An engine change on Saturday sent Blaney to the rear of the field, presenting a challenge for 267 laps of racing at Kansas Speedway. The new Earnhardt Ganassi Racing engine was ready as the green flag flew for Sunday’s STP 400. Blaney gained as much as 13 positions in the first 25 laps.
After making steady progress to the front, suddenly Blaney hit the fence at Lap 39, the result of a blown tire. Heading to the garage to evaluate the severity of the damages, the team packed up for the afternoon upon sight of the damage to the entire right side of the car.
Blaney and the No. 7 SANY America Chevy ended the race in 43rd position.
Team Owner and Crew Chief Tommy Baldwin commented after the race, “This was a tough weekend for the SANY America team. We changed an engine and started from the rear of the field and started to gain a lot of track position when we blew a tire. After going to the garage we saw the extent of the damage and had to pack up for the day which is certainly not what we wanted or needed.”
Dave is currently 187 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson in the race for the Sprint Cup Championship. This weekend we head to Richmond International Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400.
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.