Cat Racing Event Preview
Richmond International Raceway
Crown Royal Presents the Jim Stewart 400
Richmond International Raceway News and Notes
Richmond’s Ride…The No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Dave Blaney is scheduled to drive in the event this weekend is COT 17. This is a brand new Car of Tomorrow.
Blaney’s Career Stats…Blaney will make his 244th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start when the green flag waves Saturday evening. He made his first career Cup Series start in October 1992 at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway and finished 34th after qualifying 32nd for his first Cup Series start at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in 2000. Like this weekend, Blaney was aboard a Bill Davis Racing-owned machine.
Blaney at Richmond…Blaney has made 13 starts on the .75-mile oval during his Cup Series career, starting as high as third (2002) and finishing as high as fourth (2006). He has scored two top-10 finishes in Cup Series competition at Richmond and has qualified in the top 10 once. Blaney drove to his best finish of the season during the 2006 fall event at the track. In addition, Blaney’s Bill Davis Racing ride was among the fastest of all the competitors at the track during testing several weeks ago.
BDR at RIR…Competitors driving Bill Davis Racing-owned cars have been racing at the Richmond area track since 1993 and have made 37 starts. Those drivers have posted one top five finish, six top-10 finishes and have completed 14,451 of 14,786 possible laps (97.7 percent). A BDR entry has also sat on the pole in Richmond twice.
Bring Your Sharpie…Blaney will sign autographs at the Caterpillar souvenir trailer Saturday afternoon. Stop by the Cat souvenir trailer or visit www.daveblaney.com for updates and additional information.
Blaney’s Busch Battle…Blaney holds the third spot in the NASCAR Busch Series drivers’ point standings. He will attempt to gain ground on the leader again this week during the Circuit City 250 presented by FUNAI Friday evening. Blaney has made 12 Busch Series starts at the track. He has qualified in the top 10 four times and has finished inside the top 10 on three occasions.
Bring on Bobby…Blaney will have a teammate of sorts this weekend in the Busch Series race, as Bobby Santos hopes to make his Busch Series debut Friday night. Santos has been behind the wheel of the No. 02 BDR Toyota in three ARCA RE/MAX Series races this season and will pilot the No. 91 Toyota Camry this weekend in Richmond in a joint venture between BDR and Riley-D’Hondt Motorsports. Santos was among the fastest of all Busch Series competitors during testing several weeks ago.
Richmond Broadcast Schedule…Qualifying for Saturday’s event is scheduled to start at 6:10 pm. ET Friday, May 4. The 400-lap event is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, May 5, and will broadcast LIVE on FOX (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio.
Dave Blaney on Richmond International Raceway…“Last weekend was a disaster, and we’re all still reeling from it. But we’re really happy to be heading to Richmond this weekend, and we hope to be able to put the disappointment and embarrassment of not making the race behind us. Not only is Richmond a great track to race on, but our Caterpillar Toyota was really good during testing there a couple of weeks ago. We’ve got a brand new car that we think is going to be even better than the one we had. We ran well in Richmond last year, and even though we’re obviously going back there with a different type of car, our confidence levels are pretty high. The energy level at the shop on Monday was really high, too, and I think being home on raceday made everyone realize just how important this sport is to them. Everyone associated with this Cat team, both from a BDR standpoint as well as a Caterpillar corporate standpoint, works too hard not to see that No. 22 Toyota in the race.”
