Dave Blaney

David Louis Blaney (born October 24, 1962) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR, competing in both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series. For many years, he was a regular at Super Dirt Week in Syracuse, New York, although he never won that event. He owns Sharon Speedway in Hartford Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. His brother Dale Blaney is a sprint car driver. His son, Ryan Blaney, is the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Blaney was also known as "the Buckeye Bullet".

Sprint car racing career

Blaney, born in Hartford Township in Trumbull County, Ohio, was awarded the 1983 All-Star Sprint Circuit Rookie-of-the-Year. He raced in the United States Automobile Club (USAC) Silver Crown Series in 1984 and won the national touring series' championship. on his way to winning the WoO Championship.

NASCAR career

1998–2005: Early career and team instability Blaney began his Busch Series career in 1998 with Bill Davis Racing, driving the No. 93 Amoco Pontiac and in his first season had three sixth-place finishes and a pole position at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The following season, he ran a full-time schedule and won four poles and ended the season a career-best seventh in points. That season, he returned to the Winston Cup series with Davis, earning a best finish of 23rd at Homestead in the No. 93. In 2000, Blaney and his Amoco team moved up to Winston Cup full-time and posted two top-tens, but DNQ’d in the second race of the season at Rockingham. He finished third in the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award standings for the season. He returned to the Busch Series that year with a limited schedule in BDR's No. 20 AT&T Pontiac, gaining a pole position at Charlotte and also finish third twice. In 2001, the team would switch to Dodge and he would compete in all the races with a best finish of sixth three different times during the season. He left Davis at the end of the season due to sponsorship concerns and signed with the No. 77 Jasper Motorsports team. His best finish during the 2002 season was seventh at Phoenix. Blaney started the 2003 season with three top-tens and a pole the first five races, including a third-place finish at Darlington, but fell to 28th in points at the end of the season, resulting in his release.

Blaney returned to Bill Davis Racing in 2004 for a limited schedule, due to a lack of a sponsorship. Part of his deal was making his Craftsman Truck Series debut for the team in the No. 23 at Dover, where he finished sixth. After two eleventh place finishes, Blaney joined Richard Childress Racing, taking over the No. 30 AOL-sponsored Chevrolet for eight races. After two top-fifteen finishes, he was replaced by Jeff Burton and started one race for Roush Racing in the No. 99 Canteen Vending/Kraft Foods Ford in the place of rookie Carl Edwards, who missed the start due a Craftsman Truck Series race that ran late. Blaney exited the car on lap 24, and Edwards went on to finish 37th after a crash. He also ran the spring race at Richmond International Raceway in the No. 7 Dodge for Ultra Motorsports and finished fortieth. Blaney returned to Richard Childress Racing in 2005 to drive the No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet. During the season, he would post only two top-ten finishes and finished a dismal 26th in points.

2006–2008: Second Bill Davis Racing stint

In 2006, he returned to the Bill Davis Racing stable to run the No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge. His best finish in 2006 came at the Richmond International Raceway, where he finished fourth. He also scored his first Busch Series victory at Lowes Motor Speedway, when Matt Kenseth spun on the last lap and Blaney was in the lead. In 2007, BDR switched to Toyota, which had just entered the Cup Series. Blaney almost won the season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona, finishing second to Kevin Harvick. In the Cup Series, Blaney failed to qualify for three races, but got Toyota its first Cup Series pole at Loudon, and finished 31st in points. In 2008, with the Car of Tomorrow being raced full-time, Blaney had two top-tens and moved up to thirtieth in points.

2009–2010: Loss of ride, start-and-park teams

Bill Davis Racing shut down before the 2009 season, leaving Blaney without a ride. In 2009, Blaney signed to run the start and park No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota for a full season, getting a best finish of 28th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Incidentally, Blaney did not qualify for three out of the four races that he had sponsorship for (Hyde Park was on the car at Las Vegas, and the Denny Hamlin Foundation at Charlotte and Texas). With the team continuing to start and park during the 2010 season, Blaney has a best finish of 29th at Las Vegas and led three laps the previous week at Fontana, he has parked his car prior to completion in all but one race this season. For the race at Phoenix, Blaney piloted the No. 55 Prism Toyota, with teammate Michael McDowell driving the No. 66 in an attempt to get both teams in the top-35 in owners points according to team owner Phil Parsons.

For the remainder of the 2010 Sprint Cup season, Blaney split his time between Front Row Motorsports and Tommy Baldwin Racing. Compared to Prism, both teams had some degree of sponsorship; Front Row Motorsports ran full races while Tommy Baldwin Racing was an occasional start and park entry. For example, Blaney ran the entire race at Loudon in the No. 36 with only associate sponsorship from Connecticut-based construction company Mohawk Northeast (owned by Alan Heinke, part owner of TBR) while parking an unsponsored TBR entry at Talladega after twelve laps.

2011–2013: Career recovery with Tommy Baldwin For the 2011 season, Blaney joined Tommy Baldwin Racing for the full season, with the team now committed to running full races. At the 2011 Daytona 500, Blaney received last minute sponsorship from Golden Corral. He led three laps and finished 26th after a late race accident. Blaney piloted the No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet with backing from Accell Construction Inc. in several races during the season. Golden Corral returned at the 2011 Aaron's 499, and Blaney led 21 laps but was spun out by Kurt Busch with three laps to go and finished 27th. He led the second most laps behind Clint Bowyer.

On April 27, Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that Blaney and the No. 36 team would be sponsored by Golden Corral for 19 races and Big Red / All Sport for five races leaving only three races without a sponsor. The team did not run the Sprint All-Star Race in May in order to focus on the points-paying events. Blaney finished third at Talladega in the fall, which was the best finish for Tommy Baldwin Racing and tied for his best career finish. Golden Corral returned for three races in 2012, with Ollie's Bargain Outlet, Accell Construction and TMOne sponsoring other races. During the 2012 Daytona 500, Blaney led after 160 laps. During a caution, shortly after race leaders had made pit stops, Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into a jet dryer, which was being used to blow debris from the track. As a result of the crash, the jet fuel that powered the helicopter engine spilled out onto the track and was ignited. NASCAR put the race under a red flag, at which point Blaney had the lead. Blaney finished fifteenth after a crash on lap 196.

Blaney returned to Tommy Baldwin Racing for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, moving to the new No. 7 Chevrolet; he also signed with Brad Keselowski Racing to drive their No. 19 in the Camping World Truck Series at the series' inaugural visit to Eldora Speedway, which he drove to a ninth-place finish. With Blaney's son Ryan's career having reached a level in which it no longer needed family funding, he went into semi-retirement after 2013. His last race with TBR was the season finale at Homestead. He was replaced at TBR by rookie Michael Annett. Blaney was credited with being a major part of building TBR into a legitimate Cup-level organization.

2014: Semi-retirement In January 2014, it was announced that Blaney would be driving the No. 77 Ford for Randy Humphrey Racing during several 2014 races. However, during practice for the Daytona 500, Blaney's car was caught up in a wreck. The team attempted to purchase a backup car from another team, but was unable to, and was forced to rescind their entry. The team was on the entry list for the Auto Club 400, but the team withdrew the Tuesday before the race. The team was again on the entry list for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but withdrew before practice. After failing to qualify in their first four races, the No. 77 team qualified for the first time in 2014 at the Duck Commander 500. At the season's midway point, Humphrey's team suspended operations. At the August race at Pocono, Blaney returned to TBR for the first time, driving a third car for the team he helped build. He finished 26th in the race. Blaney returned to the car at Michigan later in the month. Blaney also drove the following week at Bristol Motor Speedway, which turned out to be his final start.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 1992 Hover Motorsports 80 Pontiac DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR31 PHO ATLDNQ 79th 70 1999 Bill Davis Racing 93 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH33 POC SON DAY NHA40 POC IND28 GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM23 ATL37 51st 332 2000 DAY27 CARDNQ LVS22 ATL20 DAR26 BRI35 TEX22 MAR41 TAL30 CAL38 RCH34 CLT40 DOV25 MCH25 POC30 SON29 DAY24 NHA34 POC18 IND23 GLN35 MCH24 BRI43 DAR20 RCH18 NHA26 DOV39 MAR30 CLT28 TAL28 CAR42 PHO8 HOM9 ATL18 31st 2656 2001 Dodge DAY42 CAR9 LVS26 ATL34 DAR22 BRI29 TEX6 MAR29 TAL17 CAL29 RCH33 CLT33 DOV33 MCH8 POC11 SON32 DAY21 CHI12 NHA37 POC22 IND40 GLN28 MCH6 BRI18 DAR19 RCH26 DOV35 KAN10 CLT41 MAR29 TAL30 PHO28 CAR14 HOM6 ATL41 NHA11 22nd 3303 2002 Jasper Motorsports 77 Ford DAY25 CAR22 LVS18 ATL17 DAR30 BRI17 TEX15 MAR17 TAL31 CAL9 RCH29 CLT21 DOV29 POC10 MCH13 SON20 DAY28 CHI17 NHA35 POC22 IND15 GLN18 MCH18 BRI33 DAR29 RCH9 NHA25 DOV11 KAN21 TAL31 CLT10 MAR20 ATL19 CAR17 PHO7 HOM43 19th 3670 2003 DAY24 CAR10 LVS34 ATL8 DAR3 BRI38 TEX36 TAL23 MAR31 CAL13 RCH18 CLT14 DOV20 POC26 MCH38 SON32 DAY35 CHI31 NHA13 POC9 IND28 GLN25 MCH25 BRI30 DAR30 RCH33 NHA14 DOV24 KAN43 CLT24 MAR37 ATL37 PHO24 CAR27 HOM28 28th 3194 Dodge TAL17 2004 Bill Davis Racing 23 Dodge DAY15 CAR LVS ATL11 DAR BRI TEX11 MAR TAL39 CAL CLT17 DOV33 38th 1347 Ultra Motorsports 7 Dodge RCH40 Richard Childress Racing 30 Chevy POC29 MCH15 SON DAY15 CHI37 NHA33 POC27 IND21 GLN24 MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN Roush Racing 99 Ford CLT37 MAR ATL PHO DAR HOM 2005 Richard Childress Racing 07 Chevy DAY14 CAL34 LVS13 ATL8 BRI20 MAR34 TEX26 PHO24 TAL19 DAR29 RCH27 CLT29 DOV36 POC24 MCH29 SON19 DAY27 CHI38 NHA20 POC20 IND30 GLN34 MCH32 BRI23 CAL22 RCH33 NHA33 DOV20 TAL15 KAN25 CLT13 MAR16 ATL24 TEX28 PHO25 HOM6 26th 3289 2006 Bill Davis Racing 22 Dodge DAY22 CAL30 LVS31 ATL32 BRI23 MAR17 TEX29 PHO27 TAL24 RCH20 DAR27 CLT32 DOV30 POC27 MCH30 SON39 DAY27 CHI17 NHA13 POC16 IND29 GLN40 MCH24 BRI14 CAL28 RCH4 NHA9 DOV12 KAN21 TAL28 CLT26 MAR33 ATL18 TEX32 PHO23 HOM26 27th 3255 2007 Toyota DAY34 CAL39 LVS42 ATL27 BRI23 MAR37 TEX21 PHO39 TALDNQ RCH11 DAR32 CLT18 DOVDNQ POC43 MCH18 SON41 NHA29 DAY23 CHI40 IND9 POC20 GLN35 MCH6 BRI31 CAL38 RCH34 NHA35 DOVDNQ KAN15 TAL3 CLT6 MAR36 ATL38 TEX21 PHO31 HOM12 31st 2781 2008 DAY28 CAL30 LVS26 ATL34 BRI34 MAR43 TEX21 PHO30 TALDNQ RCH18 DAR9 CLT17 DOV9 POC22 MCH39 SON20 NHA33 DAY19 CHI23 IND35 POC31 GLN41 MCH41 BRI38 CAL29 RCH22 NHA33 DOV12 KAN31 TAL22 CLT27 MAR22 ATL41 TEX29 PHO20 HOM22 30th 2851 2009 Prism Motorsports 66 Toyota DAY CAL42 LVSDNQ ATL41 BRI43 MAR42 TEX43 PHO42 TAL RCH43 DAR41 CLT28 DOV39 POC40 MCH40 SON42 NHA42 DAY43 CHI43 IND42 POC40 GLN42 MCH42 BRI43 ATL43 RCH43 NHA42 DOV37 KAN40 CAL41 CLTDNQ MAR40 TAL41 TEXDNQ PHO42 HOMDNQ 41st 1204 2010 DAYDNQ CAL41 LVS29 ATL41 BRI42 MAR42 TAL43 RCHDNQ DAR42 DOV41 CLT43 POC40 MCHDNQ SON37 NHA42 DAY43 CHIDNQ IND41 POC42 GLNDNQ MCH 37th 1416 55 PHO42 TEX43 Tommy Baldwin Racing 36 Chevy BRIDNQ RCH30 NHA31 DOV43 MAR36 TAL42 PHO37 Front Row Motorsports 38 Ford ATL24 KAN31 HOM36 37 CAL29 CLT32 TEX42 2011 Tommy Baldwin Racing 36 Chevy DAY26 PHO42 LVS34 BRI25 CAL37 MAR30 TEX30 TAL27 RCH13 DAR24 DOV26 CLT27 KAN32 POC26 MCH34 SON31 DAY39 KEN33 NHA29 IND31 POC30 MCH33 BRI35 CHI33 NHA35 DOV32 KAN31 CLT35 TAL3 MAR23 32nd 508 35 GLNDNQ RCH19 TEX35 PHO27 HOM28 Germain Racing 60 Chevy ATL43 2012 Tommy Baldwin Racing 36 Chevy DAY15 PHO23 LVS29 BRI34 CAL33 MAR34 TEX37 KAN37 RCH29 TAL30 DAR27 CLT40 DOV32 MCH25 SON37 KEN35 DAY22 NHA39 IND23 POC GLN36 MCH38 BRI26 ATL25 RCH33 CHI33 TAL29 CLT43 KAN39 MAR35 TEX39 PHO26 HOM32 33rd 417 10 POC25 Penske Racing 22 Dodge NHAQL† Max Q Motorsports 37 Chevy DOV41 2013 Tommy Baldwin Racing 7 Chevy DAY17 PHO33 LVS24 BRI36 CAL21 MAR29 TEX25 KAN43 RCH23 TAL16 DAR27 CLT30 DOV29 POC31 MCH31 SON KEN40 DAY31 NHA23 IND38 POC23 GLN27 MCH30 BRI22 ATL26 RCH31 CHI23 NHA31 DOV33 KAN25 CLT32 TAL25 MAR39 TEX35 PHO30 HOM38 30th 526 2014 Randy Humphrey Racing 77 Ford DAYWth PHODNQ LVSDNQ BRIDNQ CAL MAR TEX41 DAR43 RCHDNQ TALDNQ KANDNQ CLTDNQ DOV33 POC43 MCH SON KEN DAY NHA IND 50th 46 Tommy Baldwin Racing 37 Chevy POC26 GLN MCH33 BRI43 ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM† - Qualified for Sam Hornish Jr.

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 2000 Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 31 27 2001 Dodge 20 42 2002 Jasper Motorsports Ford 42 25 2003 39 24 2004 Bill Davis Racing Dodge 23 15 2005 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38 14 2006 Bill Davis Racing Dodge 34 22 2007 Toyota 37 34 2008 34 38 2010 Prism Motorsports Toyota DNQ 2011 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 42 26 2012 24 15 2013 30 17 2014 Randy Humphrey Racing Ford Wth

Nationwide Series NASCAR Nationwide Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 1998 Bill Davis Racing 93 Pontiac DAY35 CAR42 LVS NSV14 DARDNQ BRI22 TEX34 HCY TAL37 NHA NZH CLT43 DOV36 RCH23 PPR GLN MLW14 MYB CAL SBO IRP33 MCHDNQ BRI29 DAR18 RCH12 DOV6 CLT11 GTY6 CAR20 ATL14 HOM6 29th 1915 1999 DAY43 CAR11 LVS20 ATL2 DAR42 TEX8 NSV31 BRI24 TAL14 CAL28 NHA19 RCH10 NZH4 CLT19 DOV8 SBO GLN8 MLW6 MYB13 PPR24 GTY8 IRP38 MCH3 BRI9 DAR2 RCH39 DOV24 CLT20 CAR3 MEM11 PHO19 HOM16 7th 3582 2000 20 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEXDNQ NSV TAL CAL18 RCH22 NHA CLT36 DOV8 SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR9 RCH21 DOV3 CLT3 CAR MEM PHO HOM 46th 976 2001 Team Goewey 93 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLTDNQ DOV43 KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 154th 0 2002 Marsh Racing 31 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM35 114th 63 2003 DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX TAL NSH CAL RCH31 GTY NZH 43rd 1133 Ford CLT11 DOV30 NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI13 NHA13 PPR IRP MCH10 BRI DAR RCH9 DOV KAN CLT18 MEM ATL10 PHO CAR HOM16 2004 DAY CAR LVS33 DAR BRI TEX22 NSH TAL CAL GTY RCH21 NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN 60th 4979 FitzBradshaw Racing 82 Chevy CLT25 ATL PHO42 DAR HOM 14 MEM19 2005 Marsh Racing 31 Chevy DAY CAL MXC LVS19 ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH42 CLT24 DOV12 NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI25 NHA35 PPR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH21 DOV KAN20 CLT MEM TEX31 PHO HOMDNQ 56th 780 2006 Braun Racing 32 Chevy DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT15 DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI13 NHA15 MAR GTY IRP GLN40 MCH BRI CAL RCH7 DOV16 KAN CLT1 MEM TEX PHO HOM 47th 854 2007 Toyota DAY2 PHO10 22nd 2491 10 CAL10 MXC13 LVS25 ATL16 BRI30 NSH3 TEX25 TAL32 RCH16 DAR31 CLT11 DOV16 NSH17 KEN15 MLW NHA35 DAY3 CHI9 GTY35 IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV23 KAN CLT36 MEM TEX PHO HOM26 2008 DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO MXC TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT17 MEM TEX PHO HOM 115th 112 2009 MSRP Motorsports 90 Chevy DAY CAL LVS BRI TEX NSH PHO43 TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP IOW 79th 357 91 GLN13 MCH BRI CGV ATL43 RCH DOV KAN CAL Braun Racing 87 Toyota CLT3 MEM TEX PHO HOM

Camping World Truck Series NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2004 Bill Davis Racing 23 Toyota DAY ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV6 TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 74th 150 2007 Bill Davis Racing 22 Toyota DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM10 80th 139 2013 Brad Keselowski Racing 19 Ford DAY MAR ROC KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW ELD9 POC MCH BRI MSP IOW CHI LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 95th 01

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

Superstar Racing Experience (key) * – Most laps led. 1 – Heat 1 winner. 2 – Heat 2 winner. Superstar Racing Experience results Year No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts 2022 10 FIF SBO STA NSV I55 SHA 19th 13