Early 1980s
It’s high school graduation time for Dave Blaney. As a graduation gift, he gets behind the wheel of one of his dad’s sprint cars and begins racing throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania. Success soon follows, as Blaney is named the 1982 All-Star Sprint Car Circuit of Champions Rookie of the Year. His 1984 United States Auto Club Silver Crown Championship makes him the youngest driver ever (20) to win both the rookie of the year and division championship titles.
Late 1980s
Blaney is the 1987 Sharon (Ohio) Speedway Nationals Champion. Although this is quite a feat, there is much more to come down the road for Blaney and Sharon Speedway.
1992
Blaney teams with car owner Stan Hover and attempts to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. A successful qualifying effort at (Rockingham) North Carolina Speedway results in Blaney’s first Cup Series start. Unfortunately, a handling problem derails the run and forces Blaney and crew to call it a day early.
1993
Blaney wins the King’s Royal at Eldora (Ohio) Speedway, then finishes second in the World of Outlaws Championship standings. It is also the same year Blaney first gets into a midget car. The result is a Chili Bowl Midget Nationals Championship for the young, talented racer.
1994
Make that two-in-a-row for Blaney, because he finished second in the World of Outlaws Championship again this year.
1995
Blaney is the World of Outlaws Champion this year and is named the National Sprint Car Poll Driver of the Year. His championship season is highlighted by another King’s Royal victory.
1996-97
Blaney finishes runner-up in the 1996 and 1997 World of Outlaws championship standings. In 1997, he is crowned the Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals Champion and Historical Big One Champion at Eldora Speedway.
1998
By this point, Blaney has totaled more than 180 career Sprint Car feature wins. He decides to change things up a bit to focus more on NASCAR. Blaney makes 20 NASCAR Busch Series starts in No. 93 car for Bill Davis Racing. The results are impressive for the rookie driver. He notches one pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway (now known as Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.) and an outside pole position at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill. He finishes the season with two top-five starts, 10 top-10 starts and three top-10 finishes.
1999
Blaney and BDR carry the same momentum—and then some—into the 1999 Busch Series season. Their stats tally includes four poles and one outside pole position, which contributes to a total of nine top-five starts and 17 top-10 starts. The driver and crew also score five top-five finishes and 12 top-10 finishes. The numbers and points add up to conclude with a seventh-place position in the Busch Series championship standings.
2000
After running a part-time Cup Series schedule in 1999, Blaney and team turn their focus to running full-time in the Cup Series in 2000, with plans to continue the effort through 2001. Additionally, Blaney and team make eight Busch Series starts, which results in one pole, three top-five starts, four top-10 starts, two top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes.
2001
Blaney scores two top-five starts, six top-10 starts and six top-10 finishes in his second full season in the Cup Series. Blaney and his family also become the proud owners of the legendary Sharon Speedway, one of the oldest continuously-operating race tracks in the country. The historical track has seen racing action nearly every weekend since 1929.
2002-03
Sponsorship changes and the development of other opportunities lead to Blaney’s first departure from BDR in 2002. He assumes driving duties of the No. 77 Cup Series car for Jasper Motorsports. Blaney races to his first Cup Series pole at North Carolina Speedway in February 2003. Including the pole position, he totals four top-five and 11 top-10 starts, one top-five and nine top-10 finishes during his two-year tenure at Jasper Motorsports.
2004
Blaney returns to Davis’ High Point operation in 2004 to drive part-time in the NEXTEL Cup Series, and he makes his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in early June. However, the partnership is interrupted again later that month, as Blaney receives an offer to drive full-time for Richard Childress Racing. Blaney’s move to RCR also marks the first time he drives under the direction of crew chief Kevin Hamlin. Blaney proceeds to pilot the No. 30 Chevrolet in eight races for RCR. In December, he is named the driver of Childress’ No. 07 NEXTEL Cup Series team for the 2005 season.
2005
Blaney grabs the outside pole position at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in April, then follows up with a third-place start at the same track in August. Altogether, his season totals include three top-five starts, five top-10 starts and nine top-15 starts. He also accumulates two top-10 finishes and six top-15 finishes. A sort of homecoming is planned for the 2006 season, as it is announced Blaney will return to Bill Davis Racing as the pilot of the No. 22 Caterpillar car. It is also announced Kevin Hamlin will move to BDR to serve as Blaney’s crew chief.
2006
Blaney posts a fourth-place finish at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in the fall, and follows that up with a ninth-place finish at (Loudoun) New Hampshire International Speedway the following week. In all, the Caterpillar team scores 10 top-20 finishes over the course of the season. Blaney also returns to the Busch Series, where he drives the No. 32 Braun Racing entry to his first career NASCAR victory at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in October. Near the conclusion of the season, it is announced that he will return to drive the Caterpillar Toyota for BDR in 2007 as well as compete in the Busch Series for Braun Racing.
2007
Toyota enters the Cup Series and Blaney makes it clear right from the start that his is the strongest Toyota team in the Series. After grabbing a pole in the Busch Series in his Braun Racing Toyota Camry in only the second race of the season, he follows that up with the first Cup Series pole for the manufacturer at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the spring. All told, Blaney posts four top-10 finishes during the course of the year including a season-best third place effort at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.