Race: Coca-Cola 600
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: 12 of 36
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Date: May 29, 2011
Dave Blaney will drive the No. 36 Disabled American Veterans/Golden Corral Chevrolet in the longest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race of the season this weekend. The Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) team will hit the track for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and look to make the right changes to the Chevrolet as they race into the night.
TBR AT CHARLOTTE – TBR will make its fourth start at the 1.5-mile track. In May 2010, Johnny Sauter started from the 22nd spot, the team’s best start. Scott Riggs collected TBR’s best finish of 39th in May 2009.
BLANEY AT CHARLOTTE – Blaney will make his 21st start at the Concord, N.C., track this weekend. The Buckeye Bullet collected two top-10 finishes and posted his best finish of sixth in the October 2007 race with Tommy Baldwin as his crew chief. He started eighth, his best start at the track, earlier that year in the May 2007 race.
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS – The No. 36 Chevrolet will feature the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) this weekend. Golden Corral has a longstanding relationship with the DAV and raises money for the organization, as well as gives free meals to members of the military, each year on Military Appreciation Monday. To date, Golden Corral has raised more than five million dollars for the DAV and given out 2.9 million free “thank you” meals through this initiative. This year’s Military Appreciation Monday will be held on November 14th.
MEET DAVE BLANEY – Fans will have the opportunity to meet Dave Blaney at Food Lion Speed Street in Uptown Charlotte. Blaney will sign autographs Thursday, May 26th from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Creative Loafing tent located at the corner of Third Street and Tryon Street.
KIDS EAT FREE – TBR will compete to feed America’s families again this weekend, as Golden Corral returns to the No. 36 TBR Chevrolet. If the No. 36 Disabled American Veterans/Golden Corral Chevrolet finishes in the top-10 in the Coca-Cola 600, two kids will get a free kid buffet on Monday, May 30th with the purchase of an adult buffet. Golden Corral will also donate $5,000 to the DAV.
CHASSIS NO. 802 – TBR will run the No. 802 chassis this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Golden Corral team last ran chassis No. 802 at Bristol Motor Speedway this past March and finished 25th. The team also ran No. 802 at Phoenix International Raceway as a backup and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this season.
LAST RACE RECAP: FEDEX 400 –Blaney started 30th in the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet and endured problems with rubber on the track in the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism at Dover International Speedway. Blaney and the TBR team battled the handling issues to finish 26th.
IN THE POINTS – Blaney’s 26th-place finish at Dover International Speedway kept the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet 32nd in the NSCS Owners Point Standings and moved the team 31 points ahead of 36th. Blaney also held onto the 31st spot in NSCS Driver Points, 28 points behind David Gilliland in 30th.
MANPOWER TO HORSEPOWER – Manpower to Horsepower, a disabled veteran’s vocational rehabilitation program, will have their logo on the No. 36 Disabled American Veterans/Golden Corral Chevrolet as part of a campaign to show support to members of the military. With approval from the Veteran’s Administration, Manpower to Horsepower is an accredited program through the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and offers a certificate program in Motorsports Management Technology for military veterans with physical disabilities. For more information, visit www.manpowertohorsepower.com.
LIGHTHOUSE MISSION – The Lighthouse Mission logo debuted on the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevroletat Daytona International Speedway and will be present for the entire 2011 season. TBR has teamed up to help the Long Island based-charity build awareness and raise funds for Lighthouse Mission. For more information on Lighthouse Mission, visit www.lighthousemission.net.
KEEPING UP WITH TBR – Keep up with TBR by following twitter.com/TBR_Racing and facebook.com/TBR.HBR.
Dave Blaney Quotes:
ON THE COCA-COLA 600 – “Charlotte is fun because we’re racing at home. It’s a really long race. It starts in the day and ends in the dark, so you have to have an idea of how the car will change with the track when that happens. You have to be ready for more changes than normal because we don’t practice at night this week. We will go in prepared to have good changes as it gets dark. I’m really excited to support the DAV with Golden Corral on Memorial Day weekend. They have given the ultimate sacrifice in order for us to go out and race every week.”
Tommy Baldwin Quotes:
ON RACING AT CHARLOTTE ON MEMORIAL DAY – “It’s good to race at home. I like racing at Charlotte because there is always a lot of action. It’s the longest race of the year, which doesn’t really change our strategy going in. We just have to get to the last 100 laps and then really figure out how the car is handling.”
