Dave Blaney
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Auto Club 500 – February 27, 2005
Venue: California Speedway – Fontana, Calif.
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car at California Speedway … Dave Blaney will pilot chassis No. 128 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same car Robby Gordon raced to an 18th-place finish last October at Charlotte.
Test in the West … Blaney and the Jack Daniel’s Racing Team tested at California Speedway Feb. 2-3.
Blowin’ in the Wind … Following qualifying at Daytona, crew chief Philippe Lopez returned to Charlotte to oversee Chassis No. 128 at the wind tunnel in Mooresville, N.C. The results proved favorable enough that Lopez chose to use Chassis No. 128 as the primary car this weekend instead of the Jack Daniel’s Chevy Blaney tested at California earlier this month.
California Kids … Four members of the Jack Daniel’s Racing Team hail from Southern California. Car Chief Kirk Almquist along with his twin brother Clint are from Blythe, team engineer Brian Bass grew up in Yorba Linda and tire specialist Dan Graves was born in nearby Thousand Oaks.
Meet the Driver … Blaney will sign autographs at California Speedway at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer Saturday, Feb. 26 from 2 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Meet the Driver Part Two … Blaney will appear at California Speedway’s Party Zone Hospitality Tent at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 27. For additional information, please contact the California Speedway ticket office.
Up to Speed…The Auto Club 500 will be telecast live on FOX Sunday, Feb. 27 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and will be broadcast live on MRN and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying is set for Saturday Feb. 26 at 3 p.m. EST and will be covered live on FX, MRN and XM Satellite Radio beginning at 1 p.m.
DAVE BLANEY QUOTES
What’s your approach to California?
“California is a track where you need everything. You need a good motor, good body on the race car and you need to handle well. It literally takes all three of those variables to be successful at California because of the speeds on the straightaways and the shape of the corners. You have to go there with good stuff right off the bat. Our test earlier this month at California didn’t go as well as we had hoped but I think we know what we need to be better.”
How will the new tire compound affect your strategy?
“It’s going to be pretty unpredictable what the tires are going to do. During testing, the tires fell off so bad speedwise that it’s going to be anyone’s guess if the race goes green for a long time. With the new tires, if someone is handling really well that guy is just going to be gone. We’re going to focus on getting the Jack Daniel’s Chevy handling as good as we can and go from there.”
Based on the tire situation, will fuel mileage be as big of an issue as it had been in year’s past?
“Some of that will be cut out with this tire. This tire slows down so much you’re going to have to get tires when the caution comes out. The fuel mileage game is going to be taken out of the equation because you’re just not going to be able to stay out on tires without being killed by guys on fresh rubber. You might see it a little bit at the end of the race but nothing like we’ve seen before. The fall off in speeds isn’t far from what we’ve seen at Darlington and Rockingham. It’s pretty drastic. If you run 10 laps under green and a caution comes out, you’ll be getting tires. You won’t be staying out on tires, I don’t think anyone will. It’s going to be four tires every time.”
Will that place a bigger emphasis on the performance of the pit crews?
“The more times you pit, the more times it’s going to show up. I do think it’s going to be easier to pass on the track than it has been in the past because handling is going to be at a premium, so better cars are going to go to the front. If you’re really good, even if you lose it on pit road, you’ll be able to gain it back on the race track.”
Is there one particular place at California that lends itself to passing?
“Probably the front straightaway, that’s the place you’ll see the most. It’s getting a run off turn four. Turn four is probably the slipperiest part of the track. It’s all about how you can get to the throttle and turn the car between three and four and that will dictate your speed down the front stretch. That’s where you’ll see the good guys making passes.”
