Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team qualified in the 34th spot for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. After working through handling issues with the No. 22 Caterpillar Camry all day, the veteran driver took the checkered flag in the 34th position.
Fast in the practice session prior to qualifying, the team had hopes of a top-10 qualifying run. Blaney was scheduled to be the 19th of 46 competitors to take to the track for qualifying Friday afternoon, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Rain showers blanketed the area midday, and NASCAR officials were forced to cancel time trials and line the cars up based on 2007 Sprint Cup Series owners’ points. The Caterpillar Toyota was set to start the race in the 34th spot.
Blaney took the green flag for the start of Sunday’s Food City 500, and within four laps of the start, spotter Mike Brown communicated to crew chief Tommy Baldwin that the car was extremely loose. Blaney spent the first portion of the day wrestling the handling of the car and fell one lap down to leader Clint Bowyer on lap 21. NASCAR officials called a competition caution on lap 51 of the 506-lap race to allow teams to make pit stops and check tire wear. Baldwin called Blaney into the team’s pit stall and the crew changed all four tires, filled the car with fuel and made major handling adjustments, including track bar, wedge, spring rubber and air pressure changes. Blaney took the green flag for the restart in 42nd place.
Blaney let the team know that the changes made to the car seemed to help for a while, but they weren’t enough. The team narrowly avoided disaster on lap 120 as the car spun coming off turn two. Luckily, the Cat Toyota did not make contact with the wall, and Blaney was able to drive the machine down pit road to the attention of his awaiting crew. After a four tire change and a quick check to make sure there weren’t any noticeable issues with the front end of the car, the No. 22 Camry took the flag for the lap-126 restart in 43rd place.
Blaney and the team continued to persevere, and by the midway point of the race, the Caterpillar Camry was handling much better. Unfortunately, the team was already too many laps down to take advantage of the situation. Normal Bristol attrition late in the race helped the team a bit, and Blaney took the checkered flag after a green/white/checkered flag finish in the 34th position.
The Sprint Cup Series will take Easter weekend off before sticking close to home the following weekend to compete at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Qualifying for the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 is scheduled for Friday, March 28. Coverage of the 500-lap race is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start, March 30 and will broadcast on FOX (television), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio. The Caterpillar Racing team is scheduled to participate in several test sessions between now and then, including two-day tests at Kentucky Speedway and Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway and a one day trip to Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.