lap
mark, Blaney was 24th.
Blaney ran into a bit of a handling issue at the halfway
point of the event, and let crew chief Kevin Hamlin know
that the car’s handling was tight in the center and loose
off the corners. Blaney ducked down pit road after another
yellow flag waved on lap 187. In addition to giving the car
four tires and fuel, the crew raised the track bar and made
a small air pressure adjustment to the right rear tire
before returning Blaney to the track in 12th place.
The changes caused the Cat machine’s handling to become much
too loose, and Blaney struggled with the car until the
caution on lap 234, which gave the team another chance to
adjust the handling. The changes helped, though near the
end of the run the car became a tick too tight. The crew
made a wedge adjustment during a pit stop in the final 30
laps of the event, and Blaney held 20th place with 15
circuits remaining.
Blaney took evasive action to avoid a multi-car accident with
two laps left in the event, which resulted in a
green-white-checkered finish. Blaney restarted in 15th
place with three laps to go. Several cars ran out of fuel
on the final lap of the race, which advanced Blaney to the
13th spot when the checkered flag finally waved. It was the
team’s second top-20 finish in a row and Blaney’s best
performance of the year. The finish boosted the Bill Davis
Racing team one position in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup owners’
point standings. The team now unofficially stands in 30th,
only 154 points outside of the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup Series will return to
Pocono (Pa.) Raceway next weekend for the Pennsylvania 500
Sunday, July 23. Qualifying for the event is scheduled for
Friday, July 21.
Coverage of the 200-lap race at the 2.5-mile oval, scheduled
for a 2:10 p.m. ET start, will broadcast on TNT
(television), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio.
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Dave
Blaney Takes Hass Avocados to a 15th Place Finish in Their
Debut Race as Sponsor |
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(Loudon, NH) – Dave Blaney returned to the seat of the No.
32 Chevrolet this weekend for his third NASCAR Busch Series
race of the season. Piloting the No. 32, with a new sponsor
in Hass Avocados on board, Blaney looked strong during the
weekend’s practice sessions and during Saturday morning’s
qualifying, grabbed the 10th place starting spot for the
afternoon’s New England 200.
Early in the event after taking over the 9th position,
Blaney informed crew chief, Trent Owens, of a tight
condition in his race car. Driver and crew chief discussed
possible adjustments to be made on their first pit stop
which would not occur until lap 55, when an accident brought
out the yellow flag. Blaney hit pit road for service, taking
four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Quick work by
the Hass Avocados pit crew gained Blaney two spots on pit
road allowing him to restart from the 7th position on lap
62.
Several cautions interrupted the next 30 laps of racing but
Blaney’s place among the top10 remained secure and by lap 95
he was sitting in the sixth spot, knocking on the door of
the top-five. As the laps were counted off, Blaney’s car
grew continuously tighter and on lap 112 Blaney reported
that the car was the tightest it had been all day. Fighting
the tight condition, Blaney lost several positions, falling
back to 9th place by lap 140. When the leaders began pitting
under green on lap 143, Blaney followed suit taking four
tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Unfortunately, an
ill-timed caution on the next lap put Blaney a lap down to
those who had not pitted under green flag conditions.
After restarting 19th on lap 149, Blaney spent the remaining
laps of the event battling among the top-20 and fighting to
get his lap back. On lap 176, Blaney took over the 15th spot
where he remained until the checkered flag waved. The 15th
place finish was Blaney’s third consecutive top-15 NASCAR
Busch Series finish in as many races. Carl Edwards took the
checkered flag with Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard
and Clint Bowyer rounding out the top five.
Blaney will return to the driver’s seat of the No. 32 Hass
Avocados Chevrolet on August 12 at Watkins Glen
International Speedway. |
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Hass
Avocados Makes NASCAR Busch Series Debut with Braun Racing &
Dave Blaney |
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* Hass
Avocados is making its debut as a NASCAR Busch Series
primary team sponsor this weekend at New Hampshire
International Speedway (NHIS). The No. 32 Braun Racing
entry, to be driven by Dave Blaney, will have a “delicious”
new paint scheme featuring Haas Avocados.
* Dave Blaney returns to the No. 32 Chevrolet this weekend
at NHIS. Blaney has two top-15 finishes in two NASCAR Busch
Series starts this season with finishes of 15th at Lowe’s
and 13th last weekend in Chicago.
* Blaney has three previous NASCAR Busch Series starts at
New Hampshire International Speedway, with a best finish of
19th in 1999.
* This weekend will mark Blaney’s 89th NASCAR Busch Series
start. He has a total of seven top-five and 22 top-10
finishes, as well as six poles in NBS competition.
* Blaney is slated to compete in four more events in the No.
32 Chevrolet this season, including Watkins Glen, Richmond,
Dover and Charlotte.
BLANEY ON RACING AT NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY:
“Success at Loudon is all about handling. You have to have a
good handling car to get or maintain track position. Because
the racing surface is flat, the car’s natural tendency is to
slide out from under you. Getting off of the corners is the
probably the biggest key here and something that will be a
focus during practice. This is not an easy place to pass but
if your car is not handling well, it just makes it that much
more difficult. I’m looking forward to working with the
Braun Racing crew again this weekend and excited to welcome
Haas Avocados into the sport.” |
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DAVE BLANEY –
USG SHEETROCK 400
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY |
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JOLIET, Ill.
(July 9,
2006)
– Having finished well in the past on the 1.5-mile
Chicagoland Speedway, both driver Dave Blaney and the
Caterpillar Racing team looked forward to spending a weekend
in Joliet, Illinois. The team followed up one of its best
qualifying efforts of the season with a solid 17th-place
performance on Sunday and gained several spots in the point
standings in the process.
Though he was only 32nd quick in the first
practice session of the day Friday, Blaney wasn’t worried
heading into qualifying that afternoon. The 36th
of 50 competitors to take to the track for his qualifying
run, Blaney posted a speed of 178.636 miles per hour on the
first lap of his scheduled two-lap run. After seeing his car
number flash up near the top of the scoring pylon in the
infield after his first lap, Blaney, like most of his fellow
drivers, opted to make only one timed circuit around the
track knowing he had made the most of his first lap. Blaney
was set to start the event in 15th place.
Happy Hour practice on Saturday proved his starting spot was
no fluke. Blaney was quick right off the bat, and by the end
of the 45-minute practice period, had posted the third
fastest time of the session.
After qualifying on the front row and backing it up with a 13th-place
finish in the Busch Series race the previous afternoon,
Blaney was ready for 400 miles on Sunday. The green flag
flew for the start of the USG Sheetrock 400 and almost
immediately Blaney radioed to his crew that the Caterpillar
machine was tight off the corners at both ends of the track.
Long green flag runs were the order of the day and the first
scheduled pit stop came under green on lap 61 of the
scheduled 267-lap event. Crew chief Kevin Hamlin called for
four fresh tires and fuel as well as a track bar adjustment
in an effort to free up the car. Blaney restarted the event
in 20th place on lap 64.
Blaney continued to wrestle a tight handling car and fell out
of the top 25 for the first time of the day near the lap 100
mark. Another opportunity to adjust on the car came during a
scheduled green flag stop at lap 133 and Hamlin called for
additional adjustments - this time a wedge adjustment - and
the crew sent Blaney back out on the track in 24th
place, one lap down to the leader. A caution flag for debris
less than 10 laps later gave Blaney the chance to
communicate to his team that the changes had made the car
loose, which he thought would benefit them as the car
tightened up later in the run. Hamlin made the decision to
pit for four tires and fuel while some teams took on only
two fresh tires, which dropped Blaney to 29th
when the green flag once again flew at lap 145.
The Caterpillar car again developed a tight condition in the
corners in addition to becoming loose out of the turns as
the race wore on, but Blaney fought for every position he
could get, and when a yellow flag came out on lap 199 he
stood in 24th place, the first car one lap down.
Blaney was given the Lucky Dog award and with the blessing
of NASCAR officials drove around the pace car to get his car
back on the lead lap. Blaney began a patient march to the
front of the field in the final 60 laps of the race, and
never again fell out of the top 25 despite working with a
car that would not turn well through the corners.
While battling for the lead with fewer than five laps to go,
the cars of Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon got together, which
sent Kenseth spinning through the infield grass. The caution
flew for the final time with three laps left, which meant
the race would end with a green-white-checkered finish.
Blaney made a pit stop for fresh tires and lined up in the
21st spot for the green flag on lap 268. Several
cars ran out of fuel during the final three laps and Blaney
fought hard for position during the final lap of the event,
finishing in 17th place, which equaled the team’s
best finish of the season. In addition, the top-20
performance boosted the team to 31st in the owner
point standings, a pickup of three spots.
The NEXTEL Cup Series will travel to
New Hampshire International Speedway next weekend for the
Lenox Industrial Tools 300 Sunday, July 16. Qualifying for
the event is scheduled for Friday, July 14.
Coverage of the 300-lap race at the 1.058-mile oval,
scheduled for a 2:10 p.m. EDT start, will broadcast on TNT
(television), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio. Before
heading to Loudon, N.H. though, the team will spend Monday
and Tuesday testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
preparation for the upcoming race at that venue.
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Blaney
Starts the ABF U-Pack Chevy From the Front Row |
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| Dave Blaney
and the ABF crew delivered a hard earned top 15 finish in
the USG Sheetrock 300 Saturday at the Chicagoland Speedway.
Blaney qualified the No.32 ABF U-Pack Moving Chevy 2nd, on
the outside pole early Saturday afternoon, and keep the ABF
Chevy in the top 10 for most of the day.
Blaney
followed the leader down pit road to the attention of the
ABF crew on lap 62 for a great sixteen second green flag pit
stop. At the halfway mark the ABF team dodged a bullet when
Dave Blaney’s radio went dead and the team was forced to
make a pit stop under caution to change out his in-car
radio. Blaney rejoined the field in 19th, but moved the No.
32 back towards the front quickly. On lap 140 while running
13th, Blaney radioed that he felt a header had broken loose
and he was inhaling an uncomfortable amount of carbon
monoxide, but choose to tough it out and stay on the track.
Crew chief, Trent Owens made the call for four tires and
fuel for the U-Pack Chevy on the final pit stop at lap 157.
Rear tire changer Tommy Hurbert injured his right hand when
Blaney’s foot slipped off the clutch and jumped the car.
Hubert was meet by the medical team, wrapped up and choose
to stay for the remainder of the race with the severely cut
hand.
Dave Blaney
and the ABF crew then fought a tight condition for the
remaining 40 laps of the race, crossing the checkered flag
with a hard fought 13th place finish. “We had a much better
car then you can tell by where we finished, but sometimes
that’s the way things go,” stated Blaney. “I really feel
like Trent and I are starting to gel and I’m looking forward
to taking this ABF car to Dover in September.”
Dave Blaney
and the ABF U-Pack Moving Chevrolet will rejoin the Busch
Series tour once again from the Dover International Speedway
on September 23rd for the Dover 200. Qualifying for the
event is scheduled for Saturday at 11:40 a.m. with the 200
lap / 200 mile race to follow at 3 p.m. EST. Coverage of
Saturday afternoon’s race will broadcast on TNT
(television), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE
BLANEY - PEPSI 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY |
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July
1, 2006) - As the pace laps ticked off before the start of
the Pepsi 400 Saturday night, Caterpillar Racing driver Dave
Blaney's voice could be heard over the team radios, telling
his crew he had a good feeling about the evening His plan
of working on the car all night to get the handling just
right and scratching his way to the front was a good one,
especially since Blaney was about to start the event having
made only two laps in his No. 22 Cat machine all weekend. A
practice crash forced the team to go to the backup car, but
that didn't hinder the team's performance. When all was
said and done, the team was able to do just what it had
planned, and Blaney took the checkered flag in 27th place.
After posting quick times
in the first practice session Thursday afternoon, problems
in Happy Hour resulted in the team unloading the backup car
15 minutes into the 45-minute final practice session.
Blaney had posted the 19th-fastest time after only 10 laps
of practice before calamity struck. A cut tire caused the
car driven by Jeff Burton to hit the wall, collecting Casey
Mears and laying fluid on the track in the process. Though
he tried to slow down, Blaney hit the fluids and ran into
the back of the No. 18 car. The Caterpillar ride suffered
substantial damage to the front end, and the team scrambled
to get the back up car out of the truck and onto the track
before the end of practice. Unfortunately, there just
wasn't enough time left in the session, and the first laps
the back up car would see would be its qualifying laps.
Blaney was the 11th of 48
competitors to make his qualifying attempt Friday
afternoon. He posted a speed of 181.855 mph on the second
of his two-lap run around the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
Though that speed wasn't enough to make the field based on
time, the team was awarded a provisional starting spot and
was set to start the event in 41st place. Most importantly
though, the team knew after the two-lap qualifying run that
the backup car was capable of running well Saturday night.
The weather in Daytona
Beach had been stifling hot all weekend, and Saturday was no
exception. When the green flag waved for the start of the
Pepsi 400, track temperatures were still extremely high,
though that didn't affect the spirits of any of the fans or
competitors. A caution on lap nine of the 160-lap race
enabled the team tighten the car's handling, which Blaney
had said had been a little free from the start. The crew
made a quick track bar adjustment during the pit stop. In
an effort to gain track position, crew chief Kevin Hamlin
decided to only fuel the car and not change tires. It was a
good call: Blaney went from 38th before the stop to 23rd
when the green flag waved for the restart.
Blaney fought a loose
handling car and ducked down pit road again when the caution
flag waved on lap 17. Hamlin called for four fresh tires
and an air pressure adjustment in the right rear tire.
Blaney restarted 33rd and after several laps, he relayed to
his team that the car was handling well on the bottom of the
track. Blaney cruised to 27th before the car became tight,
a condition the team would fight for the remainder of the
evening. Still, Blaney was able to race well in the bottom
groove and by lap 43, he had worked his way into the top 20
and hovered around the top 25 for the first half of the
event.
A scheduled pit stop on lap
90 nearly led to disaster. As Blaney was pulling into his
pit stall, the car of Matt Kenseth, who was pitted in the
stall next to the Cat team, began to pull out of the pit
box. Luckily, the result was only minor sheet metal damage
on the left side of the car, and Blaney was able to continue
without incident. After once again taking only fuel, the
No. 22 machine restarted ninth. Blaney slowly began to get
shuffled through the lead draft as he continued to fight his
tight racecar. The team made its final pit stop of the event
on lap 149, and Hamlin made one last adjustment to the car.
A multi-car incident with five laps to go prompted the red
flag while workers cleaned up the carnage. After a
three-lap shootout to the end, Blaney took the checkered
flag in 27th place.
The NEXTEL Cup Series will
travel to Chicagoland Speedway next weekend for the USG
Sheetrock 400 Sunday, July 9. Qualifying for the event is
scheduled for Friday, July 7. Coverage of the 267-lap race
at the 1.5-mile oval, scheduled for a 3:35 p.m. EDT start,
will broadcast on TNT (television), MRN (radio) and XM
Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE BLANEY –
DODGE/SAVE MART 350
INFINEON RACEWAY |
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SONOMA, Calif.
(June
25, 2006)
– After a successful test at Virginia International Raceway
several weeks ago, Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing
team had high hopes for their weekend of road-course racing
in Northern California. After qualifying in the 36th spot
for the event at Infineon Raceway, Blaney was closing on a
top-15 finish when problems with the driveshaft cut the
team’s race short.
Blaney was the seventh of 48 competitors to make his
qualifying attempt Friday afternoon. Blaney posted a speed
of 90.825 mph around the 1.99-mile course and was set to
start the race in the 36th spot.
The green flag waved for the start of the 110-lap event, and
Blaney narrowly avoided disaster during a first lap,
multi-car accident. Several other cars were not as
fortunate, as extensive damage resulted in the cars being
taken to the garage without completing a single lap. The
carnage included the machine driven by Tom Hubert, who
normally changes rear tires for the No. 22 team. In order
to clean up the debris from the incident, NASCAR officials
stopped the race on lap two. When the race resumed, Blaney
stood in 27th place.
On lap 10, Blaney reported to crew chief Kevin Hamlin that
the Cat car handled tight heading into the corners and loose
off, and that he lost all the momentum he built up coming
down the hills because he couldn’t turn the car. Hamlin
planned to make air pressure adjustments and pull out the
front fenders during the first pit stop of the day, which
occurred on lap 32 while Blaney was running in the 29th
spot. After quick work by the crew, Blaney returned to the
track in 32nd place.
Blaney notified the crew that the changes to the car helped
shortly after the pit stop, but the car had once again
become free off the corners by the time the next caution
flag waved. Hamlin planned to make additional air pressure
adjustments during the next scheduled stop.
On lap 62, Blaney was trying to avoid a spinning car, but he
made contact with another car, which resulted in damage to
the front fenders of the No. 22. Blaney pitted several laps
later, and the team repaired some of the minor front end
damage by tugging on the fenders. The stop also included
Hamlin’s suggested air pressure adjustments, and Blaney soon
reported that the car drove much better.
Things were looking up for the team, and with his
much-improved handling machine, Blaney was set to make his
way through the field. Unfortunately, his march to the
front was over before it really started. As he drove out of
turn 11 and got back on the throttle, something went
terribly wrong with the car. Blaney said that it seemed to
be a drive shaft or transmission problem, and he took the
car to the garage so the crew could assess the damage.
After doing its best to diagnose the problem, the crew
determined that the car would not rejoin the race. When the
checkered flag waved, Blaney was credited with a 39th-place
finish.
The mechanical problems not only dropped Blaney to 33rd in
the owners’ point standings, but also ended Blaney’s streak
of 32 consecutive races in which he was running at the end,
which was the longest of any NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver
currently in competition.
The NEXTEL Cup Series goes heads back
to Daytona International Speedway next weekend for the Pepsi
400 Saturday, July 1. Qualifying for the event is scheduled
for Friday, June 30.
Coverage of Saturday evening’s race under the lights at the
2.5-mile superspeedway, scheduled for a 7:55 p.m. EDT start,
will broadcast on FOX (television), MRN (radio) and XM
Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE BLANEY – 3M
PERFORMANCE 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY |
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BROOKLYN, Mich.
(June
18, 2006)
– Persistent rain showers wreaked havoc on Sunday’s NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup event at Michigan International Speedway in
Brooklyn, Michigan. Weather delayed the start of the race
and continued to plague the 3M Performance 400 for much of
the afternoon. A heavy rain shower just past the halfway
point in the event forced NASCAR officials to throw the red
flag and end the race early and Dave Blaney and the
Caterpillar Racing team were credited with 30th
place.
Blaney was the 25th of 47 competitors to make his
qualifying attempt Friday afternoon. He posted his fastest
lap time of 39.808 seconds (180.868 mph) on the first lap of
his two-lap run around the 2.0-mile oval, which earned him
the 33rd position on the starting grid for Sunday’s event.
Blaney’s car was sporting a new paint scheme for the event
and the Cat Ground Engaging Tools (GET) car took the green
flag the start of the 3M Performance 400 on the inside of
row 17. Crew chief Kevin Hamlin took advantage of an early
caution flag to bring the Caterpillar car down pit road to
top off the fuel tank. Blaney restarted on lap seven in 36th
place and picked up several positions before NASCAR
officials waved the yellow flag due to light rain at the
speedway. Blaney radioed to his crew that the car was free
going into the corners, but, in an effort to gain track
position, the team opted to stay out on the track instead of
making a pit stop. Many of the leaders chose to drive down
pit road, and when the green flag flew once again on lap 18
of the 200-lap event, the team held down the 18th
spot.
Long green flag runs are generally the rule at Michigan, but
that was not the case Sunday afternoon. When the third
caution flag of the day flew on lap 23, Hamlin called Blaney
into the pits for four fresh tires, fuel and a wedge
adjustment to free up the Cat GET K-Series Tooth System
machine. The green flag flew again on lap 26 and a three-car
accident just six laps later again gave the team the
opportunity to make air pressure and track bar adjustments
to the car during the ensuing pit stop.
Blaney restarted in 25th place and slowly began to
work through slower traffic. By the time rain showers once
again hit the area the Cat GET car was running in the 23rd
spot. The rain shower passed through quickly and when the
green came out several laps later, Blaney held down 26th.
The team continued to make adjustments to the Caterpillar
Ground Engaging Tools car and at the midway point of the
race Blaney stood in 26th place struggling slightly with a
car that had become tight. Rain showers opened up in the
Irish Hills area on lap 124 and after pitting for four tires
and an air pressure adjustment the team stood ready to take
the green for the restart in 30th place.
Unfortunately, those showers turned heavy and NASCAR
officials were forced to red flag the event. After a short
time spent waiting out the rain, NASCAR opted to call the
event early. The Caterpillar team took the checkered flag in
30th place.
Unofficially, the Caterpillar team gained another spot in the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup owners’ point standings and now holds down
the 31st position, only 197 points outside the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup Series goes road-course
racing next weekend as they head to Infineon Raceway in
Sonoma, California for the Dodge/Save Mart 350 Sunday, June
25. Qualifying for the event is scheduled for Friday, June
23.
Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 3:40
p.m. EDT start, will broadcast on FOX (television), PRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio.
GET and
Cat Racing—It’s All About Performance
Like the
Cat Racing team, GET takes performance seriously. The K
Series™ Tooth System features a twist-on design and vertical
retainer to ensure reliable retention and easy removal and
installation. And a lower-profile shape maintains better
sharpness as it wears. This means better penetration,
improved productivity, and less strain on the machine. |
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DAVE BLANEY –
POCONO 500
POCONO RACEWAY |
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LONG POND, Pa.
(June 11,
2006)
– Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team braved the
tricky 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway and finished 27th in the
Pocono 500 Sunday afternoon.
Blaney was among the last of
48 competitors to make his qualifying attempt Friday
afternoon. He posted his fastest lap time of 54.313 seconds
(165.706 mph) on the first lap of his two-lap run, which
earned him the 30th position on the starting grid for
Sunday’s event.
Problems began early for some
of Blaney’s competitors, as the first caution period of the
day began on lap two of the 200-lap race. Cleanup from the
two-car accident was short, and Blaney sat 25th when racing
resumed on lap five.
Early in the event, Blaney
notified crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the car wasn’t turning
well enough in turns one and two, and Hamlin made plans to
make track bar and air pressure adjustments during the first
pit stop of the day. The second caution flag waved on lap
21, and Blaney drove down pit road as soon as it opened.
After the adjustments were made and four fresh Goodyear
tires had been bolted on his car, Blaney returned to the
track in the 24th position as he readied for the restart on
lap 2
Blaney remained in or around
the top 25 for the first 63 laps, and Hamlin decided to
leave Blaney on the track during a caution period that began
on lap 63, instead of bringing the car onto pit road for
service. Many of the cars running in front of the No. 22
Cat machine made pit stops, and the strategy paid off as
Blaney picked up quite a bit of track position. He stood
12th when the green flag waved for the restart on lap 67.
Unfortunately, the car handled very tight, and Blaney lost
several positions following the restart. When the No. 45
car of Kyle Petty lost a wheel and hit the wall shortly
thereafter, Blaney ducked down pit road for fuel, four tires
and changes to the handling of the car.
The car remained tight at the
halfway point of the race, and the crew continued to make
adjustments during every subsequent pit stop. Blaney
eventually went one lap down to leader Greg Biffle. With 10
laps remaining in the race, Blaney commented to the team
that the car was good in the beginning of the last run, but
then became too tight once again.
Jeff Gordon made heavy
contact with the outside wall with 10 laps to go in the
event, and the No. 22 team took advantage of the caution to
make its final four-tire stop of the day. NASCAR officials
then stopped the race for a short time while repair work was
made to the SAFER barrier. Blaney lined up 27th for the
final restart with five laps to go and remained in that
position when the checkered flag waved. Unofficially, the
Caterpillar team gained another spot in the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup owners’ point standings and now holds down the 32nd
position, only 161 points outside the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup Series travels to
Michigan International Speedway next weekend for the 3M
Performance 400 Sunday, June 18. Qualifying for the event
is scheduled for Friday, June 16.
Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 1 p.m.
EDT start, will broadcast on FOX (television), MRN (radio)
and XM Satellite Radio. |
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DAVE BLANEY –
NEIGHBORHOOD EXCELLENCE 400
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY |
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DOVER, Del.
(June 4,
2006)
– Though Dover has not always been kind to Dave Blaney, he
and the Caterpillar team arrived at the one-mile oval with
hopes of turning in a solid performance Sunday afternoon.
Though the crew worked hard to make the car handle to
Blaney’s liking throughout the race weekend, the handling of
the Cat car was usually tight. The team took the checkered
flag for the Neighborhood Excellence 400 in 30th.
Blaney was the 11th of 47
hopefuls to make his qualifying attempt Friday afternoon.
Blaney posted his quickest lap time of 23.845 seconds
(150.975 mph) on the first lap of his two-lap run, which
earned him the 31st position on the starting grid.
Within 10 laps after the
green flag waved to start the race, Blaney communicated to
crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the car handled extremely tight
off the corners. A yellow flag on lap 37 of the 400-lap
event enabled the team to make adjustments to the handling
of the car, including a track bar change as well as removing
a rubber from the left rear spring. Blaney took the green
flag for the lap 42 restart in 33rd place.
Blaney continued to struggle
with a tight-handling racecar and went one lap down to the
leader on lap 84. A caution flag 30 laps later meant another
opportunity for the team to adjust the chassis. Since the
changes made the last time hadn’t helped as much as Blaney
and the team would have liked, Hamlin reversed the track bar
change and made a wedge adjustment in an effort to free up
the car.
Just before the halfway point
of the race, Blaney began to run laps more consistent with
those of the front runners. However, he was still unable to
avoid going another lap down to leader Jeff Burton. Blaney
was running in 30th when the caution flag waved on lap 275,
but he began to maneuver his car around traffic after the
restart, picking up several positions in the process. By
lap 300 Blaney held 26th, but fell several spots as the car
remained tight. The Cat crew continued to work on the
handling of the machine, but the car stayed tight for the
remainder of the race. Blaney narrowly avoided disaster with
55 laps to go in the race when the No. 7 car spun in front
of him on the track. Good work by both the team spotter and
Blaney got him through it, and the No. 22 car took the
checkered flag in 30th place. Unofficially, Blaney picked
up one spot in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup owners’ point standings
and now holds down the 33rd position, only 146 points
outside the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup Series travels to
Pocono (Pa.) Raceway next weekend for the Pocono 500 Sunday,
June 11. Qualifying for the event is scheduled for Friday,
June 9.
Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 2:10
p.m. EDT start, will broadcast on FOX (television), MRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio. The Caterpillar Racing team
is also scheduled to test at Virginia International Raceway
and Kentucky Speedway this week. |
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DAVE BLANEY –
COCA-COLA 600
LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY |
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CONCORD, N.C.
(May 28,
2006)
–The Caterpillar Racing crew hoped Sunday’s 400-lap
Coca-Cola 600 might be just the ticket needed to turn their
season around, banking on the reliability of their Bill
Davis Racing engines, a successful test session at Lowe’s
Motor Speedway several weeks ago and the patience and skill
of their veteran driver. Though the Cat car wasn’t handling
as well as the team would have liked early in the race, Dave
Blaney and the crew never panicked, knowing they had 600
miles to work on it. Unfortunately, Blaney went two laps
down to the leaders due to an ill-timed caution flag just
past the halfway point, and when all was said and done the
team was relegated to a 32nd-place finish.
Blaney was the 35th of 53
hopefuls to make his qualifying attempt on Thursday
evening. Blaney posted his quickest lap time of 29.421
seconds (183.542 mph) on the first lap of his two-lap run,
which earned him the 29th position on the
starting grid.
The green flag waved for the
start of event and after the first caution flag of the day
flew on lap two of the 400-lap race, Blaney communicated to
crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the Caterpillar car was tight
in the middle of the corners and loose off. Hamlin and the
team had the opportunity to make changes to the car after
Tony Stewart hit the wall on lap 34, which brought out the
second yellow flag of the evening. The team made a wedge
adjustment to the car and bolted on fresh right side tires
before sending Blaney back out on track in 18th
place for the lap 40 restart.
Lowe’s Motor Speedway has
been repaved since the last time the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series was at the 1.5-mile oval and Goodyear brought a new,
harder tire for the event. On top of that, NASCAR mandated
smaller fuel cells for the event, which meant the cars were
required to pit for fuel every 35 to 40 laps. The harder
tires enabled the teams to make the decision to take on
four, two or no new tires every time they came in for
scheduled pit stops. Because of this, just about every team
had a different strategy for the race and the large amount
of stops allowed the teams to make many changes to the
handling of the cars throughout the event. The Cat crew was
no exception, making 15 pit stops over the course of the
evening. Blaney encountered an extremely tight racecar in
the early stages of the race and the crew made air pressure,
wedge and spring rubber changes in the first 100 laps.
By the halfway point of the
race the Cat car had been both loose and tight and Blaney
held down the 30th spot. A pit stop on lap 202
proved disastrous for the team when the caution flag came
out as the Caterpillar car sat on pit road being serviced.
The team was scored as losing two laps due to the timing of
the caution and the location of the leader and after several
members of the team voiced their opinions to no avail to
NASCAR officials that a timing and scoring error had been
made, Blaney restarted on lap 210 in 36th place,
two laps down.
Blaney continued to struggle
with a tight-handling car throughout the remainder of the
event. The team made changes to the car, which helped, but
it was never enough. By lap 293 the team was running on a
lap of its own and could only pick up positions through
attrition, but Hamlin and the crew continued to work on the
car every chance they got. Those changes helped in the
closing stages of the race and Blaney radioed to the team
that the last adjustments made a big difference in the feel
of the car. Blaney eventually took the checkered flag in the
32nd position. Unfortunately, it was another
tough day in the point standings as the No. 22 team fell two
spots in owners’ points and now unofficially stands in 34th
place. The team remains only 38 points out of the top 30
and 127 markers outside the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup Series travels to Dover
(Del.) International Speedway next weekend for the running
of the Neighborhood Excellence 400 Presented by Bank of
America on Sunday, June 4. Qualifying for the event is
scheduled for Friday, June 2.
Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race, scheduled for a 2:10
p.m. EDT start, will broadcast on FX (television), MRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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Dave Blaney
and the ABF crew delivered a hard earned 15th place
finish in the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 Saturday night at
Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. Blaney qualified
the No.32 ABF U-Pack Moving Chevy 15th Thursday evening,
but his modest qualifying position would not prove to
aid Blaney for long. On lap 6 Tony Stewart smacked the
wall ejecting a right rear spring from his car, which
Blaney picked up with the right side door of the No.32
Chevy, requiring him to make an unscheduled visit to pit
road.
Blaney
rejoined the field in 41st position and moved up to 28th
in less than 15 laps. By lap 59 Blaney was calling in a
tight condition to crew chief Trent Owens, and a caution
soon there after allowed the U-Pack moving crew to make
the appropriate changes. On lap 111 the ABF crew managed
to change four tires and fuel while picking up five
positions on pit road under a quickie caution for
debris. Blaney was continually fighting with the No. 48
and No. 35 cars to regain his lap and thanks to a
caution on lap 146, the No. 32 received the lucky dog
award and was back on the lead lap and running 13th.
Caution fell once again on lap 179, allowing the ABF
U-Pack Moving Chevy to come to pit road for four tires,
fuel and a wedge adjustment, rejoining the field in 12th
spot.
“That
last set of tires and changes really didn’t help us a
much as we thought, we just keep getting tighter and
tighter at the end of the race” stated Blaney. By the
checkered flag, Blaney and the ABF team packed up the
night with a 15th place finish to the CARQUEST Auto
Parts 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Blaney
went on to say, “I really want to thank Todd Braun,
Trent Owens, the Braun Racing team as well as ABF for
allowing me to step in this No. 32 car tonight, I really
had a good time and look forward to working with these
guys again in a couple of weeks.”
Dave
Blaney and the ABF U-Pack Moving Chevrolet will rejoin
the Busch Series tour once again from Chicagoland
Speedway on July 8th for the USG Durock 300. Qualifying
for the event is scheduled for Saturday at 11:40 a.m.
with the 200-lap / 300 mile race to follow at 4 p.m.
EST. Coverage of Saturday afternoon’s race will
broadcast on TNT (television), MRN (radio) and XM
Satellite Radio.
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CONCORD, N.C.
(May 20,
2006)
– After a promising test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway several
weeks ago Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team were
hoping their hard work would translate into a shot at
winning the NASCAR NEXTEL Open and a chance to race for a
million dollars in the All-Star Challenge Saturday night. A
disappointing qualifying run left the team stuck in the back
of the pack for the start of the 30-lap sprint and resulted
in a 15th-place finish on the 1.5-mile, recently
resurfaced oval.
Blaney was the seventh of 29
competitors to make his qualifying attempt for the Open
Friday evening. Blaney posted his quickest lap time of
30.182 seconds (178.915 mph) on the second circuit of his
two-lap run, which earned him the 23rd position on the
starting grid.
Recent race winners and those
drivers who have won the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star race in the
past make up the field for the non-points event and the
remainder of the Cup regulars take part in a 30-lap race
prior to the event hoping to earn the last coveted spot in
the field by winning the Open. The sky became darker and
darker as the afternoon wore on and just as the drivers were
busy strapping into their cars for the running of the Open,
rain began to fall. NASCAR and track officials went to work
to dry the track and about an hour and 15 minutes after its
scheduled start, the green flag finally flew.
Blaney worked his way into
the 18th spot before the first caution flag of
the evening flew on lap four. Strategy came into play early
in the race and crew chief Kevin Hamlin called Blaney into
the pits for a quick fuel-only stop two laps later hoping
that a pit stop early would ensure the car could go to the
end on fuel without having to make any additional stops. By
the end of the first 20-lap segment, Blaney had driven into
the 16th spot.
The final segment of the
event is a 10-lap sprint to the finish. Starting in 16th,
Blaney radioed to his crew that the Cat car was a little
tight in the center and off the corners. With three laps to
go in the event the car became extremely tight and Blaney’s
shot of moving into the All-Star race went bust as he took
the checkered flag in 15th place. Scott Riggs,
who started from the pole and led most of the event, won the
race and went on to compete in the 90-lap All-Star show.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series remains
at Lowe’s Motor Speedway next weekend for the running of the
Coca-Cola 600, the longest event of the year. Qualifying
for the event is scheduled for Thursday, May
25.
Coverage of Sunday evening’s race, scheduled for a 5:30 p.m.
ET start, will broadcast on FOX (television), PRN (radio)
and XM Satellite Radio. |
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Race Recap Archive |
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DAVE BLANEY –
NASCAR NEXTEL OPEN
LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY |
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CONCORD, N.C.
(May 20,
2006)
– After a promising test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway several
weeks ago Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team were
hoping their hard work would translate into a shot at
winning the NASCAR NEXTEL Open and a chance to race for a
million dollars in the All-Star Challenge Saturday night. A
disappointing qualifying run left the team stuck in the back
of the pack for the start of the 30-lap sprint and resulted
in a 15th-place finish on the 1.5-mile, recently
resurfaced oval.
Blaney was the seventh of 29
competitors to make his qualifying attempt for the Open
Friday evening. Blaney posted his quickest lap time of
30.182 seconds (178.915 mph) on the second circuit of his
two-lap run, which earned him the 23rd position on the
starting grid.
Recent race winners and those
drivers who have won the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star race in the
past make up the field for the non-points event and the
remainder of the Cup regulars take part in a 30-lap race
prior to the event hoping to earn the last coveted spot in
the field by winning the Open. The sky became darker and
darker as the afternoon wore on and just as the drivers were
busy strapping into their cars for the running of the Open,
rain began to fall. NASCAR and track officials went to work
to dry the track and about an hour and 15 minutes after its
scheduled start, the green flag finally flew.
Blaney worked his way into
the 18th spot before the first caution flag of
the evening flew on lap four. Strategy came into play early
in the race and crew chief Kevin Hamlin called Blaney into
the pits for a quick fuel-only stop two laps later hoping
that a pit stop early would ensure the car could go to the
end on fuel without having to make any additional stops. By
the end of the first 20-lap segment, Blaney had driven into
the 16th spot.
The final segment of the
event is a 10-lap sprint to the finish. Starting in 16th,
Blaney radioed to his crew that the Cat car was a little
tight in the center and off the corners. With three laps to
go in the event the car became extremely tight and Blaney’s
shot of moving into the All-Star race went bust as he took
the checkered flag in 15th place. Scott Riggs,
who started from the pole and led most of the event, won the
race and went on to compete in the 90-lap All-Star show.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series remains
at Lowe’s Motor Speedway next weekend for the running of the
Coca-Cola 600, the longest event of the year. Qualifying
for the event is scheduled for Thursday, May
25.
Coverage of Sunday evening’s race, scheduled for a 5:30 p.m.
ET start, will broadcast on FOX (television), PRN (radio)
and XM Satellite Radio. |
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DARLINGTON, S.C.
(May 13,
2006)
– Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team arrived at
Darlington Raceway hoping to continue their two-race streak
of top 25 finishes. While Blaney drove a smart race and
avoided trouble on the tricky 1.366-mile oval, the team
ended up just short of its goal as Blaney took the checkered
flag in 27th place.
Blaney was the 39th of 47
competitors to make his qualifying attempt on “The Track Too
Tough to Tame” Friday afternoon. Blaney posted his quickest
lap time of 29.760 seconds (165.242 mph) on the first lap of
his two-lap run, which earned him the 32nd position on the
starting grid.
The green flag waved for the
start of the event, and Blaney immediately communicated to
crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the Cat car handled extremely
tight despite extensive changes the team made before the
race to loosen the car’s handling. Hamlin planned to make a
track bar adjustment and air pressure changes to the left
side tires during the first pit stop of the day. The
caution flag waved on lap 28 of the 367-lap race, but Blaney
remained on the racetrack for one extra circuit. He was
credited with leading lap 30, and thus received five bonus
points for leading a lap, before he drove his car to pit
road for service. The crew made adjustments to the car, and
Blaney restarted the event on lap 32 in the 37th spot.
While the adjustments helped
in the beginning of the next run, the Cat car continued to
be a handful. Blaney went one lap down to leader and
eventual winner Greg Biffle on lap 69. He was able to get
the lap back several laps later when the caution flag waved
and he earned the Lucky Dog award. The crew made more
changes during the ensuing pit stop in hopes of easing the
handling issues Blaney was encountering.
Blaney went a lap down once
again on lap 137 but was able to make progress on the
track. He climbed into the top 30 with under 100 laps left
in the race. Within the last 60 laps of the event, Blaney
reported to his crew that the Cat car was better than it had
been for most of the evening. He took the checkered flag in
27th place. Unfortunately, it was a tough day in the point
standings for the team, as the No. 22 team fell three spots
in owners’ points and now unofficially stands in 32nd
place. The team remains only 100 points outside the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup Series travels
to Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C., next weekend
for the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge on Saturday, May
20. The Caterpillar team will have to race its way into the
affair, which is a non-points event, by winning the NEXTEL
Open, a 30-lap event which takes place just before the
Challenge. Blaney scored a runner-up finish in the Open in
2003.
Qualifying for the Open is scheduled
for Friday, May 19.
Coverage of Saturday evening’s race, scheduled for a 7:30
p.m. ET start, will broadcast on FX (television), MRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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RICHMOND, Va.
(May 6,
2006)
– Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team qualified in
the top 20 for the Crown Royal 400 Saturday night at
Richmond International Raceway and remained within sight of
the leader for most of the event. Though the race played
host to 11 caution flags, Blaney stayed out of harm’s way
and scored a 20th-place finish, one of the team’s top
finishes of the season.
Blaney was the 14th of 47
competitors to make his qualifying attempt on the .75-mile
oval Friday evening. Blaney posted his quickest lap time of
21.447 seconds (125.892 mph) on the second of his two-lap
run, which earned him the 19th position on the starting grid
for the event. It was the team’s second-highest starting
spot of the season.
The green flag waved for the
start of the event, and Blaney let his crew know early on
that the Cat car was good in the beginning of the run, but
the handling was getting tight through the corners. A
caution flag on lap 68 enabled the team to make a pit stop
for four fresh tires and chassis adjustments to help free up
the car. Blaney restarted 22nd and broke into the top 15
just before the 100-lap mark, communicating once again to
his crew that the car had become extremely tight. The team
continued to make chassis adjustments throughout the event.
Blaney went one lap down to leader Kevin Harvick on lap 228
of the 400-lap race, while in the midst of a long green flag
run.
The changes made to the car
helped in the beginning of each run, but as the race wore
on, the car’s behavior had Blaney and the team scratching
their heads more than once. Crew chief Kevin Hamlin called
for air pressure or wedge adjustments almost every time the
Caterpillar car came into the pits, and Blaney reported that
the car was behaving differently after almost every
restart. Blaney held the 24th position with 10 laps to go
but gained four positions by the end of the race thanks to a
late-race incident involving the No. 31 machine and an
excellent restart after the final green flag.
Blaney’s top-20 finish in
Richmond adds to his streak of races without a Did Not
Finish (DNF). Blaney has been running at the end of 28
consecutive races, the longest current streak in the NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series. In addition, the team continues to make
steady progress and picked up two places in the owners’
point standings, unofficially moving into 29th, only 61
points outside the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup Series travels to the
“Track Too Tough to Tame” next weekend for the Dodge Charger
500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Saturday, May 13.
Qualifying for the event on the
1.366-mile
track is scheduled for Friday, May
12.
Coverage of Saturday evening’s race, scheduled for a 6:55
p.m. ET start, will broadcast on FOX (television), MRN
(radio) and XM Satellite Radio. |
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TALLADEGA, Ala. (May 1, 2006)
– Rain forced the postponement of the Aaron’s 499 at
Talladega Superspeedway to Monday morning. After
starting near the rear of the field, Dave Blaney
remained in the lead pack for most of the event
until he was collected in a late-race multi-car
accident that left the Caterpillar car badly
damaged. Blaney toughed it out until the end and
salvaged a top-25 finish in the event.
Blaney was the 41st
of 49 competitors to make his qualifying attempt on
the 2.66-mile oval Saturday morning and posted his
quickest lap time of 51.814 seconds (184.815 mph) on
the second of his two-lap run. That speed earned
the team the 38th spot on the starting grid.
Though the weather
radar looked ominous, the Talladega area remained
dry Sunday morning. The field rolled off pit road
as scheduled and were several pace laps away from
taking the green flag when rain began to fall.
NASCAR officials parked the cars on pit road and
made track-drying attempts for several hours before
postponing the event until Monday morning.
NASCAR Nextel Cup
Series teams and officials were pleased to see the
sun when they arrived at the track early Monday
morning. When the green flag finally waved for the
start of the event, Blaney immediately began to do
the restrictor-plate racing dance, deciding who to
follow and in what lane of traffic, with decisions
changing lap by lap. Blaney had worked his way into
the 13th spot when the first caution flag of the day
waved after a multi-car incident occurred in front
of the Cat car in turn three. Blaney pitted for
four tires and fuel on lap 11 of the 188-lap event
and sat 11th for the restart. Blaney communicated
to his crew several laps later that the car’s
handling was tight. The team took advantage of a
pit stop on lap 41 to make a wedge adjustment to
help the handling, in addition to bolting on four
fresh tires and filling the tank with fuel.
Blaney held on to
the lead pack throughout the event and remained in
the top 20 for most of the day, lining up ninth for
a restart just past the halfway point of the race.
Though the wedge adjustment helped the handling of
the Cat car, Blaney needed a bit more in order to
maneuver wherever he needed. Crew chief Kevin Hamlin
took the opportunity during a caution period on lap
153 to have Blaney remain on the track and lead a
lap to earn five bonus points for leading, before
calling his driver in for a routine pit stop.
Disaster struck on
lap 174 when Blaney was running in the 12th
spot and rookie Denny Hamlin, who was racing
directly to the inside of Blaney, made it four wide
down the frontstretch. After dropping two wheels
below the yellow line, a NASCAR no-no, Hamlin slid
up the track into the Caterpillar car, which caused
a chain reaction that sent the No. 22 car into the
outside wall. Several cars were involved in the
accident and NASCAR later penalized Hamlin for rough
driving. After maneuvering his wrecked racecar down
pit road to the attention of his crew, Blaney
returned to the track in his severely damaged
machine hoping to nurse it around the track until
the end. Blaney was forced to make several more
stops in the final laps of the race, but was able to
bring his car around to take the checkered flag in
the 24th position, six laps behind race winner
Jimmie Johnson. Unofficially,
the team’s top-25 finish moved it up one spot
to 31st in the owners’ point standings, only 52
points out of the top 25.
The NEXTEL Cup
Series travels to Richmond (Va.) International
Raceway next weekend for the Crown Royal 400 on
Saturday, May 6. Qualifying for the event on the
.75-mile track is scheduled for Friday, May 5.
Coverage of Saturday evening’s race, scheduled for a
7:30 p.m. ET start, will broadcast on FOX
(television), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio.
Prior to heading to Richmond, however, the
Caterpillar team will spend Tuesday and Wednesday
testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
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AVONDALE, Ariz.
(April 23,
2006)
– Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team turned lemons
into lemonade Saturday evening at Phoenix International
Raceway. A disappointing qualifying run left them deep in
the field for the start of the Subway 500, and a blown tire
and contact with the turn one wall early in the event left
the crew scrambling to make quick repairs. Not one to give
up, Blaney made the most of an extremely fast race car
midway through the race and led his first laps of the season
before taking the checkered flag in 27th place.
Blaney was the 32nd of 49
competitors to make his qualifying run on the one-mile oval
Thursday evening and posted his quickest lap time of 28.035
seconds (128.411 mph) on the first of his two-lap run.
Unfortunately, that speed was not fast enough to get the
team into the field based on time, and Blaney and the crew
were forced to take a provisional starting spot using 2006
owner points, which lined them 41st on the starting grid for
Saturday’s event.
Blaney took the green flag
for the start of the Subway 500 and immediately reported to
crew chief Kevin Hamlin that the car’s handling was tight.
He fell several spots while wrestling with the handling of
the machine, but like most of his competition, he was able
to duck down pit road for service during the first caution
period of the day on lap 25 of the 312-lap race. Hamlin
called for several adjustments to be made to the Cat car and
sent Blaney on his way with four fresh tires and fuel.
Though the changes helped in the beginning of the next run,
Blaney encountered his next problem when the right front
tire blew and sent the car straight into the turn one wall.
He lost a lap to the leader while making his way to pit road
with his damaged racecar, and the Cat crew worked during
several ensuing pit stops under caution to inspect the
damage and make repairs.
Things began to look up when
the team was awarded the “Lucky Dog” pass after a multi-car
accident prompted a caution and a red flag on lap 101.
Blaney returned to the lead lap and restarted 32nd on lap
105. He told his team that the car was pretty good and
marveled that his early encounter with the wall hadn’t
caused more than cosmetic damage. Following the restart,
Blaney realized he had a car to beat and began to pick off
his competitors one by one. He moved into the top 15 in 60
laps, occasionally commenting via radio on how much fun he
was having. As scheduled pit stops began, Blaney remained
on the track while those ahead of him made pit stops. On
lap 174, he went to the top of the leader board for two laps
before he made a stop of his own.
Blaney wasn’t able to return
to the front in the closing stages of the race, especially
after the car inexplicably became extremely tight in the
center of the corners and very loose off the corners.
Blaney had his hands full in the final laps of the event but
was still able to take the checkered flag in 27th place.
Unofficially, the team fell one spot in the owners’ point
standings to 33rd but still stands only 67 points outside
the top 25.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
heads to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway next weekend for the
Aaron’s 499 on April 30. Qualifying for the restrictor
plate event on the 2.66-mile track is scheduled for
Saturday, April 29. Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s race,
scheduled for a 2:10 p.m. ET start, will broadcast on FOX
(television), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio.
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JUSTIN, Texas
(April
9, 2006)
– Two consecutive top-25 finishes had the Caterpillar
team excited about the opportunity to get to Texas Motor
Speedway for the Samsung/RadioShack 500. Dave Blaney
made contact with the wall early in the only practice
session before qualifying and clocked only two laps of
practice. However, he was still able to post a
respectable qualifying run Friday afternoon.
Unfortunately, Blaney battled the handling of his Cat
car all day Sunday, and while he was able to finish 29th
in the final rundown, he and the crew were disappointed
with the result.
Blaney was scheduled to
be the 13th of 49 competitors to make his qualifying run
around the 1.5-mile oval Friday afternoon, but contact
with the wall during practice earlier in the day
resulted in the need for repair work to the Cat car.
Blaney posted a time of 28.924 seconds (186.696 mph) on
the first lap of his two-lap run after repairs were
complete, which earned the team the 31st spot on the
starting grid for Sunday’s race.
Once the green flag waved
for the start of the event, Blaney knew he had handling
issues. He fell one lap in arrears to leader Greg
Biffle while running in 35th place on lap 36 of the
334-lap race. A long green flag run early in the event
saw most of the field pit under green, and crew chief
Kevin Hamlin called Blaney into the pits on lap 61 for
refueling and four fresh tires for the No. 22 Cat car.
Several laps later, NASCAR officials displayed the first
caution flag of the day, and the team once again took
the opportunity to bring Blaney into the pits for
service. Hamlin called for a wedge adjustment and the
addition of two spring rubbers in the left rear. Blaney
held 37th place upon the restart at lap 69.
Blaney communicated to
his crew that the Cat car handled extremely tight.
Because the car wouldn’t turn like it needed to, he
brushed the wall in turn four on lap 80. A caution
allowed the team to again make changes to the car during
the ensuing pit stop. This time, the crew tried closing
the front shocks several clicks. The caution was
prompted when the No. 16 car made contact with the turn
three wall, resulting in damage to both the car and
wall. NASCAR officials placed the race under red flag
conditions while the track crew repaired the damaged
wall. Blaney restarted 38th on lap 90, only one lap
down, but lost another lap to leader Tony Stewart 32
circuits later. Blaney had reported that the car was
shaking, among other things, and began to worry that
there had been more than just cosmetic damage to the
machine when he brushed the wall earlier in the event.
The crew was able to inspect the car for damage and
check the toe during a pit stop under yellow on lap 149
and reassured Blaney that the car seemed fine.
Blaney continued to fight
a tight handling race car, and Hamlin and the crew
continued to make adjustments whenever they could in an
effort to help Blaney make it through to the end of the
race. When the checkered flag finally waved, Blaney had
worked his way into the top 30 and crossed the finish
line in 29th place. Unofficially, the team fell one
spot in the owners’ point standings to 32nd but still
stands only 63 points outside the top 25.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series will take Easter weekend off before traveling
back out West to Phoenix International Raceway for the
Subway Fresh 500 on April 22. Qualifying for the event
on the one-mile track is scheduled for Thursday, April
20. Coverage of Saturday evening’s race, scheduled for
an 8:25 p.m. ET start, will broadcast on FOX television,
MRN Radio and XM Satellite Radio. The Cat team will also
have a two-day test session at Richmond (Va.)
International Raceway this Tuesday and Wednesday in
preparation for the upcoming event there. |
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MARTINSVILLE, Va.
(April 2,
2006)
– After an encouraging run last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.)
Motor Speedway, the Caterpillar Racing team looked forward
to returning to another short track this weekend. Driver
Dave Blaney got things started in the right direction Friday
afternoon at Martinsville Speedway by posting the team’s
best qualifying effort of the season. Despite struggling
with a tight handling race car early in the DIRECTV 500,
Blaney brought home his second consecutive top-25 finish.
Blaney was the 18th of 49
competitors to make his qualifying run around the .526-mile
oval Friday afternoon and posted a time of 19.776 seconds
(95.752 mph) on the first lap of his two-lap run. It was
the team’s best qualifying effort of the season thus far,
and Blaney was set to line up 14th on the starting grid.
For the first time in weeks,
weather didn’t play a factor in the racing schedule. NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup teams were finally able to shed winter coats and
sweatshirts throughout the weekend, and race day was no
exception. The green flag waved for the start of the
DIRECTV 500 under beautiful conditions, but Blaney knew he
was in trouble right away. Blaney quickly communicated to
his crew chief, Kevin Hamlin, that the car handled even
tighter than it had in practice the day before, despite a
myriad of changes the team made Sunday morning. Blaney
began to fall to the rear of the field as he struggled with
his car and went one lap down to leader Tony Stewart on lap
55 of the 500-lap event. A much-needed yellow flag waved on
lap 90, and Hamlin called Blaney into the pit stall several
times during the caution period to change all four tires,
fill the tank with fuel and hook up the rear sway bar in an
effort to loosen up the car. Blaney lined up for the
ensuing restart in the 35th spot.
The change made to the car
began to help, and the crew continued to make changes,
including an air pressure adjustment in the right-rear tire
during the next pit stop and removal of a spring rubber
after that. With his Caterpillar car handling much more to
his liking, Blaney began to work through traffic with
relative ease near the halfway point of the event and by lap
300 was running in 23rd place, still only one lap down.
Unfortunately, as is often the case at short-tracks, Blaney
was caught up in someone else’s mistake on lap 316 when the
cars of Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. collided. In an
effort to avoid the accident, Blaney made slight contact
with the car to the right of him. Luckily, the damage to
the right side of the car was mainly cosmetic, and crew
members were able to pull out the right-front fender to
ensure it wouldn’t rub on the tire several laps later.
Blaney broke into the top 20
with about 100 laps remaining in the event but was hindered
by fading brakes. Attrition began to take its toll on
Blaney’s fellow racers, and Blaney moved into the 18th spot
with 30 laps to go. Without front brakes in the closing
laps, Blaney worked hard to nurse the car safely to the
finish and took the checkered flag in 17th place, the team’s
second top-25 finish in as many weeks. The team again
advanced two places in the points standings and now holds
down 29th place.
The NEXTEL Cup Series travels
west to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend for the
Samsung/Radio Shack 500. Qualifying for the event on the
1.5-mile track is scheduled for Friday afternoon. Coverage
of Sunday’s race, scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start, will
broadcast on FOX television, PRN Radio and XM Satellite
Radio. |
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DAVE BLANEY – FOOD CITY 500 RECAP
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BRISTOL, Tenn.
(March
26, 2006)
–Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team were
looking forward to the opportunity to get their season
off and running in the first short-track race of the
season. Blaney ran as high as 16th during the Food City
500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Sunday and battled
back after a late-race spin to take the checkered flag
in 23rd place.
Blaney was scheduled to
be the 48th of 50 competitors to take to the .533-mile
track for qualifying Friday afternoon, but rainy weather
wreaked havoc on the schedule for the second consecutive
week. All on-track activities were canceled Friday, and
the field was set based on last year’s owners’ points,
which meant the No. 22 Caterpillar car would start 32nd
in Sunday’s event.
The green flag waved for
the start of the race, and right away Blaney
communicated to his crew that the handling of the
Caterpillar car was loose. Crew chief Kevin Hamlin made
plans to make air pressure and track bar adjustments to
the car during the first pit stop, which came under
caution on lap 15 of the 500-lap event. The car
remained loose off the corners following the stop, and
leader Greg Biffle passed Blaney on lap 51. In a stroke
of luck for Blaney and the Cat team, Biffle hit the wall
several laps later, returning the No. 22 to the lead
lap. Before new leader Tony Stewart could catch the Cat
car the yellow flag came out again, not only allowing
the team to stay on the lead lap, but also giving the
crew another opportunity to make changes to the handling
of the car.
Blaney returned to the
track in the 32nd spot and patiently picked off slower
traffic to make his way toward the front of the field,
emerging in the 24th position by lap 89. Blaney
narrowly avoided several incidents right in front of him
throughout the first third of the event but was not as
lucky when he was caught up in a multi-car accident on
lap 187. Luckily, Blaney’s machine sustained the least
amount of damage of the cars involved and he nursed his
car back to the pits with a left-rear tire that had gone
flat. The crew changed all four tires and made repairs
to the cosmetic damage to both sides of the car.
Unfortunately, Blaney went one lap down in the mishap
and restarted 33rd on lap 200, after a brief red flag
period.
Blaney fought for the
“Lucky Dog” award through four caution flags before
finally getting the award, and thus his lap back, on lap
288. Once back on the lead lap, Blaney was unstoppable
and again patiently moved through the field. He broke
into the top 20 with 100 laps to go and managed to avoid
several more incidents in front of him. Blaney was
running in 17th and was poised for a top-15 finish when
contact was made between the Caterpillar car and another
machine coming out of turn four, turning the No. 22
around. Blaney was unable to get the car headed in the
right direction before losing a lap, but his hopes of a
good finish were still strong as there were fewer than
25 cars on the lead lap. Blaney never gave up, and with
the help of veteran spotter Chris Osborne, worked hard
to pass as many cars as possible in the closing laps.
When the checkered flag finally waved, Blaney held down
the 23rd spot.
The team picked up two
places in the owner point standings and now stands in 31st
place.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series will head to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway next
weekend for the Samsung/RadioShack 500. Qualifying for
the event on the .526-mile short-track is scheduled for
Friday afternoon. Coverage of Sunday’s race, scheduled
for a 2 p.m. EST start, will broadcast on FOX
television, MRN Radio and XM Satellite Radio.
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HAMPTON, Ga.
(March 20, 2006)
– Since Dave Blaney was heading to a track he
considers one of his favorites, he and the
Caterpillar Racing team had hopes of getting their
season back on track during the weekend at Atlanta
Motor Speedway. Rainy weather kept teams at the
track for an extra day, and Blaney and the crew
worked hard to overcome an early pit road mishap
that eventually cost them a lap when the Golden
Corral 500 was finally run Monday morning. Blaney
finished the event in the 32nd position.
Blaney was the
fifth of 52 competitors to take to the track for
qualifying Friday evening, and his speed of 189.092
mph on the second circuit of his two-lap run earned
him the 30th starting spot for Sunday’s event. The
Cat car posted the 33rd-quickest speed during the
final practice session on the 1.54-mile oval
Saturday morning, and crew chief Kevin Hamlin and
the crew spent race morning making changes to the
car in an effort to gain every ounce of speed
possible come race time.
Rain showers Sunday
morning were cause for concern, but NASCAR officials
were optimistic about the possibility of starting
the race on time. Drivers were strapped in and ready
to go just before the cars were scheduled to roll
off pit road, but Mother Nature had other plans.
Though the teams remained hopeful, persistent
afternoon showers resulted in the postponement of
the race until Monday morning.
The next morning
was cold and overcast, but NASCAR officials were
able to start the race on time. Blaney picked up
several spots in the first 10 laps of the event, but
soon reported to his crew that the car handled
extremely tight. An early caution enabled the crew
to make track bar and air pressure adjustments to
the Caterpillar car, but Blaney continued to
struggle with a tight handling racecar even after
the changes were made.
Blaney brought the
car down pit road once again during the next caution
flag period and was eagerly awaiting additional
changes to the car. Unfortunately, as he was
driving into his pit stall, Carl Edwards (driving
the No. 99 machine) was leaving his, and the two
cars made contact. The collision spun the No. 22
car and left Blaney facing the wrong way in front of
his pit. After righting his car and several attempts
to restart it, Blaney was forced to make one more
lap around the track before returning to pit road
for his scheduled stop. The team made handling
adjustments to the car, then began to assess the
damage to the left side, which was mainly cosmetic.
However, the damage took several stops to repair,
including the stop that left the team a lap down.
Blaney continued to
fight his racecar for the remainder of the event and
was unable to make up the lap that was lost, though
the team never gave up trying to make the car more
to his liking. Blaney took the checkered flag in
32nd. The team now stands 33rd in the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series points standings.
The NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series will get geared up for its first
short-track race of the season next weekend at the
.566-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Qualifying for the Food City 500 is scheduled to
take place Friday afternoon. Coverage of Sunday’s
race, scheduled for a 2:10 p.m. EST start, will be
broadcast on FOX television, PRN Radio and XM
Satellite Radio.
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LAS VEGAS, Nev.
(March 12,
2006)
– After two days of testing at the speedway in the
off-season, Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team
traveled west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend with
hopes of getting their season on track. Blaney and the team
ran into trouble early in the event when the handling of the
Caterpillar machine made the car a handful for the veteran
to drive. Blaney and the team finished 31st in the UAW
DaimlerChrysler 400.
Blaney was
the fifth of 49 competitors to take to the track for
qualifying Friday afternoon, and his speed of 168.776 mph on
the second of his two-lap run earned him the 28th starting
spot for Sunday’s event. The Cat car posted the 33rd
quickest speed during the final practice session on the
1.5-mile oval Saturday morning, and crew chief Kevin Hamlin
and the crew spent race morning making changes to the car in
an effort to gain every ounce of speed possible come race
time.
The green
flag flew for the start of the event, and almost immediately
Blaney reported to his crew that the car’s handling was too
tight. After Blaney tried several different lines around
the racetrack in an effort to help the handling of the car,
Hamlin called for left-side tire air pressure adjustments
during the first pit stop of the day, which came during a
caution period on lap 44. Blaney was running 23rd when he
ducked down pit road to the attention of his crew for four
fresh tires and fuel. Quick pit work got Blaney out in that
same spot, and the green flag waved once again on lap 47 of
the scheduled 267-lap event.
It wasn’t
long before Blaney again encountered a tight-handling
racecar. Whereas it took 15 laps to get tight in the first
run, it took less than 10 laps this time around, and Blaney
went one lap down to the leader on lap 87. The crew hoped a
different set of tires would help the situation, and when
the caution flag came out several laps later, Blaney
returned to the pits for another set of tires and fuel.
The team
continued to make changes to the car throughout the
remainder of the event, and Blaney tried everything he could
to keep himself in position to be the recipient of the lucky
dog award which would have put him back on the lead lap.
Unfortunately, things weren’t going their way, and the team
was never able to make up its lost lap. A late-race caution
flag forced a green-white-checkered finish, and Blaney
crossed the finish line 31st. Blaney and the team now stand
tied for 28th place in the Series point standings.
“Kevin and
the guys made a lot of changes after final practice because
we knew we weren’t where we wanted to be, but I guess we
just didn’t make enough,” Blaney said after the event.
“Then we went one lap down pretty early, and it didn’t
matter how hard we tried; we couldn’t get that lucky dog
pass. It was a frustrating day for sure because we knew we
were better than that, and we were hoping for a lot more.
But the guys had some good pit stops and never gave up
trying to make the Caterpillar car handle better, so I’m
proud of the way we fought to get as much as we could out of
this race.”
The NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series next heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for
Sunday’s Golden Corral 500. Qualifying for the event takes
place Friday evening. Coverage of Sunday’s main event,
scheduled for a 1 p.m. start, will be broadcast on FOX
television, PRN Radio and XM Satellite Radio. |
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HIGH
POINT, N.C. (Dec. 1, 2005)
Blaney Rejoins BDR,
Hamlin Assumes Crew Chief Duties
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Bill
Davis Racing confirmed its future plans for the No. 22 team
Thursday, announcing Dave Blaney has returned to the racing
organization to drive the No. 22 Caterpillar car in the
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, with Kevin Hamlin joining him as
crew chief.
“In the last
couple of years, we just haven’t seen the performance we
know the No. 22 CAT Racing team is capable of, so change was
not a choice—it was a necessity,” said Bill Davis, team
owner and president of Bill Davis Racing. “Dave is not only
a talented and consistent driver, but he is someone I
respect and have always enjoyed working with in the past.
This will be my first time working with Kevin Hamlin, but I
have long admired his work and accomplishments in this
sport.”
Blaney, a
Hartford, Ohio, native, first drove for Bill Davis in 1998
and 1999, when he piloted the No. 93 Pontiac in the NASCAR
Busch Series. After running a part-time NASCAR Cup schedule
in 1999, the team decided to turn its focus to running
full-time in the Cup Series in 2000 and continued the effort
through 2001. Sponsorship changes and the development of
other opportunities led to Blaney’s first departure from BDR
in 2002.
“I have always
understood Dave’s need to pursue other avenues in this
business, but it also was understood there were never any
bridges burned between us,” Davis said.
Blaney returned
to Davis’ High Point operation in 2004 to drive part-time in
the Nextel Cup Series, along with a NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series start at Dover International Speedway in early June.
However, the partnership was interrupted once again in late
June 2004 when Blaney received an offer to drive full time
for Richard Childress Racing, which also marked the first
time he drove under the direction of Hamlin. Later that
same year, Blaney was named the driver of Childress’ No. 07
Nextel Cup team for the 2005 season.
“I have been very fortunate
to have driven for and with some of the best in this
business,” Blaney said. “I enjoyed racing for the Davis’.
Bill and Gail have not only been business partners, but
they’ve been good friends to me. I’ve spent the majority of
my NASCAR career as a BDR driver, so it’s always nice to be
able to return to your roots.”
Blaney, the 1995 World of
Outlaws sprint car champion, started racing full-time in the
Nextel Cup Series in 2000. He has totaled 199 career starts
in the elite stock car series, along with 86 Busch Series
starts.
Hamlin joins BDR
following a long and successful career at Richard Childress
Racing, where he served as crew chief for various drivers
including Mike Skinner, Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, Robby
Gordon, Jeff Burton, and most recently, Blaney, after RCR
revised its crew chief assignments in early November.
“I’ve known Dave
for a long time, and we’ve always worked well together in
the past. So when this opportunity presented itself I
couldn’t pass it up,” Hamlin said. “In just the short time
I have spent over at BDR, Bill is making some big changes,
and there is definitely great potential for what lies
ahead. I’m excited to get to be a part of it and look
forward to what is yet to come.”
Some of Hamlin’s
most notable accomplishments during his career as a crew
chief include two top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Cup
championship standings. In 2000, he and Earnhardt grabbed
second-place honors by season-end, and in 2001, Hamlin and
Harvick took ninth overall. Hamlin also worked alongside
Gordon in 2003, when he swept both road course races,
claiming victories at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.,
and Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
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