Dave Blaney
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| Born: | October 24, 1962 | |
| Birthplace: | Hartford, Ohio | |
| Achievements: | — | |
| Awards: | 1984 USAC Silver Crown Champion | |
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics | ||
| Car #, Team | #22 - Bill Davis Racing | |
| 2007 Sprint Cup Position: | 32nd | |
| Best Cup Position: | 19th - 2002 | |
| First Race: | 1992 AC Delco 500 (North Carolina) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 0 | 27 | 2 |
| NASCAR Nationwide Series Statistics | ||
| Car #, Team | #10 - Braun Racing | |
| 2005 NNS Position: | 56th | |
| Best NNS Position: | 7th - 1999 | |
| First Race: | 1998 NAPA Auto Parts 300 (Daytona) | |
| First Win: | 2006 Dollar General 300 (Lowe's) | |
| Last Win: | 2006 Dollar General 300 (Lowe's) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 1 | 30 | 6 |
| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Statistics | ||
| 2004 NCTS Position: | 74th | |
| Best NCTS Position: | 74th - 2004 | |
| First Race: | 2004 MBNA America 200 (Dover) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Statistics current as of June 1, 2008. | ||
David Blaney (born October 24, 1962 in Hartford, Ohio, United States) is a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver. He currently pilots the #22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry for Bill Davis Racing. Blaney is most famous for his sprint car exploits as well as other success on dirt tracks. 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 (named after nearby Sharon, Pennsylvania) in Hartford Ohio.
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[edit] World of Outlaws career
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Blaney began racing in the World of Outlaws (WoO) in 1992, and won the Championship in 1995. He won the 1997 Knoxville Nationals, the premiere event in sprint car racing. He was the first driver who did not defend his Knoxville win. When he moved into NASCAR, he kept his team going, fielding a car for his brother Dale and the late Kevin Gobrecht.
He is currently planning on fielding a sprint car full time at the Knoxville Raceway to be driven by local outlaw dirt kart driver, David Herrmann.
[edit] NASCAR career
[edit] Nextel Cup Series
Blaney 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 1999, Blaney returned to the Winston Cup series with Bill Davis Racing. He ran five races in the #93 Amoco Pontiac with a best finish of 23rd at Homestead. In 2000, Blaney and his Amoco team moved up to Winston Cup full time and posted two-top tens. He would finishing third in the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award standings for the 2000 season.
In 2001, the team would switch to Dodge and he would compete in all the races with a best finish of 6th, three times. After coming close to victory in 2001, he left BDR because of sponsorship concerns and signed with the #77 Jasper Motorsports team. His best finish during the 2002 season was a 7th at Phoenix. The 2003 season started out extremely well for Blaney as he finished three of the first five races in the top ten. However, the rest of the season was a struggle and the team was only able to finish in the top ten once more during the year.
Blaney returned to Bill Davis Racing in 2004 for a limited schedule, because of a lack of sponsorship. After multiple strong showings in races, including two eleventh place finishes Blaney joined Richard Childress Racing. He took over the #30 America Online Chevrolet for eight races, which included two Top-15 finishes, however when Jeff Burton became available, Childress hired Burton to drive the #30 for the remainder of the season. 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.
In 2005, he would return to Richard Childress Racing to drive the #07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet. During the season he would post two top ten finishes and post a solid average finish of 23.4. In 2006 he returned to the Bill Davis stable to run the #22 Caterpillar Dodge. Dave's best finish so far in 2006 came at the Richmond International Raceway, where he finished 4th. For 2007, Dave will be sticking with his sponsor Catterpillar and Bill Davis Racing, but will be switching to new manufacturer Toyota. So far, Dave has had good runs, but not the finishes to show for it. The year for Bill Davis and Toyota will be a trying year, and this was evident when Dave failed to qualify for the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. On June 29, 2007, Blaney earned the first ever Budweiser Pole Award for Toyota at New Hampshire International Speedway and 2nd of his career. The pole, along with a 32nd driver points position and 35th owner points position, cemented Blaney's team as Toyota's number one team. He missed only three races so far, the lowest of any Toyota driver, and has one top-5 and 5 top-10 finishes in the 2007 season, including a third place finish (his career best) at the UAW Ford 500 at Talladega in October, Toyota's best finish to date.
His team is the only Toyota team in the top 35 in owner points (besides the Joe Gibbs teams) That guarantees a starting spot in the first 5 races of the following year. Dave Blaney will stay in the #22 racecar for the 2008 season.
[edit] Busch Series
Blaney began his Busch Series career in 1998 with Bill Davis Racing. He signed to drive a Busch Series car for Davis, the #93 Amoco Pontiac and in his first season he had an impressive three sixth-place finishes and a pole position at Lowe's Motor Speedway. 1999 was even better, when his pole total rose to four and he climbed up to seventh place in the final points standings. He also finished second twice during the 1999 season. He would return to the Busch Series in 2000 with a limited schedule in BDR’s #20 AT&T Pontiac. He would gain a pole position at Charlotte and also finish 3rd twice. In 2001, Blaney would compete in one race for Bryan Goewey’s #93 team. He would finish the race last after a suspension failure. For the 2002 season he would compete in a race for Marsh Racing and the #31 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet. After starting the race in the 13th position and leading three laps he would finish 35th with an ignition problem. He would return to the team for the 2003 season and post a best finish of 9th at Richmond. He would start out the 2004 season again with Marsh Racing’s 31 team, however after competing in three races for them they opted to switch drivers. Later in the season, Blaney would run three races for FitzBradshaw Racing with a best finish of 19th in the #14 Navy Chevrolet. In 2005, he would return to Marsh Racing and run nine races with the team. His best finish would come at Dover, a 12th place finish. For 2006, Blaney returned to Busch Series competition driving the #32 ABF U-Pack Moving Chevrolet for Braun-Akins Racing. Blaney debuted with the team at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May and finished 15th. Blaney won his first Busch Series race on October 13, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He has returned to Braun Racing to run the entire 2007 Busch Series season with sponsorship from ABF Freight System, Inc, Hass Avocados, Fan1st.com, and Camping World.
[edit] Craftsman Truck Series
Blaney has made two starts in the Craftsman Truck Series His first start would come in 2004 with Bill Davis Racing. He would start the #23 Toyota Tundra Toyota in 5th place at Dover and finish the race in the 6th position.
His second start was at the 2007 Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway running a 4th truck for Bill Davis Racing. Blaney qualified 5th and finished 10th in the #22 Caterpillar Toyota Tundra. \
[edit] External links
- Dave Blaney Official Web Site
- Drivers statistics at racing-reference.info
- NASCAR driver Blaney a reason racing is so popular
- Dave Blaney at The Inside Groove.com
| Bill Davis Racing | |
| Sprint Cup Drivers | Dave Blaney (#22) |
| Craftsman Truck Series Drivers | Mike Skinner (#5) | Scott Speed (#22) | Johnny Benson (#23) |
| Development drivers | Michael Annett |
| Owner(s) | Bill Davis |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Steve Kinser |
World of Outlaws Champion 1995 |
Succeeded by Mark Kinser |
