Emma Blaney’s Inside View
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[/media-credit]Many people know the last name Blaney. It’s synonymous with dirt racing, talent, and speed. Dave Blaney drives the #36 for Tommy Baldwin in the Cup series, and his brother Dale is making it happen on dirt tracks. The latest addition to this racing trifecta is 18-year-old Ryan Blaney, who runs in the K&N Pro series and making waves during a few Nationwide Series starts.
Emma Blaney doesn’t race anymore, but she is still involved in the racing scene. The girlfriend of another K&N driver, Cale Conley, Emma plays the role of the silly one, showing everyone how normal their family really is. She tells me about her past racing career, watching her little brother grow up, and her infatuation with one Kasey Kahne.
1. Not many people know that you use to race. At what age did you start racing, and what did you wheel?
I started in quarter midgets when I was about 10. Bobby Labonte’s QM track opened up and it was real close to our house so my dad put my brother and I each in a quarter midget. I ran them until I was 16 (I suddenly got real tall and couldn’t really even fit into them anymore) and then let Ryan have all the glory. Those were some of the best years of my life, I swear. Got to travel so much and made so many close friends. I even met Cale through QM’s. In 2007, we raced up in Indy and Ohio and we spent about a month racing up there. I hated Cale for that whole month. I even beat him in one race we were both in.
2. When and why did you decide that racing wasn’t what you wanted to do as a career?
Well I turned 16 and got super tall. I was really into sports my whole life, racing was always just a fun thing for me. I played basketball and volleyball year round and so I had to choose what I wanted to do. I didn’t think I would be good at anything other than a little quarter midget, and I was right. Dad put me in a Bandolero twice, and I sucked terribly. So I went my way with sports, and I let Ryan take over the racing career. ;)
3. Your younger brother Ryan is starting to cause a stir on the Nationwide side. Is it weird to see him cope with the pressure that comes with that series?
It is a little weird. I guess I still see him as my tiny, wimpy brother with a big gap between his front teeth. But I think he is handling things pretty well for being 18. I think the biggest thing that has helped him is my dad. He has been through it all and he has always taught us, and especially Ryan, about how to handle this career. Ryan has 4 more Nationwide races this year and I have a ton of faith that he will do just fine. He has big dreams and won’t stop going after them, and we all support that. What’s weird is that the pressure and attention is on Ryan when he races. Our family is use to the Sunday afternoon NASCAR races, media, pressure and all that, but with my dad. And now, it is all about Ryan. But the real question is, when is it going to be all about me!? (just kidding :) )
4. How do you feel about Ryan having a girl fan base? Have you given him any tips to charm the ladies?
Haha, the girl fan base… Well it’s interesting. I’ll admit, he is a cute little thing, but my mom has always told him “Girls or racecars, choose.” You know a lot of girls usually think that I am his girlfriend, which I find completely offensive. I mean, come on. But I don’t really give him too many tips! I tell him to stay away from girls right now, and focus on his racing. Racing is your girlfriend, Ryan!
5. Ryan also races against your boyfriend, Cale Conley, in the K&N races. Is it hard to deal with that extra anxiety?
Yes the extra anxiety SUCKS. I highly recommend no girls have a boyfriend who races in the same series as your brother, it’s so stressful! But I honestly would not change it for the world. I love having both of them there, it’s exciting. My nerves go a little crazy though. They always joke about what if they were coming to the checkered 1 & 2 and one of them wrecked the other. I don’t find it so funny. But Cale has actually been racing with my family for awhile. Cale started out in sprint cars and raced them for 2 or 3 years and he raced against my Uncle Dale almost every week. In 2010, Cale, my Uncle and Dad were all in the Kings Royal up at Eldora, and also the 3 of them were racing the Knoxville Nationals too. So I have been through this for awhile now! I’m a pro.
6. Your whole family has been successful at many different levels of racing. How does the family deal with all the media attention that comes with it?
I get asked this question a lot, and I always try to think of a really cool answer for it, but I never can think of a good one. We aren’t any different from any other family. People seem to think that we have this great life and we really don’t. Yes, we are very blessed to be where we are, but there are flaws and hardships that come with this lifestyle. My family is not anything like the Gordons, or Johnsons, we don’t get that kind of attention but my siblings and I were always taught that “This is just what we do, this is just what our family does for a living, and this is what makes us stick together as a family.” I feel like my job in my family is to just show people how normal and silly we are, and show that we are personable people and aren’t anything to special. That’s why I enjoy Twitter, or Facebook or any social media so much.
7. Your uncle Dale also races. Between him, your dad, and Ryan, who’s the best driver?
I think I would get punched for answering this question! But they are all incredible. I think they are very similar in their driving techniques but they each bring something a little different to the table. They learn a lot from each other and that’s what I think is really cool about having an entire family that races.
8. I understand that you have a ‘small’ crush on Kasey Kahne. What is your favorite quality about Kasey?
Haha! Ohhhh Kasey. I do have a little crush, yes! And I am pretty sure he knows it, which is so awkward. I don’t know what it is about him, I just think he is beautiful. Not sure how my dad really feels about it…
NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS FROM THE BLUE GRASS STATE
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[/media-credit]The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be racing at the Kentucky Speedway, under the lights, this Saturday night. The Quaker State 400 marks only the second time NASCAR’s elite series has raced on the speedway’s 1.5 mile oval.
THE STORY BREAKDOWN
There are, of course, some rather interesting story lines going into Saturday night’s race. Chief among them is Tuesday morning’s stunning news that said driver Matt Kenseth is leaving Roush Fenway Racing at the end of this season. That announcement came from Jack Roush himself who also announced that NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr will be promoted to the Sprint Cup Series in 2013.
On Wednesday morning it was revealed that Kenseth does indeed have a new, and sponsored, ride already lined up for next year. The garage rumors say that the new ride is Joe Gibbs Racing. The unclear part of the rumor is: will Kenseth be driving for a fourth JGR team or will he be taking over the Home Depot/Dollar General Toyota currently driven by Joey Logano? Making the silly season rumor mill even more interesting is the talk that says Kenseth has also talked to Richard Childress Racing and Penske Racing. Remember nothing is official until the final announcement has been made and Kenseth is very good about not talking until it’s time to talk.
Another interesting Sprint Cup garage rumor that surfaced on Wednesday was the one that said Indy Racing League owner Michael Andretti is seriously considering launching a NASCAR team. Granted, we’ve heard this before. However, Wednesday’s rumor had a new level of possible credence attached to it. Andretti has been reported to be looking at acquiring the shop space formerly occupied by Evernham Motorsports in Statesville, NC.
Still another interesting aspect here is the rumor that says Andretti has been having conversations with Dodge Racing. The Dodge boys will be losing their flag ship teams when Penske Racing makes their switch to Ford next year and their looking for a high profile replacement. The name Michael Andretti would fit that bill rather nicely.
This is especially true if Dodge could tag team Andretti with Richard Petty Motorsports. It’s been reported that Dodge has been talking to RPM about renewing Richard Petty’s long time professional and personal ties with the Chrysler Corporation. However, several weeks ago, Petty said it was “news to him.” One has to wonder about RPM making a manufacturing move at a time when their Fords are starting to show some muscle on the track.
Owner/driver, and Kentucky native, Michael Waltrip will make a scheduled return to his #55 Aaron’s/MWR Toyota Saturday night. You can expect to hear a lot of cheering for Waltrip during driver introductions. That’s because the hood of his race car will be honoring the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team and their NCAA national championship.
This time last year the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series made its much heralded debut at the Kentucky Speedway. We all remember seeing video of massive traffic jams on the access roads to the speedway. We all heard reports that said, once the fans actually made it to the track, there were no more parking spaces for them.
Since that time the combined efforts of the State of Kentucky, the speedway’s management and staff along with Speedway Motorsports Inc, who owns the speedway, has resulted in some massive improvements to the freeway infrastructure. The speedway has also created parking for an additional 20,000 cars. Also, the Kentucky State Police has said they have a new plan in place to direct traffic before and after the race that will make the flow much smoother. That’s great news for any fan who tried to attend this race last year.
THE LAS VEGAS BREAKDOWN.
To get a good idea of which driver is going to be spraying champagne in the Kentucky Speedway victory lane, we again turn to the professional number crunchers from the Las Vegas based World Sports Exchange, (WSE). Because there has only been one previous Sprint Cup race at Kentucky, there really aren’t a lot of numbers to crunch.
However, the Kentucky Speedway is just one of many intermediate, 1.5 mile oval, tracks on the NASCAR schedule that are often referred to as cookie cutter tracks. There are plenty of cookie cutter numbers for the WSE to crunch.
Very likely it’s those numbers that has Jimmie Johnson on top of the WSE’s Kentucky rankings at 7 to 1 odds. He’s a two time winner this year and fourth in the championship standings. On intermediate tracks, Johnson has 40 career wins and a very good average finish ratio, (AFR), of 9.9.
At 8 to 1 you will find Kyle Busch the winner of the 2011 Kentucky race. Busch will be anxious to dig himself out of a hole caused by a recent rash of engine problems. That situation has relegated him to 12th in the championship standings, 137 points away from first. Busch has 11 wins and a 16.1 AFR on NASCAR’s mile and a half speedways.
At 9 to 1 is the Roush Fenway Racing Ford tandem of Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth. With one win already this season, Biffle is ranked second in the points, behind Kenseth, just 11 points away. He has 16 wins, and a 15.1 AFR, on the cookie cutter circuit.
Kenseth, also a previous race winner this year, has 17 intermediate track wins with a 13.3 AFR. As a general rule, Kenseth is often very good on this type of track and has a tendency of showing up late in the day during these races.
At 10 to 1 is the duo of Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards. Stewart already has two wins in 2012 and that has moved him to 5th in the standings, 63 points away. He has an impressive 26 wins along with a 12.1 AFR on the cookie cutters.
Edwards is still seeking his first win of the season and has endured some surprising up and down team performance levels. Despite that he’s hanging on to tenth place in the standings but is 117 points out of first. He has a good record on the intermediate tracks with 17 wins and a 11.6 AFR.
The WSE has Denny Hamlin ranked at 11 to 1. His two wins this year now has him 8th in the standings, 73 points away. He also has some respectable cookie cutter numbers that includes 13 wins and a 13.5 AFR.
Looking at the WSE’s middle tier, the trio of Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne are rated at 12 to 1. It’s no secret that bad racing luck has put Gordon in a major situation in terms of making the 2012 Chase. He’s 18th in the standings, 182 points away, and clearly his Chase hopes are now resting on a wild card berth. However, that’s going to take at least two wins to make that happen. The good news is: Gordon is the cookie cutter king with 45 wins and a 12.4 AFR and could pick up a win Saturday night at Kentucky.
Harvick is 6th in the standings, 64 points away, and is also seeking his first win of the season. He does have nine wins on mile and a half tracks with a 15.0 AFR.
Kahne, already a 2012 winner, has moved up to 17th in the standings, but is 175 points away. Kahne has 11 intermediate track wins with a 17.1 AFR.
At 14 to 1 odds is Dale Earnhardt Jr and his fan club, Junior Nation, who are still celebrating his win at Michigan. A late race accident at Sonoma last weekend dropped him to third in the points but he’s still a major championship player and is only 14 points away. Earnhardt has 8 wins on the cookie cutter tracks with an AFR of 17.1.
Turning now to the WSE’s lower tier for Kentucky, Brad Keselowski, a two time winner this year and tenth in the points, is rated at 19 to 1.
At 25 to 1 are Michael Waltrip Racing’s Clint Bowyer, last weekend’s winner at Sonoma, and Martin Truex Jr who’s still seeking his first win of the season. They are ranked seventh and ninth in the points respectively.
Closing out the WSE Kentucky list are Joey Logano-30 to 1, Ryan Newman, with 13 mile and a half track wins, comes in at 40 to 1 while Kurt Busch and A J Allmendinger are rated at 50 to 1.
If you do not see the names of your favorite drivers here, they are automatically ranked by the WSE at 10 to 1 odds.
NASCAR wants us to remind you that these numbers should be viewed for informational and entertainment purposes only. They neither encourage nor condone the placing of wagers on their races.
THE RACE BREAKDOWN
Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 is 267 laps/400 miles around the Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval.
The race has 46 entries vying for the 43 starting berths.
11 of these entries are on the go or go home list meaning they do not have a guaranteed starting berth in the race because these teams are currently outside of the top 35 in owner’s points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speeds to make the race.
The Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval was opened in 2000. The speedway has 14 degrees of banking in the four turns. They presently have grandstand seating for 107,000.
Kyle Busch won the first Sprint Cup race at Kentucky last year from the pole due to the fact that qualifying was rained out. Because of that, there is no track qualifying record for the Sprint Cup series at Kentucky.
Weather for the Sparta-Kentucky area is going to be hot this weekend with daytime highs of 94 to 98 degrees in the forecast. This is the major reason why this race is being run at night.
The Quaker State 400 will be broadcast live by the TNT Network with the pre race show beginning at 630 pm eastern time. The race re air will be on Wednesday, July 4th, at 12 pm eastern.
Who will Kenseth drive for in 2013?
The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season will be the first time that Matt Kenseth is not driving for Roush Fenway Racing (RFR). It was announced earlier this week that Kenseth will be leaving RFR at the end of the season and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will be replacing him in 2013.
Kenseth has 452 career starts, 22 wins and one championship in 14 seasons.
“I’m very thankful to Jack Roush for the opportunities he’s given me over the past 14 years. Together we have enjoyed a lot of success.” Kenseth tweeted on Tuesday.
“Once its reality and you’ve been somewhere for that long and you walk in that place and you feel like it’s your own and all that stuff. It’s weird when you start thinking about after the first of the year, you won’t be there anymore.” Kenseth said.
Speculation is that he is headed to Joe Gibbs Racing, either in Joey Logano’s No. 20 Toyota or a fourth unannounced team. Kenseth admits that he has a new deal already in place for 2013.
Hopefully the team will have full sponsorship and Kenseth will be able to showcase his talent were it belongs, which is the top-10 in the series points standings. Kenseth currently sits first in series standings and I am sure his thoughts are on the championship at the end of the season.
“The No. 17 is positioned extremely well this season and I’m committed to providing the team the best resources to continue their run for the 2012 championship.” Team owner Jack Roush said. “I have no doubt that Matt will do his part.”
There is no explanation why RFR and Kenseth ended there relationship together. For Kenseth I am sure it will feel very strange to drive for another team and a different car.
“I don’t think either one of us expected it, I think both of us expected I would retire driving for him and driving the 17 car.” Kenseth said.
Local short track driver Taylor Holdaway to raise money for cancer
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[/media-credit]Did you know that on average, 500 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer every day? According to cancer.ca, out of those people, an average of 200 will die due to cancer each day.
With it affecting that many people on a daily basis, there are those are taking a stand to raise money and one of thoe people is Sunset International Speedway racer Taylor Holdaway.
For the second straight year, Holdaway and Holdaway Motorsports are doing their Race For The Cure fundraiser.
Holdaway started the fundraiser last year as he wanted to do something different.
“Same paint scheme every year, gets kind of boring,” he says. “I know some cars in the (United) States tried to do something like me – like they did their numbers pink or something. I wanted to go a little bit more wild than them and paint the car pink.”
In the second year doing it, Holdaway is hoping to raise over $2500 through donations from fans. Fans are welcome to make a donation of any amount that they can, and certain amounts have special perks involved.
For a $10 donation, fans can sign a ribbon that will be put on the car, once it is painted pink at the beginning of September. The No. 41 ImageFactor.ca, OntarioOval.com, Downing Roofing Ltd., Vortex Brake Pads and Holdaway Automotive Late Model will debut its pink paint scheme on September 1st.
For a $5 donation, fans can get a raffle ticket that gives them the chance to win a one of a kind diecast car of last year’s car.
On September 1st, Sunset Speedway will host “Race For The Cure” night, where Holdaway and team will be doing a 50/50 draw to continue to collect donations.
Fans who would like to get in touch with Holdaway Motorsports about donating money towards cancer research and learn more about Taylor Holdaway, can either like their facebook page ‘Holdaway Motorsports’, follow Taylor on twitter @41holdaway, see Taylor in the pits after racing on the weekend, or e-mail Holdaway Motorsports at Holdawaymotorsports@hotmail.com.
