Lou Blaney, Dave Blaney and now introducing ... Ryan Blaney

Here comes the son of Dave Blaney

He won his first competitive race in a quarter midget at the age of 9 years old.  Ryan ran in Bandeleros in 2004, Quarter Midgets again in 2006 and moved up to Legends Cars in 2007.  Ryan was also crowned the Gasoline Alley Champion last year in the Quarter Midgets.

He is following in his dad's footstep and taking the next step ... stock cars.

Fourteen-year-old Ryan Blaney will be racing in his first stock car race this Saturday night in a super late model car at Orange County Speedway in North Carolina.

I stumbled upon young Ryan and Dave Blaney speaking with the Dave Blaney Fan Show on May 14, 2008.  It is a great fifteen minute segment with both of the Blaneys.  Ryan talks about practicing his new late model car on the asphalt and says the car is stable, fun, bigger and faster.  You can hear the interview here: http://quickestlap.com/radio.htm.

Ryan raced a legend car at Bristol this year down pit road and apron. "It was lots of fun, it was good experience."

Dave Blaney speaks with the show following his son's interview about his team, the new COT, and the information sharing between the Toyota teams.  Dave and Ryan address Ryan's schedule for this year and stated that Ryan will be running in the late model series, but will be running Quarter Midgets more than anything else this year.

Emma Blaney, Dave Blaney's daughter, also has racing in her blood racing quarter midget herself in the past, but has shifted her focus to basketball for now.

It seems Ryan has his sights sets on NASCAR, as shown in this quote today on www.lowemotorspeedway.com:

     "I have always enjoyed getting to go to the races," said Blaney, who started driving race cars when he was 7.  "Racing is really fun. I love the competition and the thrill of the speed. It's really addicting when you get into it."

     Blaney, who hopes to eventually compete in the NASCAR Cup Series, understands there is a lot he can learn from his father's racing experience.

     "My dad teaches me a lot about racing, like throttle-control and how much brake to use," said Blaney. "He's raced a lot of different types of cars in a lot of different places, so he knows what he's talking about."

In addition to a racing legacy to live up to, I'm sure Ryan will one day have his stake in Sharon Speedway in Hartford, CT, which the Blaney family purchased in 2001.  It is a 3/8 mile dirt track that the Blaney family has a history with and it is their passion.

Good luck Ryan Blaney, and we will be looking for you in NASCAR real soon!

credits: 
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=1
26249&FS=midget

2007 Gasoline Alley Champion picture
http://www.quartermidgetslive.com/gasalley07/w_
f.htm

2004 picture at Lowe's w/ Dad Dave Blaney
http://www.lowesmotorspeedway.com/news_photos/n
ews/439919.html

http://www.600racing.com/600_racing_info/news
/522190.html 
 

Elliott Sadler has recently uncovered some fascinating revelations while researching his genealogy.  He is related to none other than Lawrence "Crash" Davis.

Brian France is buying DEI.  No more penalties?

Robby Gordon will be driving for Stewart-HAAS racing in 2009.  Sorry Rocket Man.

Kasey Kahne checks into rehab.  Anyone else notice how unfocused and spaced-out he was during his pre-race interviews last week?

Dario Franchitti, anxious about running again in NASCAR this weekend, makes sure his crew chief brought along the wets.

Hermie Sadler has signed a contract with TNA Wrestling to be a professional wrestler.  (Ok, ok, he will just be a commentator in a "professional services" role. See story from the Wall Street Journal here.)

Now that we are in full silly season swing, the starting grid for the 2009 Daytona 500 will look something like this: Joey Logano on the pole in the #20 machine, Brad Keselowski in the #1 machine for DEI, Cale Gale in the #12 machine for Penske, and Landon Cassill in the #7 for Robby Gordon Motorsports, and Domino Dario in the #33 machine for RCR.

NASCAR announces changes to the schedule for 2009, and maybe beyond.  There will be more plate races and some dirt track races thrown in.  And for good measure, there will now be two night races at Bristol (yes IowaGirl, they listened!).

Brian Vickers and AJ Allmindinger have throw down outside of the Dinger’s hauler before the race.  Must be all those energy drinks.  OOOPS, there goes another sponsor.

Scott Speed is giving away free pedicures to the drivers and is offering his own shade of blue polish as a bonus.  Chicago night life here they come!

Have a great race weekend everyone!

Just some updates from Jayski.com:

First off, I have to apologize to LisaH for stealing my title back.  Love ya girl!

Now, shall we ...

Tony Stewart lets the first domino fall and announces his plans for 2009 and beyond.  Ganassi and the #40 team.

The stands are empty as everyone decides to stay at home, or on Daytona Beach, watching all the great TV coverage on TNT with their "Wide Open Coverage" and the free DirecTV Hot Pass this weekend.

Casey Mears is touted to be the replacement for the Home Depot #20 ride.  Sorry sliced bread, you'll have to wait one more year.  Seriously Logano, it will only take a year for that ride to be available.

Dario Franchitti.

Dale Jr. helps push Jamie McMurray to a back-to-back win at Daytona.

Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch are seen grilling out together after the race with sparklers in their hands and reminiscing.  Anybody else hear Little River Band playing?

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson fail pre-race inspection.  Finally!

After Dale Jarrett gives the command to the drivers to start their engines, he immediately asks where his car is at?

On a more serious note ... Here's to hoping a Coke driver wins this Saturday night, so we all can get a free Coke Zero!  Happy Fourth of July and have a great race weekend!

Just an update from www.jayski.com:

Felix Sabates talks about closure of #40 team: Felix Sabates spoke with Claire B. Lang on "Dialed In" on XMSN (XM Channel 144) Tuesday evening about Dario Franchitti's future with the team
CBL: You didn't have a sponsor - people forget this team was unsponsored:
Sabates: "What happened to us - we kind of got hung out to dry by Coors. Coors was with me for almost ten years and they had a management change and the new people come over and told us don't worry about it - 'Don't look for a sponsor; we're going to be back with you in 2008, 2009.' So, we never looked for any sponsors and come October they come and tell us well Coors is going to do something else. They're going to sponsor the NASCAR Coors pole and this and that so then it was too late (for the 2008 season)...so we have been running all year long without a sponsor."
CBL: Talk about the options for Dario Franchitti:
Sabates: "Dario had a hard time with it. He made a change from the Indy Racing League to come here. But truth of the matter is that he needs more seat time. We gave him an option to go in the Nationwide car because we do have a sponsor for the #40 Nationwide car. He's going to decide what he's going to do in the next few days and maybe he'll be racing in Chicago (Nationwide race July 11).....I hope he does get in the Nationwide car. He's a very talented driver and if he gets a few more months under his belt maybe we can get a sponsor for next year and we can go racing next year.
Sabates told CBL on the cost of running the team and how much he's paid to keep it running: - "It cost you $20 to $21, $22 million dollars to run a competitive team and if you run 15 races and you don't have any money coming in you have already lost $10 or $11 million dollars."
Sabates on Dario's choices: "Chip pretty much told him if he wanted to go to back to Indy that, because it doesn't cost near as much money there as it does here, and over there Chip is the Rick Hendrick of over here - so he can get a sponsor for an IRL car very easily. So he's got his choice - if he wants to drive the Nationwide Car - get some more experience, maybe we'll get a sponsor for next year or go back to the IRL -- it's up to Dario - he has a contract and we intend to honor it."
Sabates on what he thinks Dario will do: "At the end of the day - I think he will get in the Nationwide car- he needs more seat time anyway."(XM Radio PR)

Sorry BeaverNut, I was going to leave a comment on your blog, but the personal attacks on Tony Stewart, instead of attacking his driving abilities (which you cannot), motivated me to post on my own blog.

As reported on www.jayski.com today:

"Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) announced today that due to a lack of sponsorship funding it will cease operation of the team's #40 Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Dodge driven by Dario Franchitti beginning this weekend in Daytona. "This is a difficult decision for Felix and I that did not come without its share of anguish," said Team Owner Chip Ganassi. "In this tough business environment continuing to run the car without proper funding has become increasingly difficult." CGRFS is committed to Franchitti's continued stockcar development and are currently in discussions with him on his racing options with the team which could include running the balance of the 2008 Nationwide season in the #40 Fastenal Dodge. Currently the #42 Texaco/Havoline/Juicy Fruit Dodge of Juan Pablo Montoya is 21st in owner points while the #41 Target Dodge driven by Reed Sorenson is sitting 31st in the standings."

For now, it seems this Indy Champ doesn't have a chance to be a NASCAR Champ.

Anyone else think this is strange to happen mid-season?  The sad state of NASCAR rolls on ...

I wonder what Dave "the Buckeye bullet" Blaney is thinking these days.  I would imagine he has to be thinking two things, primarily.  Number one, what in the world is going on at Bill Davis Racing.  Number two, how is Richard Childress Racing taking over the sponsorship dollars from other teams.

Dave Blaney has jumped from 39th in the owner points standings to 28th place in just 7 races.  Blaney moved up one position in the standings after this past weekend at Infineon.  One would think that is a pretty good feat and Blaney is having a good season for Bill Davis Racing.

But, just like Petty Enterprises was a victim of losing their sponsorship dollars with General Mills to Richard Childress Racing, BDR has lost its sponsorship with Caterpillar to RCR.  CAT has been with that race team for 10 years now, and most of us remember seeing that paint scheme on Ward Burton’s car.

Ward’s brother Jeff Burton’s team can no longer carry a rival telephone company’s logo on its car after the conclusion of this season, and it does seem 'fitting' to keep that sponsorship in the Burton family.

Yet, this brings me back to Blaney.  Blaney will be making his 284th Cup start this weekend at Loudon and he started from the pole for this same N.H. race last year.  Coincidentally, it was the first pole for the Toyota cars last year.

Blaney has been through this before with losing a sponsor, which prompted his initial departure from BDR in 2002.  Subsequently, Blaney joined up with Jasper Motorsports driving the #77 Cup car until that team was sold to Penske Racing, leaving him with a contract but no car.  RCR offered Blaney a full-time ride driving the #07 and he accepted.  However, RCR released Blaney after the 2005 season, giving Blaney only one year for that team.  After all that, Blaney once again returned to BDR to drive the CAT #22 in 2006, bringing crew chief Kevin Hamlin from RCR with him, and it has been going well.

So, who will be the new sponsor for BDR and Davey Blaney?  Let’s hope it’s a company that will stay with BDR for another ten years and lead this team to even higher heights.

Race fans, welcome to New Hampshire International Speedway.

Mike Helton says he loved Tony Stewart's interview after the race last weekend and encourages free speech for all the drivers.

The media heads asking absurd questions like, when will Reed Sorenson find victory lane again?  He's been on a tear lately.

Expectant father Casey Mears hits his (for now) teammate Jeff Gordon up for some advice on being a father.  Well, except for the foul language part.

NASCAR decides to actually change the race schedule to 32 races per year.  Revised schedule includes a Daytona and Talladega stint back to back to allow the crew chiefs not to work as hard on set ups.  Gets rid of the bogus "move over" flag.  And finally, they issue a memo stating that starting with the 2009 season, all teams must have one female driver competing in every race.

Marcos Ambrose, running for his second Cup race, blows the field away and wins on an oval.

Kevin Harvick, Max Papis, Elliot Sadler, David Reutimann, and others will be issued their brakes packages from NASCAR for the next road race at Watkins Glen.

Even though this is the only major racing venue in all of New England, there are large spots of empty seats during the race.  Is it the economy, or the racing?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Hanahan will be selling a new DVD with all of Kyle Busch's victories and burnout celebrations this year.  Make sure to pre-order for this exciting compilation.  This DVD will include Hanahan's own personal commentary with a 10 minute auto-replay of Rowdy's perfect number 8 burnout at Infineon.  Hurry while supplies last!

Have a great race weekend, everyone!

Stewart's Thoughts On Hometown Flood Victims:

 Your hometown of Columbus was ravaged by flooding earlier this week. How is the town coping?

“I went down on Monday and visited the guys at the city garage who have been working long hours trying to get the streets and everything cleaned up. I just went there and told all those guys, ‘Thanks’. Most of those guys have been working 24-hour shifts getting everything cleaned up. We went by the junior high I used to go to, and that’s where the Red Cross has their shelter put up, and I went in there to try to lift everybody’s spirits up and just visit with everybody. Everybody is doing a really good job. They had 500 people in that shelter on Saturday night, and they were down to 35 people by Monday afternoon. It’s just hard. A lot of these people have lost everything, and I just wanted to let them know we were thinking about them. Just spending a couple of minutes with them made them smile, and it seemed like it made them feel better.”

How is your home in Columbus?

“My old house by the high school is good. The farm is just wet, absolutely saturated. You can’t get on it. You can’t do anything. And we’re getting baby deer now. We have four little ones, and we’ve got them on the deck in a small pen because you can’t get on the ground to put them anywhere. They’re so young, you don’t want them to get stuck.”

After your recent racing disappointments at Darlington, Charlotte, Dover and Pocono, does what happened in Columbus put your bad days at the race track in perspective, because you have neighbors who are experiencing some truly bad days?

“Absolutely. We drove through some neighborhoods Monday night after we did our SIRIUS Satellite Radio show and saw places that still didn’t have power and places where the water was still five or six feet high in their house, and that’s not counting their basement. So, it kind of gave me the same feeling that I get when I visit Victory Junction Gang Camp. You realize that even on your worst day, you still have it pretty darn good. But unlike Victory Junction, there’s no happiness at the end of the day. There are people who are sad because they’ve lost their homes. That’s the hard part. You want to do something, but it’s so widespread, you don’t know what to do. I’m going to donate my portion of the race winnings from Michigan to the American Red Cross. I figure that’s at least a start.”  Credit: www.joegibbsracings.com

Whatever Stewart’s portion of the race winnings are in the LifeLock 400, he’ll donate them to the American Red Cross in Columbus, with the money specified for flood assistance. Those wishing to join Stewart in helping those affected by the floods throughout Indiana can call 812-379-9551 or send checks payable to The American Red Cross, 931 Repp Drive, Columbus, IN 47201. If writing a check, write “Indiana Flood & Tornado Relief” on the memo line. Credit: True Speed Communication/JGR PR

Stewart's Thoughts On Father's Day:

 The Michigan race will run on Father’s Day, which is appropriate considering how many fathers were instrumental in their son’s racing careers. How influential was your dad, Nelson, in getting you where you are today? And what were some of the life lessons he taught you as a kid that you’ve taken with you today?

“He never let me settle for second. He didn’t like it when we ran second, and he knew that I didn’t like it when we ran second. If he saw that I wasn’t giving 100 percent, then he was on me pretty hard about it. He pushed me to be better.

“He never pressured me to be the best race car driver in the world, but he did want me to be the best race car driver that I could be. He never compared me to anybody else. He expected that what I could do was what I could do. He never said that because this guy over here could do something, that I should be able to do it, too. He pushed me hard, but he was fair about it. That’s probably why you see so much fire in me today, because he always wanted me to be the best that I could be.

Tony and Nelson Stewart

“He’s my dad, so obviously he’s seen and done a lot of things that I haven’t. He’s given me some good advice over the years, but probably the best advice he ever gave me was to just remember the people who have helped me, because somewhere along the ladder that you’re climbing up, you’re eventually going to climb back down, and you’re going to meet those people again sometime.

“I’ve watched the folks that he’s dealt with in his career and in mine, and we’re still friends with all the people that we’ve raced with in the past. We never felt like we were better than anybody else. We always kept those relationships, and we always treated those people the way they treated us.”  Credit: www.joegibbsracing.com

A response to Equity firm takes over Petty Enterprises

Good news, Bobby Labonte is staying put - for four years.

Sad news, this is the end of the Petty legacy as we know it.  Now "The King" is just like all the other mega teams.

Any predictions on how long it will be before we hear that Kyle Petty will no longer drive a car for that team ever again?

If you celebrate Father’s Day in any way, shape, form or manner this coming Sunday, consider yourself blessed.  What could be better than watching the race from Michigan with your dad, or having your kid(s) watch the race with you?

My dad was the one who instilled the love of sports into me.  I would venture to say that a lot of us around here had the same experience.  Growing up, I had an older brother who enjoyed and included me in varying sports out in our backyard.  He was always up for a game of "horse" on the basketball goal, or throwing some spirals, or hitting some baseballs around.  I enjoyed watching my dad and brother play sports when I was very young, and then I played and/or participated in many sports through the years as well.  My dad always supported me.  Thank you, dad!

There was always some kind of sports on the TV, mainly baseball or football.  I always listened to what my dad was saying about the calls by the umpires, what certain calls meant, what he thought a team would/should do next, and so forth.  Of course, we only had 3 channels back then until FOX came along.  But, I remember many-a-Sunday afternoon after church, my dad would be watching a game and take a little "nap."  Ah, love you dad!

I think I’ve been able to repay my dad in a small way, however, for a renewed love for NASCAR.  My dad has told me he went to Talladega several times in the early to mid-‘70's.  But, once I got older and started going to the races in person, I would tell my parents to "watch for me" in the stands.  Of course that meant they would have to actually watch the races.  Slowly but surely, they started watching the races all the time.  Now, they watch every race, even the Nationwide and Truck races.  So, I consider myself blessed having parents today who share a passion for NASCAR.  I can talk to them and debate with them about things that happen during the course of the races.  Although I will never understand how in the world they picked their favorite drivers!  Good times.

NASCAR is full of grandfather/father/son drivers.  The Earnhardts, Pettys, Allisons, Jarretts, Wallaces, and so on.  So, this Sunday while you’re watching the Michigan race, don’t forget about your father.  Pick up that phone and tell him you love him!

So to all those who are fathers, have a great Father’s Day and a great racing weekend!

First, a big CONGRATULATIONS to Brad Keselowski.  Of course, I didn't get to actually see it, or his celebration!

DirecTV should be castrated... or ESPN, I'm not sure which.  Anybody else miss the ending of this great race from Nash-Vegas?

After all the wait, the mishaps, the 'almosts', being wrecked by Mark Martin earlier this year ... you done it!

Guess I'll go hunt down a video.

Pocono Raceway IS for sale.

Let's rewind on Greg Biffle's weekend at Dover, shall we?  This will be really short and to the point.  I commented on jon_464's blog about this already, but I needed to vent just a little more.

After the Denny-Brad-Jr. debacle during the NNS race last weekend, the Cup guys were posturing about the 'give and take' they expect from the Nationwide drivers.  Really?  Please Mr. Biffle explain to me why you felt the need to just punt young Landon Cassill out of your way early in the NNS race?

Lastly, that must have not been enough for The Biff as he had this to say about Travis Kvapil after the Cup race yesterday:

Greg Biffle felt the finish of the Best Buy 400 could have been a little closer, but he blamed Travis Kvapil for not allowing him and Carl Edwards to get by after the final pit stops.

"It's a delicate situation to talk about," Biffle said. "Carl and I both spent about 10 laps trying to pass one of our teammate cars [Kvapil]. We lost a tremendous amount of track position."

Kvapil drives for Yates Racing, which has a partnership agreement with Roush-Fenway Racing.

"He deserves to be out there like anybody else," Biffle said of Kvapil. "But he was running by himself and he held us up for 10 laps. That's unacceptable."

Kvapil finished 11th, but was one lap down. Biffle was asked if he considered bumping Kvapil out of the way.

"You can't get close enough to do that," he said. "I would have done it in a second, but I just couldn't get there. I would have jacked up his tires and sent him in the fence backwards, but these cars are so aero-tight and so big that you can't do it."

Foregoing excerpt from ESPN.com writer Terry Blount.

So, in reality, who is not adhering to the unspoken 'give and take' rule, Mr. Biffle?