Race 2 Win: USG Durock 300 - Dave Blaney Notes

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USG Durock 300 - Dave Blaney Notes

Dave Blaney
No. 31 Whelen Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: USG Durock 300 – July 9, 2005
Venue: Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, Ill.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Chicagoland Speedway … Dave Blaney will pilot chassis No. 019 from the Marsh Racing stable. This is the same car Blaney raced to a 19th-place finish earlier this season at Las Vegas and a 24th-place effort at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Todd Bodine finished fifth with the same car last fall at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RCR Chips In ... Blaney’s Jack Daniel’s NEXTEL Cup Series over-the-wall crew will pit the No. 31 Busch Series entry on Saturday. Crew chief Philippe Lopez and team engineer Brian Bass will also be on hand to help call the race.

Blaney’s Best … Blaney’s best finish for Marsh Racing is a ninth-place effort at Richmond in September 2003. All totaled, the Hartford, Ohio, native owns seven top-five and 22 top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Busch Series with a pair of career-best runner-up efforts coming at Atlanta (3/13) and Darlington (9/4) in 1999.

David vs. Goliath … In 59 Busch Series starts, Marsh Racing, headquartered in Old Lyme, Conn., has earned three top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. In 2003, Blaney recorded three top-10s for Marsh Racing at Michigan (8/16), Richmond (9/5) and Atlanta (10/25).

Not Just NASCAR … In addition to its Busch Series efforts, Marsh Racing fields a C5 Corvette for Whelen Engineering owner Sonny Whelen in the SCCA SPEED World Challenge. Whelen earned an 11th-place finish last weekend at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

Whelen’s Way … For more than 50 years, Whelen and its 800 fulltime employees have provided innovative emergency lighting and siren products in the automotive, aviation, industrial, emergency management and traffic management markets. Whelen is also a household name to race fans across America. Whelen is the title sponsor of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the Official Licensed Warning Lights of NASCAR. The company also provides emergency lights for safety vehicles, tracks and pace cars for ASA, ARCA, IRL, CART, IROC, SCCA, and The World of Outlaws. All Whelen products are made in America.

Up to Speed … The USG Durock 300 NASCAR Busch Series race will be televised live Saturday, July 9 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on NBC and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the USG Durock 300 will air live on SPEED Friday, July 8 at 6 p.m. EDT.

DAVE BLANEY QUOTES:
The Busch Series program has definitely taken a few steps forward since the beginning of the season. Do you like where Marsh Racing is headed?
“For sure. We had a decent run at Dover and got going really good at the end of the race. We’re finding out a little bit more about what those cars like. I think we’ll be really competitive at Chicagoland especially with RCR motors. We qualified fourth there a few years ago and were running really well for during the first half of the race and kind of fell off towards the end.”

A lot of drivers run a heavier Busch Series schedule and you’re running 10 races. Would you prefer to run more or is 10 just about right for you?
“I think we would be a little more competitive if we ran every week. It just makes the team better if you’re out the running every week. My guys are from Connecticut so it’s a pretty long pull for them if we were running a lot more. I’d run them all if the Whelen guys made that commitment. The Whelen guys run good. We’ve got RCR motors and my Jack Daniel’s team pits the car and Philippe (Lopez) and Brian (Bass) help out, too. It’s a little harder when you only run once a month but we can still get it done.”

Is there much of a difference in handling between your NEXTEL Cup and Busch car at Chicago?
“There’s a good bit of that everywhere. It’s more pronounced this year because the Cup spoilers are shorter than the spoiler on the Busch car. Now the Busch cars are actually easier to drive than the Cup cars and it wasn’t always that way. It used to be the other way around. Now the Busch cars are stuck to the track better and are more comfortable to drive.”

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