Dave Blaney
No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Samsung/Radio Shack 500 – April 17, 2005
Venue: Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, Texas
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car at Texas Motor Speedway … Dave Blaney will pilot chassis No. 131 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same car Blaney raced to an eighth-place finish last month at Atlanta and a 13th-place finish at Las Vegas.
Head Aggie … Crew Chief Philippe Lopez calls TMS his home track. Although Lopez was born in Verdun, France, he grew up in San Antonio and attended college at Texas A&M University in College Station.
Tested and True … Blaney and the Jack Daniel’s racing team tested at Texas Motor Speedway March 23 – 24.
Back in Black … After sporting a blue SKF paint scheme last week at Martinsville, Jack Daniel’s returns to its primary sponsorship role of Blaney’s No. 07 this week at TMS.
Blaney, Ryan that is, Wins at Concord … Blaney’s 11-year-old son Ryan won his second Bandolero race Sunday night at Concord (N.C.) Motorsports Park.
Meet the Driver … Blaney will sign autographs at Bono’s of Plano on Thursday, April 14 from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Bono’s of Plano is located at 4801 West Park Blvd Suite No. 435 in Plano, Texas.
Meet the Driver Part Two … Blaney will sign autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer Saturday, April 16 immediately following the NASCAR Busch Series race.
Up to Speed …The Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, April 17 beginning at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on FOX and be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the seventh of 36 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events will air live on Speed Friday, April 15 at 3 p.m. EDT and will also be broadcast live on PRN and XM Satellite Radio.
DAVE BLANEY QUOTES:
Is it a relief going to Texas after two weeks of short track racing?
“I wouldn’t say it’s a relief exactly. I look forward to going to Texas. I like those types of race tracks and I really like Texas. We had a couple of good race cars at Bristol and Martinsville. We can’t complain about the speed of our cars, we just had bad things happen. That’s part of what can happen at short tracks. We think the next couple of weeks are going to be really good for us. We tested well at Texas and they ran well with Robby (Gordon) last year at Phoenix. We have good race cars for the next two races, so hopefully everything goes smoothly.”
You’ve talked in the past about how the mile-and-a-half race tracks suit your driving style. What is it about those types of tracks that you enjoy?
“I don’t really know. I just like racing on them. It seems like for the types of cars we race – these big cars - those tracks are the right size. Maybe it doesn’t put on the best show for the fans but they’re fun to drive and personally I like them. Ever since I started running stock cars, I’ve liked those types of race tracks. Nothing really sticks out. I just feel the most comfortable on those types of tracks.”
PHILIPPE LOPEZ QUOTES:
What’s your outlook heading into what can be termed your home race track?
“We tested really good and it’s always fun to go home. I haven’t lived in Texas since 1987, so it’s getting close to 20 years, but it will always be home. I grew up in San Antonio and that’s about five hours south of Dallas, but my mom still lives there and a lot of my friends still live there too. When I was growing up, we used to go to Texas World Speedway in College Station during NASCAR’s short stint there. I was pretty excited when they built the race track near Dallas because it’s kind of like having something back home. I’ll see a little bit of family and I have some friends coming up from San Antonio and to cap the whole weekend off, the test went really well both in qualifying trim and race trim. I’m pretty excited about going home.”
Dave indicated that high-banked, mile-and-a-half race tracks seem to be best suited for these types of race cars. Do you agree?
“To get a 3,600 pound monster to go around the race track – it helps if you have banking. It helps if you have room. It helps if you don’t have to hit the brake. Those are all things that make the car easier to drive as opposed to Bristol or Martinsville where you’re just wrestling the car all day long. It’s kind of like driving a car on ice. Places like Texas and Charlotte are better suited for these types of cars. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still difficult because you’re going so fast, but the driver can do more things with the car. At Martinsville and Bristol you have to spend so much time worrying about having superior brakes and cooling systems and things like that where at a place like Texas if you focus on having a good handling race car, everything else pretty much takes care of itself.”
