David Blaney (born October 24, 1962 in Hartford Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, United States) is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. He currently starts and parks the #66 Car for Prism Motorsports. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR. For many years, he was a regular in the Syracuse Nationals in Syracuse, New York, although he never won that event. He owns Sharon Speedway (named after nearby Sharon, Pennsylvania) in Hartford, Ohio.
Sprint car racing career[]
Blaney was awarded the 1983 All-Star Sprint Circuit Rookie-of-the-Year. Blaney won his first World of Outlaws (WoO) race at Tri-City Speedway in 1985 and won the Championship in 1995.[1] He also made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in the #80 Daffron's Body Shop Ford for Hover Motorsports in the 1992 AC Delco 500, finishing 31st. In the 1997 season, he won the Gold Cup, the Eldora Speedway event, and the Knoxville Nationals, which is considered the premiere event in sprint car racing.[1] He was the first driver who did not defend his Knoxville win, when he moved into NASCAR. After moving to NASCAR, he kept his sprint car team going, fielding a car for his brother Dale and the late Kevin Gobrecht.
NASCAR career[]
1998-2004[]
Blaney began his Busch Series career in 1998 with Bill Davis Racing. He signed to drive a Nationwide Series car for Davis, the #93 Amoco Pontiac and in his first season had three sixth-place finishes and a pole position at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The following season, he ran a full-time schedule and won four poles and ended the season a career-best seventh in points. That season, he returned to the Winston Cup series with Davis, earning a best finish of 23rd at Homestead in the #93.
In 2000, Blaney and his Amoco team moved up to Winston Cup full time and posted two-top tens. He would end up finishing third in the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award standings for the 2000 season.He would return to the Busch Series in 2000 with a limited schedule in BDR’s #20 AT&T Pontiac, gaining a pole position at Charlotte and also finish 3rd twice. In 2001, the team would switch to Dodge and he would compete in all the races with a best finish of 6th, three times. He left Davis at the end of the season because of sponsorship concerns and signed with the #77 Jasper Motorsports team. His best finish during the 2002 season was a 7th at Phoenix. Blaney started the 2003 season with three top-tens and a pole the first five races, but fell to twenty-eighth in points at the end of the season, forcing his release.
Blaney returned to Bill Davis Racing in 2004 for a limited schedule, because of a lack of sponsorship. Part of his deal was making his Craftsman Truck Series debut for Davis in the #23 truck at Dover, where he finished sixth. After two eleventh-place finishes, Blaney joined Richard Childress Racing, taking over the #30 AOL Chevrolet for eight races. After two top-fifteen finishes, he was replaced by Jeff Burton Blaney would also start one race for Roush Racing in the #99 Canteen Vending/Kraft Foods Ford in the place of rookie Carl Edwards, who missed the start due a Craftsman Truck Series race that ran late. Blaney exited the car on Lap 24, and Edwards went on to finish 37th after a crash. He also ran the spring race at Richmond International Raceway for Ultra Motorsports in the #7 Dodge, and finished fortieth.
2005-Present[]
Blaney returned to Richard Childress Racing in 2005to drive the #07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet. During the season he would post two top ten finishes and finished 26th in points. In 2006, he returned to the Bill Davis stable to run the #22 Caterpillar Dodge. His best finish in 2006 came at the Richmond International Raceway, where he finished 4th. He also scored his first Busch Series victory at Lowes Motor Speedway, when Matt Kenseth spun on the last lap and Blaney was in the lead.
In 2007, He failed to qualify for three races and finished thirty-first in points. The following season, he had two top-tens and moved up to thirtieth in points.
For the upcoming season, Blaney has agreed to start and park the #66 automobile for PRISM Motorsports, beginning at California in February. Blaney made his first race at California. He also qualified eighth for the 2009 Food City 500. However, the team is a start and park operation.
References[]
- Drivers statistics at racing-reference.info
- NASCAR driver Blaney a reason racing is so popular
- Dave Blaney at The Inside Groove.com