Dave Blaney
No. 07 “Happy Birthday Jack” Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Sharpie 500 – August 27, 2005
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tenn.
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car at Bristol Motor Speedway … Dave Blaney will pilot chassis No. 147 from the Richard Childress Racing stable. Built new for 2005, this is the same Jack Daniel’s Chevy Blaney raced earlier this month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (started 30th, finished 30th).
Happy Birthday Jack … Blaney’s Jack Daniel’s Chevy will sport a commemorative “Happy Birthday Jack” paint scheme this weekend at Bristol. Jasper Newton ‘Jack’ Daniel was the first to register his distillery with the federal government in 1866 and would have turned 155 this September.
Meet the Driver … Blaney will sign autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer Saturday, August 27 from 3:15-4 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available and can be obtained at the trailer.
Meet the Driver Part Two … Blaney will also appear at the Jack Daniel’s Experience - a 53-foot tractor trailer filled with artifacts, state-of-the art video monitors, sound system and graphics to give race fans a taste of Lynchburg and the Distillery - Friday, August 26 and Saturday, August 27 from 4-4:30 p.m. The Jack Daniel’s Experience will be located on speedway grounds outside the front straightaway toward turn four. Autographs will be available on a first come, first serve basis.
Meet the Owner … Team owner Richard Childress will also appear at the Jack Daniel’s Experience Saturday, August 27 from 3-3:15 p.m. Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Jimmy Bedford will also be on hand throughout the weekend to greet race fans and sign autographs.
Up to Speed … The Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, August 27 at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on TNT and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 24th of 36 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events will take the green flag at 6 p.m. Friday, August 26 and will be broadcast live on TNT, PRN and XM Satellite Radio.
DAVE BLANEY QUOTES:
When drivers talk about Bristol, we tend to get a mixed bag of reviews. Some guys love it, other guys hate hit. What’s your take?
“It’s a tough place to race – a tough place to survive. The good part is we had a really good car there in the spring. We qualified second and the Jack Daniel’s Chevy was really good in the race. We had a clutch problem and that got us behind but we ran well all day. Kevin (Harvick) won the race and we ran well so if you look at that side of it, we should have cars that run and handle good. After that, the main thing is surviving. There’s just not much room to race at Bristol. You need a car that runs good in that one lane and hope you can make some passes and stay out of trouble. Most times you have to back up and not be aggressive in most situations. The guys that really try to make something happen always seem to be the ones who wreck or get wrecked. You’ve got to be smart.”
Can you pass other cars on the outside?
“No. You’re not going to pass anyone around the outside – at least not any good cars. We used to be able to run the top before they poured the concrete but not anymore. The bottom groove is so fast that you just can’t make the top work.”
So what’s the key to picking up positions at Bristol?
“It just depends on how good your car is. If your car is good enough you can drive by people all day long. You can get under them coming off the corner, get position going down the straightaway into the corner and you got ‘em. It’s a timing thing. If you’re better than the guy in front of you, you have to back up just a bit and leave a little gap in front of you and get a run across the center of the corner. That way you’re running faster than they are on the exit and you can get under the other car down the straightaway. If it’s not good enough to do that you kind of protect what you have and see what happens. You just can’t put yourself at risk.”
You and Scott (Miller) have one race under your belt together. Do you like the direction you guys are headed?
“I think Scott does a great job. All the guys really like and respect him. All of us have a vision of what we need to do and where we need to improve. Unfortunately, we can’t snap our fingers and make it happen. It’s going to take a little time to get going but hopefully in a couple weeks we’ll see it happening.”
