Blaney Leaves Auto Club Speedway with a Top-25 Finish
Date: March 24, 2013
Event: Auto Club 500 (Race 5 of 36)
Track: Auto Club Speedway
Started/Finished: 29th/21st
Points Standing: 28th, 110 behind current leader Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Going into this weekend at Fontana, California, Dave Blaney and the No. 7 SANY America Chevy SS, knew that the long race that awaited at Auto Club Speedway would be a challenge. After last week’s disappointing end to Bristol, the goal was simple – finish the race. By that mark, Dave Blaney overachieved.
After qualifying 29th on Friday, the Tommy Baldwin Racing crew went to work during Saturday’s practice sessions, making adjustments for race day.
At the drop of the green flag Sunday, Blaney began the climb to the front with the No. 7 SANY America Chevy SS. Moving all the way up to 18th, Blaney and his team were making adjustments to the car at every stop as they worked to dial in the handling to Blaney’s comfort. The long green flag runs did not play in their favor, causing Blaney to go a lap down half way through the 400 mile race. On lap 121, Blaney took the wave around, and was back on the lead lap. With only 79 laps left, the charge to the front had to happen. After several single car cautions, new tires, and fuel, this gave Blaney the opportunity to move up to 21st, where he ended up finishing at the end of the race.
After the race team owner and crew chief Tommy Baldwin commented, “We are happy leaving here with a 21st place finish for the SANY America team. We fought all day and finally started to get somewhere at the end of the race. With a couple more laps we could have gotten a top-15 finish, no questions. Frustrating day, but great work by all the guys here at TBR.”
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.
For more information on Tommy Baldwin Racing, please visit them on Facebook,Twitter or their website.
