Cat Racing Event Preview
Dave Blaney and Butch Leitzinger
Infineon Raceway
Toyota/Save Mart 350
Infineon Raceway News and Notes
Seeing Double…There will be two Cat/BDR entries at the road course this weekend. Dave Blaney will be joined this weekend at Bill Davis Racing by road racer Butch Leitzinger who will drive the No. 23 Caterpillar Racing entry at Infineon Raceway. Jeremy Mayfield will return to his regular ride in the No. 36 360 OTC Toyota next week at [Loudon] New Hampshire International Speedway.
Leitzinger Lowdown…Leitzinger has made three starts in NASCAR Nextel Cup Series competition – all at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International – and has finished as high as 12th. Leitzinger takes a break from his American LeMans Series driving duties with Dyson Racing to compete in the event at Infineon Raceway for BDR. The 38-year old from Homestead, Pa., has won the 24 Hours of Daytona three times, the World Sportscar Championship twice and both the CanAm Championship and IMSA GTU Championship. He has also posted three victories in NASCAR’s Busch North Series and a podium finish in the NASCAR Busch Series event at Watkins Glen International.
Blaney’s No. 22 Camry…The No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Blaney is scheduled to drive this weekend at Infineon Raceway is COT 11. The team has tested this Toyota Camry at Virginia International Raceway twice during the last several weeks in preparation for this event.
Leitzinger’s No. 23 Camry…The team has prepared COT 9 for Leitzinger to drive this weekend. Though this car wasn’t tested at VIR, Leitzinger spent several days testing with the team at that track.
Blaney’s Career Stats…Blaney hopes to make his 249th career Nextel Cup Series start when the green flag waves Sunday afternoon. He made his first career Cup Series start in October 1992 at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway and finished 29th after qualifying 43rd for his first Cup Series start in Sonoma in 2000. Like this weekend, Blaney was aboard a Bill Davis Racing-owned machine.
Blaney at Infineon…Blaney has made six starts on the 1.99-mile road course during his Cup Series career, starting as high as 15th (2003) and finishing as high as 19th. He has scored two top-20 finishes in Cup Series competition at the Sonoma, Calif., track. Blaney has competed in a Bill Davis Racing entry at Infineon Raceway three times.
BDR at Infineon…Competitors driving Bill Davis Racing-owned cars have been racing at the track since 1993 and have made 18 starts. Those drivers have posted three top-10 finishes.
Hubert does Double Duty at Home…Tom Hubert, a native of Cottonwood, Calif. and rear tire changer for the No. 22 Caterpillar Racing team, will once again compete in the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series event at Infineon Raceway Saturday afternoon. Hubert finished fifth in the race last year after starting in the 11th spot.
Blaney’s Busch Battle…Blaney moved up to second in the Busch Series drivers’ point standings after last week’s 15th-place finish at Kentucky Speedway. He will attempt to gain ground on the leader again this weekend during the AT&T 250 Saturday evening at The Milwaukee Mile. Blaney will fly to the Milwaukee-area track after Cup Series practice Saturday to compete in the event. This is the third consecutive weekend that Blaney will travel back and forth from the Cup Series and Busch Series races.
Sonoma’s Broadcast Schedule…Qualifying for Sunday’s event is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. ET Friday, June 22. The 224-mile event is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. ET Sunday, June 24, and will broadcast LIVE on TNT (TV), PRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio.
Blaney on Infineon…“We’ve done a fair amount of testing to get ready for Infineon Raceway, and we feel like we’ve done everything we can to prepare for it. We’ll just have to see how things go once we get there. There are a bunch of road course guys going, and that makes us a little nervous being outside the top 35, but it should help to have Butch Leitzinger as a teammate this weekend. He’s got just a ton of experience on road courses, and that should be beneficial to both of our teams. Hopefully we’ll be able to get both of these Caterpillar Camrys in the show. That would be pretty neat to see, and we’d like to be able to do that for Cat. We also made up a little bit of the ground that we had lost on the top 35, and we need to keep that trend going.”
