Salute to the Troops 250 presented by Dodge - Blake Feese Notes

BLAKE FEESE
NO. 5 LOWE’S / SHOP VAC CHEVROLET
PIKE’S PEAK PREVIEW

THIS WEEK’S DRIVER – BLAKE FEESE: Blake Feese will make his fifth start of the 2005 Busch Series season this weekend at Pike’s Peak International Raceway. Feese, 23, hails from Saybrook, IL.

Signed to Hendrick Motorsports last year, Feese scored two wins (Nashville Superspeedway and Talladega Superspeedway) in four 2004 ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) starts. Feese also made seven Busch Series starts in 2004; three starts in the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevy and four starts in the No. 00 Haas Chevy, both in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports.

In his previous starts behind the wheel of the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevy, Feese finished 23rd at Atlanta Motor Speedway, 28th at Bristol Motor Speedway, 37th at Texas Motor Speedway, and 34th at Kentucky Speedway.

Driving the No. 15 Chevrolet for Ballew Motorsports, Feese finished 15th in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut earlier this month at Kentucky Speedway.

Q&A WITH DRIVER BLAKE FEESE

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO THE PIKE’S PEAK TRACK? “No, I’ve only watched a few races on television. I hear the place can get pretty slick in the heat of the day, but that it’s a fun track to race on, so I’m looking forward to seeing the place.”

HAVE YOU ASKED ANY OF YOUR HENDRICK TEAMMATES FOR POINTERS ON PIKE’S PEAK? “No, I haven’t. It’s kind of hard to ask a guy to tell you about a track when he’s not standing there with you at the track. You know, it’s been a year since Kyle (Busch) has seen the place, and it’s just human nature to forget some of the little details about the place unless you’re standing there looking at the track.

“What I will do is go to the rookie meeting and let David Green (who speaks at most rookie meetings) tell us what to expect about the place. David’s also really good about giving you a ride around the track in a rental car and pointing out a lot of the little things you need to know about a place. He’s been great to me about letting me quiz him after practice, too. I really appreciate how open he is with sharing his experiences and his knowledge about these different tracks. It’s been a real help to me.

“Once I get out there and see how our car is reacting to the track, I’ll give Kyle a call and describe what I’m feeling. He’s been pretty good about being able to take the info I give him and relate it to what he remembers about the different tracks and how his car felt when he raced there. He helped me out a lot when I drove the (No. 15) truck at Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, even though it was just us talking on the phone.”

SPEAKING OF THE TRUCK RACE YOU RAN AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY, DO YOU FEEL LIKE THAT EXPERIENCE HELPED YOUR DRIVING? “Yeah, I think it did. First, just getting more seat time is always going to help you. With Boston and I splitting the Busch ride, I really haven’t gotten a ton of seat time this season, so just making laps was a positive. But, the way the trucks drive also helped me in learning more about how the full-sized stock cars handle. I’d love to do some more truck races, if we can work it out with Billy Ballew somehow. I think it could really help my learning curve.”

CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 298– Chassis No. 298 was new to the Hendrick Motorsports stable in 2004. Kyle Busch started on the pole and drove this car to a runner-up finish at Phoenix International Raceway last November. Busch also drove this chassis to fifth-place finishes at Gateway International Raceway last May, at Dover International Speedway last June, and placed third with it in the August night race at Bristol Motor Speedway. This season, Jimmie Johnson drove this chassis to a 25th-place finish at Richmond International Raceway in May, and Blake Feese drove it to a 34th-place finish at Kentucky Speedway in June.

TEAM NO. 5’s HISTORY AT PIKE’S PEAK: The No. 5 team has never qualified outside the top-10 at Pike’s Peak International Raceway. In 2003, Brian Vickers qualified fourth, but completed just 29 laps before an accident took him out of the event.

Last year, Kyle Busch qualified on the outside of the front row for this event. Around lap 80, some teams chose to take on new tires, but the Lowe’s team kept Busch on track to save a new set of tires for late in the race. A tight handling condition kept Busch from being able to stay ahead of those drivers who had fresher tires, and Busch ended up a lap down.

Busch then pitted under green flag conditions to take on new tires, only to see a caution flag come out a few laps later, trapping the No. 5 team another lap down. Busch finished 17th, two laps down to the leaders.

MULTI-DRIVER TEAM: The No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing crew is competing for the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series owners’ points championship with six different drivers.

Kyle Busch has driven the No. 5 in six races, including a win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. Boston Reid has five starts in the No. 5, while Blake Feese has raced the Lowe’s entry on four occasions. Jimmie Johnson scored the team’s first pole position of 2005 at Darlington Raceway and finished fifth in the No. 5 at Dover International Speedway.

Open-wheel star Adrian Fernandez posted a top-10 finish in the Mexico City Busch Series race, and will drive the No. 5 in Busch Series races at California Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway later this season.

Kyle Krisiloff qualified 26th in the No. 5 in his Busch Series debut at the Milwaukee Mile in June, but an engine problem just 25 laps into the event left him with a 42nd-place finish. Plans call for Krisiloff to also drive the No. 5 at Memphis Motorsports Park in October.

STATS & FACTS