Dave Blaney No. 22
Cat Racing Event Preview
Atlanta Motor Speedway
GOLDEN CORRAL 500 NEWS AND NOTES
This Week’s Wheels…The No. 22 Caterpillar car scheduled to compete in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway is chassis No. 65. This is the same car the team utilized last season in the second races at Michigan International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, California Speedway and in Indianapolis.
What Happened Last Week…Dave Blaney and crew battled a tight-handling racecar all weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Things didn’t get any better during the race, though the pit crew turned in great pit stops to keep Blaney in contention to get his lost lap back all day long. The team finished in the 31st position and now stands tied for 28th in the owners’ point standings.
Using the Buddy System…Blaney will have one more teammate this weekend in Atlanta. Bill Davis Racing NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Bill Lester is scheduled to make his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start with the No. 23 Waste Management team this weekend., He will be joining teammates Michael Waltrip and Blaney.
In Case You’re Keeping Track …Blaney will make his 203rd career Nextel Cup Series start when the green flag waves to start the Golden Corral 500. His first NASCAR Cup start came in October 1992 at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway.
No Stranger to the Place…Blaney has made 12 NEXTEL Cup Series starts on the 1.5-mile Atlanta-area track and tied his best finish there (eighth) last season in the spring event. Blaney qualified fifth for the fall race at the speedway and has qualified as high as third (2001). Blaney has also made three starts at AMS in the NASCAR Busch Series and has never finished outside the top 15. He also has one Busch Series pole position to his credit.
Don’t Miss Atlanta’s Action …Qualifying for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Golden Corral 500 is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. EST Friday, March 17 and will broadcast LIVE on SPEED (TV), PRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio Channel 144. The 500-mile event is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. EST Sunday, March 19, and will broadcast LIVE on FOX (TV), PRN and XM Satellite Radio Channel 144.
Weekly Visit to Souvenir Alley…Blaney is scheduled to make a stop at the Caterpillar merchandise trailer to meet fans and sign autographs. He will be there Saturday afternoon following the conclusion of Cup practice. Stop by the merchandise trailer for more information.
Dave Blaney on Atlanta…
“Atlanta has always been a great place to race. It’s big, it’s fast, and it’s wide enough to pass on, so I think just about everyone enjoys going there. I like the mile-and-a-half tracks that have a little bit of character – I’ve always enjoyed those the most – and Atlanta is one of those kinds of tracks. A little bit of banking, room to pass and enough speed to remind you it won’t be a day spent strolling through the park is what makes it great. This Cat team needs Atlanta Motor Speedway right now. We’ve not been happy with the results of the past couple of weeks and hopefully this weekend will give up the opportunity to turn things around. The pit crew was great, and we kept working to make things better last Sunday. We were a little off right from the start of the weekend, and while we crept up on it a bit, we could just never catch up to where we needed to be. We’re a better team than what we’ve shown: there’s no doubt in our minds, and we need to have the opportunity to show ourselves and everybody else what this team is capable of. There’s no reason this shouldn’t be the weekend where we can do that.”
