- Dave Blaney
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For the rugby union player, see David Blaney.
David Blaney 
Born October 24, 1962
Hartford Township, Trumbull County, OhioAchievements 1984 USAC Silver Crown Champion[1]
1995 World of Outlaws ChampionNASCAR Sprint Cup Series career 395 races run over 14 years Car no., team #35 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 2010 position 37th Best finish 19th – 2002 First race 1992 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham) Wins Top tens Poles 0 28 2 NASCAR Nationwide Series career 121 races run over 12 years Best finish 7th – 1999 First race 1998 NAPA Auto Parts 300 (Daytona) Last race 2009 Dollar General 300 (Charlotte) First win 2006 Dollar General 300 (Charlotte) Wins Top tens Poles 1 31 7 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career 2 races run over 2 years Best finish 74th – 2004 First race 2004 MBNA America 200 (Dover) Last race 2007 Ford 200 (Homestead) Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0 Statistics current as of November 11 2011. David Blaney (born October 24, 1962 in Hartford Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, United States) is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. He currently drives the #36 Golden Corral/Big Red Chevrolet Impala for Tommy Baldwin Racing. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR. For many years, he was a regular in the Syracuse Nationals in Syracuse, New York, although he never won that event. He owns Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. His son Ryan races late models in the Carolinas. In April 2011, Ryan made his NASCAR touring series debut with an eighth place finish at the K&N Pro Series East race in Richmond.
Contents
Sprint car racing career
Blaney was awarded the 1983 All-Star Sprint Circuit Rookie-of-the-Year.[1] He raced in the United States Automobile Club (USAC) Silver Crown Series in 1984 and won the national touring series' championship.[1] Blaney won his first World of Outlaws (WoO) race at Tri-City Speedway in 1985 and won the Championship in 1995.[1] He also made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in the #80 Daffron's Body Shop Ford for Hover Motorsports in the 1992 AC Delco 500, finishing 31st. In the 1997 season, he won the Gold Cup, the Eldora Speedway event, and the Knoxville Nationals, which is considered the premiere event in sprint car racing.[1] He was the first driver who did not defend his Knoxville win, when he moved into NASCAR. After moving to NASCAR, he kept his sprint car team going, fielding a car for his brother Dale and the late Kevin Gobrecht.
NASCAR career
1998–2004
Blaney began his Busch Series career in 1998 with Bill Davis Racing. He signed to drive a Nationwide Series car for Davis, the #93 Amoco Pontiac and in his first season had three sixth-place finishes and a pole position at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The following season, he ran a full-time schedule and won four poles and ended the season a career-best seventh in points. That season, he returned to the Winston Cup series with Davis, earning a best finish of 23rd at Homestead in the #93.
In 2000, Blaney and his Amoco team moved up to Winston Cup full time and posted two-top tens. He would end up finishing third in the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award standings for the 2000 season.He would return to the Busch Series in 2000 with a limited schedule in BDR’s #20 AT&T Pontiac, gaining a pole position at Charlotte and also finish 3rd twice. In 2001, the team would switch to Dodge and he would compete in all the races with a best finish of 6th, three times. He left Davis at the end of the season because of sponsorship concerns and signed with the #77 Jasper Motorsports team. His best finish during the 2002 season was a 7th at Phoenix. Blaney started the 2003 season with three top-tens and a pole the first five races, but fell to twenty-eighth in points at the end of the season, forcing his release.
Blaney returned to Bill Davis Racing in 2004 for a limited schedule, because of a lack of sponsorship. Part of his deal was making his Craftsman Truck Series debut for Davis in the #23 truck at Dover, where he finished sixth. After two eleventh-place finishes, Blaney joined Richard Childress Racing, taking over the #30 AOL Chevrolet for eight races. After two top-fifteen finishes, he was replaced by Jeff Burton Blaney would also start one race for Roush Racing in the #99 Canteen Vending/Kraft Foods Ford in the place of rookie Carl Edwards, who missed the start due a Craftsman Truck Series race that ran late. Blaney exited the car on Lap 24, and Edwards went on to finish 37th after a crash. He also ran the spring race at Richmond International Raceway for Ultra Motorsports in the #7 Dodge, and finished fortieth.
2005–Present
Blaney returned to Richard Childress Racing in 2005 to drive the #07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet. During the season he would post two top ten finishes and finished 26th in points. In 2006, he returned to the Bill Davis stable to run the #22 Caterpillar Dodge. His best finish in 2006 came at the Richmond International Raceway, where he finished 4th. He also scored his first Busch Series victory at Lowes Motor Speedway, when Matt Kenseth spun on the last lap and Blaney was in the lead. In 2007, He failed to qualify for three races and finished thirty-first in points. The following season, he had two top-tens and moved up to thirtieth in points.
In 2009, Blaney signed to run the #66 Prism Motorsports Toyota for a full season, getting a best finish of twenty-eighth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Incidentally, Dave did not qualify for 3 out of the 4 races the team had sponsorship for (Hyde Park was on the car at Las Vegas, and the Denny Hamlin Foundation at Charlotte and Texas). Thus far in the 2010 season, Blaney has a best finish of 29th at Las Vegas and led 3 laps the previous week at Fontana, he has parked his car prior to completion in all but one race this season. For the race at Phoenix, Blaney is piloting the #55 Prism Toyota, with teammate Michael McDowell driving the #66 in an attempt to get both teams in the top 35 in owners points according to team owner Phil Parsons.
Blaney has announced that he will be returning to his roots in dirt track 410 sprint car racing throughout the summer of 2010. So far the "Buckeye Bullet" has been successful in his return posting two top 5 finishes during Ohio Sprint Speedweek and has one feature win thus far as he was triumphant at TRI-CITY Speedway in Franklin Pennsylvania on July, 4, 2010.
Blaney has his sights set on some major events during his summer dirt tour including a stop at family owned Sharon Speedway for the Lou Blaney Memorial and Eldora Speedway for the Kings Royal.
For the remainder of the 2010 Sprint Cup season, Blaney split his time between Front Row Motorsports and Tommy Baldwin Racing. Compared to Prism, both teams have some degree of sponsorship; Front Row Motorsports ran full races while Tommy Baldwin Racing was an occasional start and park entry (For example, Blaney ran the entire race at Loudon in the #36 with only associate sponsorship from Connecticut-based construction company Mohawk Northeast while parking an unsponsored TBR entry at Talladega after 12 laps).
At the 2011 Daytona 500, Blaney received last minute sponsorship from Golden Corral. He led three laps and finished 26th after a late race accident. Dave will pilot the #36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet with backing from Accell Construction Inc. in several races this season, the sponsors for the remaining races have yet to be determined. Golden Corral returned at the 2011 Aaron's 499, and Blaney led 21 laps but was spun out by Kurt Busch with 3 to go and finished 27th. He led the second most laps.
On April 27, Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that Blaney and the #36 team would be sponsored by Golden Corral for 19 races and Big Red/ All Sport for 5 races leaving only 3 races without a sponsor.[2][3] The team did not run the Sprint All-Star Race in May in order to focus on the points-paying events.
Images
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Blaney after a sprint car win at Port Royal Speedway in 1984
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Blaney in the #22 car in 2007
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Dave Blaney practicing for the 2007 Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Dave Blaney". The Inside Groove. 2006. http://www.theinsidegroove.com/drivers/driver_info.php4?driver=Dave%20Blaney. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Golden Corral and Tommy Baldwin Racing". Tommy Baldwin Racing. http://www.tommybaldwinracing.com/golden-corral-and-tommy-baldwin-racing-look-to-feed-america%E2%80%99s-families-for-the-remainder-of-the-season. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
- ^ "Big Red Partners with Tommy Baldwin Racing". Tommy Baldwin Racing. http://www.tommybaldwinracing.com/big-red-partners-with-tommy-baldwin-racing. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
External links
Sporting positions Preceded by
Steve KinserWorld of Outlaws Champion
1995Succeeded by
Mark KinserCategories:- 1962 births
- American racecar drivers
- Bill Davis Racing drivers
- Living people
- NASCAR drivers
- People from Trumbull County, Ohio
- Racecar drivers from Ohio
- Richard Childress Racing drivers
- World of Outlaws drivers
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