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Caterpillar Racing Team Recap - Richmond

Monday May 5, 2008

 

Dave Blaney/ Caterpillar Racing – Crown Royal 400
Richmond International Raceway

RICHMOND, Va. (May 3, 2008) – Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team qualified in the 17th spot for the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Blaney drove the Caterpillar Toyota to an 18th-place finish in Saturday night’s event, earning the Bill Davis Racing team its best finish of the season thus far.

The Caterpillar Racing team was forced to qualify for the race on time because it sat outside the top 35 in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Owners’ points. Blaney was the 44th of 47 competitors to take to the track for qualifying Friday evening. His speed of 125.058 mph around the .75-mile oval was more than enough to place the team solidly in the field. Blaney was set to line up for Saturday night’s event in the 17th position.

The green flag waved for the start of the event, and Blaney was quick to move into the top 15. The veteran driver made his way to 14th before letting the team know that the handling of the Cat Camry needed to be tightened up a good bit off the corners. Crew chief Tommy Baldwin called for four fresh tires and air pressure and track bar adjustments to the car during the first pit stop, which came during a caution period on lap 68.

Blaney was able to drive through traffic on the restart and remained in the top 20, but he communicated to the crew that the handling was getting looser and looser. The crew made another chassis adjustment during a pit stop on lap 130, and, for some reason, the changes made the car much too tight in the middle of the corners and extremely loose off. Blaney worked hard to stay on the lead lap, but he went one lap down to leader Denny Hamlin on lap 181 of the 400-lap race.

The Caterpillar team continued to work on the balance of the car. Blaney was running in the 25th spot when he narrowly avoided disaster. An incident between several cars running very near the No. 22 machine triggered a melee that ended up involving 10 cars, most suffering serious damage. Red flag conditions ensued while NASCAR cleaned up the debris. The green flag waved for the restart on lap 238, and the No. 22 Toyota held the 21st position.

Blaney remained in the top 25 for the remainder of the event, and the team made the most of every pit stop in an effort to help the handling of the car. A caution flag on lap 399 of the event forced a green/white/checkered finish. Blaney was in the 18th spot when he took the checkered flag on lap 409.

The Caterpillar Racing team gained some ground in the fight for the top 35 in owners’ points. After picking up three positions thanks to its best showing of the season, the Bill Davis Racing team now stands 71 points outside the coveted position.

The Caterpillar Racing team will take part in a two-day NASCAR-sanctioned test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., before traveling to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway next weekend. Qualifying for the Dodge Challenger 500 is scheduled for Friday, May 9. Coverage of the 367-lap race is scheduled for a 7:20 p.m. ET start, May 10 and will broadcast on FOX (television), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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