Race 2 Win: Sony HD 500 - Mike Bliss Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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Sony HD 500 - Mike Bliss Notes

Mike Bliss/NetZero Best Buy Racing Fontana Fast Facts

Mike Bliss, driver of the NetZero Best Buy Chevrolet, will make his 60th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start when the green flag drops for the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway Sunday evening.

BLISS ON FONTANA…“We’re looking forward to getting to Fontana. We know we’ve got a good car because it’s the same car we ran in Indianapolis and we’re coming off a Top-10 finish from Bristol, so I think momentum is really on our side. The guys have worked really hard in the pits and Bootie has made some great calls on pit road and things just sort of seem to be coming together for us. We had a pretty good finish the last time we were in Fontana and I think we’ve got everything we need to be strong right off the truck and throughout the weekend again this time around. Obviously we have the horsepower that we need in our Hendrick Engines and we know we’ve got a pretty good car to go with that. One good thing about California Speedway is that it is pretty wide and you can try a couple of different lines in an effort to get the most out of the car. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the track as the night wears on. We’re excited about our chances for another good finish this weekend.”

FONTANA NOTES OF INTEREST

The Haas CNC Racing team will utilize chassis 003 for the running of the Sony HD 500. This is the same car Bliss drove to an 11th-place finish several weeks ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Though Bliss has only competed in two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events in Fontana, he has plenty of experience at the two-mile oval. Bliss has four Busch Series starts under his belt as well as four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts. Bliss won the Truck Series event from the pole in his first race there in 1997 and has never finished outside the Top-10 in his four races there. In the Busch Series, Bliss has qualified inside the Top-15 three times and has three Top-17 finishes.

Bliss drove the NetZero Best Buy Racing Chevrolet to 12th place earlier this season at California Speedway after qualifying in the top 10.

Bliss led the team’s first laps of the season last weekend in Bristol on his way to a seventh-place finish. It was Bliss’ third top-11 finish in the past five races.

News and Results | Point Standings | 2005 Schedule | 2005 Teams | 2004 Schedule and Results