There is this Long Islander named Jim Baumbach, a reporter with Newsday.com in New York, and apparently he was given the special privilege of being a part of Dave Blaney's pit crew yesterday at Pocono.
He wrote a compelling article about his experience at the track, speaking with Long Islander native Tommy Baldwin, Jr., the driver's meeting, riding in the pace car with Brett Bodine, working as the sign man for Blaney's pit box, and working with the entire crew. I think you'll agree after reading it here, he was impressed. Check out the video as well of Mr. Baumbach waving the Number 22 sign. Nice.
"Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team lined up 24th for the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 Sunday afternoon. After working through handling issues and rain showers that played into race strategy, Blaney took the checkered flag in 31st place at Pocono Raceway.
The No. 22 Bill Davis Racing team was the 12th of 44 teams to take to the track for qualifying Friday afternoon. Blaney ran a speed of 165.569 mph during his run around the 2.5-mile trioval, which earned the team the 24th spot on the starting grid for Sunday’s event. Rain showers moved into the area early Saturday morning, and though NASCAR and track officials did their best to dry the track for practice, it was to no avail. Both practice sessions scheduled for Saturday were eventually cancelled.
Blaney took the green flag for the start of the event Sunday afternoon and narrowly avoided disaster in just the first lap of the race, when the cars driven by Kevin Harvick and Joe Nemechek got together while racing next to the BDR machine. Heads up driving and a little bit of luck got the No. 22 Camry through, and Blaney held the 21st spot when the caution flag waved. Several laps after the green flag waved for the restart, Blaney communicated to crew chief Tommy Baldwin that the car handled extremely tight on throttle. Baldwin planned to make adjustments to the car during the competition caution period that was scheduled for lap 22.
The adjustments made to the car did not seem to help enough in the early stages of the race, but a lap 54 stop enabled the crew to make track bar and wedge adjustments to the Cat Toyota. Shortly thereafter, Blaney told the crew that the balance was better, but he was experiencing an overall lack of grip. A miscommunication in the pits forced the team to make two pit stops during a caution period that began on lap 67, and the BDR entry fell to 36th place. Blaney began to make his way through slower traffic, and by lap 113 of the 200-lap race, he had broken into the top 30.
Weather played a factor in the outcome of the event. With showers nearing the area on lap 126 and the caution that ensued when the rain began to fall, teams were forced to decide to make pit stops or remain on the track, taking the chance that a hard rain shower would shorten the race. Baldwin took that chance and left Blaney out on the track. NASCAR officials red-flagged the race on lap 132 and spent 41 minutes drying the track. Unfortunately, Baldwin’s gamble didn’t pay off, and the race resumed on lap 135. While about half of the field would only have to make one more stop, Blaney and the remainder of the competitors would have to make two stops. The No. 22 machine made its final pit stop with nine laps to go, and Blaney took the checkered flag in the 31st position.
The Caterpillar Racing team travels to Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International next weekend for the Centurion Boats at the Glen."
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!
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.
