DAVE BLANEY QUOTES:
Is there any advantage whatsoever in trying to make a deal with someone at a place like Martinsville to try and work together to get to the front?
“Not at all - unless you promise a guy that you won’t run in to him and even that’s not a real promise. That’s the only way you can help someone. It’s tough to pass good cars at Martinsville, even if you are a little better. You get your car really good at certain places on the track where you can go and pass people fairly easy. As far as working your way from the back to the front, you’re on your own.”

Did a second groove open up at Martinsville in the spring?
“The last couple times the second groove has been raceable for sure. The outside may not have been as fast as the inside but it’s definitely been raceable. But, you never know it’s different every weekend. The tire is kind of a variable too, so that’s going to throw something else into the equation. Martinsville is notorious for rubber building up on the race track – big chucks of rubber and ropey chunks of rubber and with the softer the tire, the more of that you’ll see. Where you run is very dependant on where the rubber is building up on the track. I’m guessing all the rubber will build up from the center of the track toward the top, so my guess is we’ll race on the bottom all day like it’s been for the last however many years.”