NASCAR Cup

Talladega II: Dave Blaney preview

Talladega Superspeedway News and Notes * Talladega's Toyota...The No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Dave Blaney is scheduled to drive in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway is COT No. 27. The team has built a brand-new Camry ...

Edited: Oct 4, 2007, 3:39 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Talladega Superspeedway News and Notes

* Talladega's Toyota...The No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Dave Blaney is scheduled to drive in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway is COT No. 27. The team has built a brand-new Camry for this event.

* What Happened Last week...The Caterpillar Racing team lined up 43rd on the starting grid, Blaney drove as high as fifth place during the event at Kansas Speedway. Blaney's car was often among the fastest cars on the track. After losing a lap early due to an ill-timed caution and then getting it back several laps later, the team took the checkered flag in 15th place.

* Blaney's Career Stats...Blaney hopes to make his 262nd career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start when the green flag waves Sunday afternoon. He made his first career Cup Series start in October 1992 at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway and drove his Bill Davis Racing-owned entry to a 30th-place finish (qualified 16th) in his first Cup Series start at the 2.66-mile track in Talladega.

* Blaney at Talladega...Blaney has made 13 starts on the 2.66-mile oval during his Cup Series career, starting as high as eighth (2005) and finishing as high as 15th (2005). He has scored four top-20 finishes in Cup Series competition at Talladega and has qualified in the top 10 once.

* BDR at Talladega...Competitors driving Bill Davis Racing-owned cars have been racing at the Talladega track since 1993 and have made 37 starts. Those drivers have posted one top five finish, five top-10 finishes and have completed 6,432 of 6,915 possible laps (93 percent).

* Points Position...Blaney and the No. 22 team remain just outside the top 35 in owners' points. Their 15th-place finish last weekend brought them 56 markers closer to the No. 21 team. They now stand just 49 points outside the top 35.

* Bring Your Sharpie...Blaney is scheduled to sign autographs at the Caterpillar souvenir trailer Sunday morning. Stop by the Cat souvenir trailer or visit www.daveblaney.com for updates and additional information.

* A Big BDR Weekend...In addition to fielding its regular two NEXTEL Cup Series teams (Blaney and Jeremy Mayfield) and three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entries (Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson and Jacques Villeneuve), Bill Davis Racing will field an additional Cup Series team for Villeneuve, who hopes to make his NEXTEL Cup Series debut. Bill Davis Racing will also enter two drivers in the ARCA RE/MAX Series event Friday evening, with Bobby Santos and Michael Annett handling driving duties.

* Chimney Rock 500...Also on tap this weekend for team owner Bill Davis is the first annual Chimney Rock 500 at Camp Cooley Ranch in Concord, Ark. Bill and Gail Davis purchased Chimney Rock Cattle Company in 1999 from the estate of Julian and Shelley Martin. The event will be held in the brand-new 50,000-square foot sales facility. The sale will include a registered female sale on Friday, followed by the sale of commercial females and bulls on Saturday. Friday's festivities in the "cow palace" also include the Chimney Rock Celebration, featuring appearances by NASCAR personalities.

Dave Blaney on Talladega Superspeedway..."We were pretty pleased with the way the Talladega test went a couple of weeks ago, and we think we're ready with a little bit better stuff than we had when we were there in the spring. Obviously, our main objective is to get the Caterpillar Toyota in the show, and then after that we'd like to come away with another top-10 or top-15 finish like we had last weekend in Kansas. There are a couple of teams racing pretty hard back there for the 35th spot in owners' points, and we were really pleased to be able to cut the margin between us and the No. 21 in half in one race. That proves there is still enough time for anything to happen.

"It should be an interesting weekend with the COT cars. It seemed as though most people were pleased with the way things went in the test. They're nice and solid, and I really think it will be a lot of fun out there in drafting. I think you'll be able to suck-up to people a lot faster that we could before. We're looking forward to the experience."

-credit: dbr

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

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Talladega II: Ryan Newman preview

Next article Talladega II: Jeremy Mayfield preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

5 h

Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell

Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

8 h

Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction

William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

8 h

William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix

Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 8 h

Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring

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