Cat Racing/Dave Blaney Event Preview
Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Sprint Showdown
Lowe’s Motor Speedway News and Notes
This Week’s Car…The Caterpillar Racing team plans to utilize chassis No. 19 for the Sprint Showdown. This car has been tested extensively in the past several weeks both at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway and at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Concord, N.C. It was also run earlier this season at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Darlington Review…During qualifying for the event at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team posted the quickest time of the teams outside the top 35 in owners’ points and started the Dodge Challenger 500 in the 13th spot. The team broke into the top 10 early in the event and never looked back, running as high as third. Blaney took the checkered flag in the ninth position and moved the team into the top 35 in owners’ points heading into the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Showdown Stats…Blaney has made 11 starts in what has become known as the Sprint Showdown. Blaney started from the pole position in 2004 and qualified in the third spot for last year’s event. He has finished as high as second (2003). Blaney has completed every lap of the events in which he has competed.
Bring Your Sharpie…Look for Blaney to stop by the Caterpillar/Toyota Racing merchandise hauler to sign autographs this weekend. Please check with the trailer for exact times.
Practice Makes Perfect…The No. 22 Caterpillar team tested at Lowe’s Motor Speedway two weeks ago in preparation for the upcoming events there.
Showdown Broadcast Schedule…Qualifying for the event at Lowe’s is scheduled to start at 5:10 p.m. ET Friday, May 16. The 40-lap event is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, May 17, and will broadcast LIVE on Speed (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio.
Blaney’s Thoughts on the Sprint Showdown…
“The Sprint Showdown and the All-Star race are always a lot of fun and great events for the fans. Sprint does a good job putting on a great show, and it’s a nice break from the rigors of points racing. In both the Showdown and the All-Star race there is only one goal, and that’s to win. Second place gets you nothing, so it’s usually anything goes type of racing. Our program has really come a long way in the past couple of weeks, and we had what we think was a pretty successful test at Lowe’s a couple of weeks ago, so there’s no reason to think that this Caterpillar team can’t be in contention for the win in the Showdown. It would be a nice reward for the guys at BDR and for our sponsors. We’ve really been working hard and it would be great to make it into the All-Star event.”
