CAT RACING EVENT PREVIEW
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
DIRECTV 500
Track: Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. (.526-mile oval)
Race: DIRECTV 500 Date: 04.02.06
MARTINSVILLE FAST FACTS
Martinsville’s Machine…The No. 22 Caterpillar car scheduled to compete in the DIRECTV 500 at Martinsville Speedway this weekend is chassis No. 88.
Bristol Rewind…Once again, weather played a major factor at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, as all on-track activities Friday, including qualifying, were cancelled due to rain. Being only the fifth race of the season, the field was set based on last year’s owners’ points, and the team lined up on the starting grid in the 32nd position. Dave Blaney ran as high as 16th during the race and was poised for the team’s highest finish of the season until a late-race spin hindered his efforts. The team was able to rebound from the incident to finish 23rd.
Blaney’s Career Stats…Blaney will make his 205th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start when the green flag drops Sunday afternoon. He made his first career NASCAR Cup Series start in October 1992 at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway. His first career Cup Series start at Martinsville Speedway came in April 2000 aboard a Bill Davis Racing-owned car.
Back For More…Blaney has made 10 NEXTEL Cup Series starts on the .526-mile Martinsville short track and has earned three top-20 finishes. He has qualified in the top 15 on two occasions, and drove to his best finish at the track (16th) last fall.
Martinsville’s Broadcast Schedule…Qualifying for the NASCAR Nextel Cup DIRECTV 500 is scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m. EST Friday, March 31 and will broadcast LIVE on SPEED (TV), MRN (radio) and XM Satellite Radio Channel 144. The 500-lap event is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. EST Sunday, April 2, and will broadcast LIVE on FOX (TV), MRN and XM Satellite Radio Channel 144.
Dave Blaney on Martinsville…
“Last week’s race in Bristol helped us see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we’re all looking forward to getting back to the track, especially to a place like Martinsville. We were frustrated heading into Bristol because we know we’re a better team than what our results had shown, but I was really proud of the way everyone on this team responded to the circumstances. Instead of getting down on themselves or each other, everyone worked even harder and came together as a team. Even though we didn’t end up exactly where we would have liked last week, the car was pretty good and responded to the changes Kevin [Hamlin, crew chief] and the guys made to it all day, which was a big relief for us because that’s what where we struggled in the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, last week was the turning point of our season so far. We have a good car for Martinsville; one that has run there before so we know what to expect from it, and everybody in the shop has been working really hard to make sure that from this point forward we run like we know we’re capable of running. Like I said, we see a light at the end of the tunnel now, and I think this weekend should be a good one for us. We were so close to that top-15 finish we were hoping for last week, so we’ll head to Martinsville and try again. As long as we can stay out of trouble, there really isn’t any reason to think that won’t happen for us.”
