NASCAR Cup
Dave Blaney Michigan Race Report
Michigan International Speedway
Edited: Jun 1, 2018, 1:05 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
A Pit Road Incident Relegated Blaney to 34th-place Finish at Michigan
No. 36 holds onto 32nd in Owner Points
Dave Blaney started the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 from the 42nd position. A pit road incident during the first pit stop caused damage to the No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) Chevrolet and relegated the team to a 34th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. Despite the finish, the TBR team held onto the 32nd spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Owner Points.
Blaney posted a lap of 39.417 seconds to secure the 42nd starting spot in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. The Hartford, Ohio native took the green flag and quickly drove to the 34th position by the first caution on lap nine.
Dave Blaney
Photo by: Eric Gilbert
Happy with the changes the TBR team made to the Chevrolet for the race, Blaney drove down pit road for a four-tire pit stop. As he pulled into the pit box, Blaney was hit from behind by Regan Smith, which caused him to spin into the pit stall and damaged the left rear. Facing backwards, Blaney drove off and returned to pit road. The team worked to fix the damage to the left rear of the No. 36 Chevrolet.
The field restarted on lap 12 with Blaney in the 41st position. He worked his way back up to 33rd by lap 23 but radioed that the car was really loose and getting worse, especially in turns three and four. Three laps later, Blaney radioed that he lost the car in turn three and hit the wall with the right rear.
The second caution of the day on lap 28 allowed the team to reassess the damage and make changes to help the handling of the No. 36 TBR Chevrolet. The team made an air pressure and wedge adjustment during the four-tire pit stop. Blaney restarted 32nd on lap 30. Four laps later, he radioed that the changes made the car worse. It was now tight as well as the loose condition.
The TBR team continued to make changes to battle the aero problem the car was having from the damage on pit road and hitting the turn-three wall. The team made major adjustments on the last four pit stops, but Blaney continued to battle the aero-loose condition. He kept the car in the top-35 but fell three laps down. A caution with 10 laps to go allowed the team to stay out and get a lap back. Blaney finished 34th, two laps down.
The finish kept the No. 36 in the 32nd spot in NSCS Owner Points. The team now sits 23 points outside of 31st and 53 points ahead of 36th. Blaney holds onto the 31st position in NSCS Driver Points, 23 points behind David Gilliland in 30th.
“At the start of the race, the car was pretty good,” explained Blaney. “The team made a lot of changes before the race, and before the first caution, it ran really good. The incident on pit road with Regan hurt us, and then, I hit the wall in the corner and we couldn’t even run close. The start of the race was better than we were on Friday. We struggled in the corner on Friday but during the race that was way better. We didn’t get to race very long, but the car felt good when we did get to race. Making the improvement from Friday was definitely a step in the right direction.”
-source: tbr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Richard Childress Racing Michigan Race Report
Next article Red Bull Racing Team Michigan Race Report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Regan Smith
Dale Jr. on Regan Smith: “I’m thrilled to have him back”
NASCAR O'Reilly
NASCAR O'Reilly
Dale Jr. on Regan Smith: “I’m thrilled to have him back”
Kasey Kahne to miss Brickyard 400 due to extreme heat exhaustion
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Indianapolis
Kasey Kahne to miss Brickyard 400 due to extreme heat exhaustion
Regan Smith joins Fox Sports' NASCAR broadcasts in 2018
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Regan Smith joins Fox Sports' NASCAR broadcasts in 2018
More from
Tommy Baldwin Racing
Richard Petty Motorsports hit with big penalties following Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Talladega
Richard Petty Motorsports hit with big penalties following Talladega
Tommy Baldwin to enter Daytona 500 with Sadler driving No. 7 entry
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Tommy Baldwin to enter Daytona 500 with Sadler driving No. 7 entry
The other Pocono upset: Regan Smith snags third for TBR
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Pocono II
The other Pocono upset: Regan Smith snags third for TBR
Latest news
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Talladega II
2 h
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe