Cat Racing/Dave Blaney Event Preview
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
UAW Dodge 400
Las Vegas Motor Speedway News and Notes
Blaney’s No. 22 Camry…The Caterpillar Racing team plans to utilize chassis No. 11 for the UAW Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
What Happened Last Week…The Cat Pavers Toyota lined up in the 34th spot for the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway after qualifying was cancelled due to inclement weather. The NASCAR Sprint Cup teams ran 87 laps Sunday before rain forced the postponement of the race until Monday morning. Dave Blaney worked through handling issues to finish the event in 30th place.
Blaney’s Career Stats…Blaney will make his 271st career Sprint Cup Series start when the green flag waves for the 400-mile event Sunday afternoon. He made his first career Cup Series start in October 1992 at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway and finished 22nd (qualified 36th) for his first Cup Series start in Las Vegas in 2000. Like this weekend, Blaney was aboard a Bill Davis Racing-owned machine.
Blaney at Las Vegas…Blaney has made seven Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile speedway during his career, starting as high as 10th (2002) and finishing as high as 13th (2005). He has scored two top-20 finishes in Cup Series competition at the speedway and has qualified inside the top 11 twice.
BDR at LVMS…Competitors driving Bill Davis Racing-owned cars have been racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway since 2000 and have made 14 starts. Those drivers have posted one top five finish and one top-10 finish and have completed 3,005 of 3,503 possible laps (85.8 percent).
Where to Find Dave…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.
Las Vegas Broadcast Schedule…Qualifying for the UAW Dodge 400 is scheduled to start at 6:40 p.m. ET Friday, Feb. 29. The 267-lap event is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday, March 2, and will broadcast LIVE on FOX (TV), PRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio.
Blaney’s Thoughts on Las Vegas…
“We’re hoping things go considerably better this weekend in Las Vegas than they did for us last week in Fontana. We never got our Cat Dealers Camry handling the way we needed it, and we just struggled all weekend long. Our plan is to take the same car back to Vegas, and I know Tommy [Baldwin, crew chief] and the guys are going to spend a considerable amount of time working on it before we get to the track Friday and making changes to it to make it better this time around. Obviously, our main goal right now is to solidify ourselves in the top 35, and I have all the confidence in the world in this Cat team. We’ve gotten off to a bit of a rough start this season, but we know we’ll get it turned around.”
