Date: March 10, 2013
Event: Kobalt Tools 400 (Race 3 of 36)
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Started/Finished: 33rd/24th
Point Standing: 28th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points, 71 behind leader Jimmie Johnson
Dave Blaney, Tommy Baldwin Racing and SANY America looked to Las Vegas to hit the jackpot with the lucky number 7. The results: a clean, steady performance for the No. 7 SANY America team and leaving Las Vegas still in the fight.
Rain forced the cancellation of Friday’s qualifying session and set the starting order by the 2012 owners points per the rule book. Dave Blaney started the Kobalt Tools 400 in 33rd, having to work to gain valuable track position at the drop of the green flag.
Blaney advanced to 26th by Lap 60, reporting a loose car and trying to make passes to gain positions. By Lap 100, Blaney was steady at 25th but reporting the handling had gotten worse than the first run of the day. Through the 246 laps race, handling was an issue that Blaney and Crew Chief/Team Owner Tommy Baldwin worked on with each pit stop.
Taking the checkers in 24th, Blaney told his crew, “Good gains today boys. On to next week.”
“Like everyone, we battled a loose racecar throughout the Kobalt Tools 400” Blaney said. “Tommy and the crew kept digging, working hard to dial in the car, and that is a true testament to who we are at TBR. It was awesome to have SANY America back on board, and we look forward to heading to Bristol this weekend.”
“Like other teams, we fought a loose condition with the car all day, but Dave gave us great feedback and we were able to make good adjustments,” Baldwin said. “Each week we’re getting better and better — and that speaks to great teamwork. We’ll continue to work towards solid finishes each week.”
About SANY:
SANY is a global leader in the manufacture and sale of hoisting equipment (crawler, truck, rough-terrain and all-terrain cranes), concrete machines (concrete pumps, placing booms, mixer trucks and batching plants), road machinery (motor graders, rollers, pavers and asphalt batching plants), port equipment (container reach stackers, empty-container handlers, heavy forklifts and gantry cranes), excavators, mining equipment (rigid haul trucks, road headers, mining vehicles, longwall systems and continuous miners), pile-driving machinery and wind turbines. SANY America Inc. sells, distributes and supports crawler cranes from 110 to 550 U.S. tons, rough-terrain cranes from 40 to 85 tons, hydraulic excavators from 7.5 to 33.5 tons, port reach stackers with a maximum lift of 99,200 pounds, and empty-container handlers with a maximum load of 19,850 pounds. SANY America has an operations, assembly and research and development center in Peachtree City, Georgia. For more information, visit www.sanyamerica.com.
About Tommy Baldwin Racing
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Crew Chief Tommy Baldwin formed Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) in 2009. Baldwin utilized a declining economy to open a NSCS team with a stringent budget. The team worked to build to full-time competition, and by the 2011 season, the team’s third season, TBR competed in every race and locked the No. 36 Chevrolet in the top-35 in NSCS Owner Points. Dave Blaney drove the No. 36 Chevrolet to TBR’s highest finish of third in the October 2011 event at Talladega Superspeedway. In 2012 both cars fielded by TBR finished in the top-35 in points.
Based in Mooresville, N.C., TBR will compete in the NSCS in 2013 with NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney driving the No. 7 Chevy SS and JJ Yeley piloting the No. 36.
