Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team posted their best qualifying effort of the season and lined up eighth for the start of the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway. The team had high hopes for the race, but it battled a tight handling condition for much of the event. Blaney took the checkered flag in 29th place.
The No. 22 Bill Davis Racing team was the 32nd of 44 teams to take to the track for qualifying Friday afternoon. Blaney posted a speed of 178.381 mph around the two-mile oval, which earned the team the eighth starting position for Sunday’s event. The team backed up that performance Saturday evening by posting the quickest speed in the final practice session leading up to the event.
The green flag waved for the start of the Pepsi 500, and Blaney let Crew Chief Tommy Baldwin know early on that adjustments would need to be made to the car, which was extremely tight in the center of the corners. The Caterpillar Camry fell to 27th place before a caution flag on lap 21 enabled the team to service the car on pit road. Baldwin called for several changes during the stop, including air pressure and track bar adjustments, and the crew sent Blaney back onto the track for the lap 25 restart.
Blaney told Baldwin that the changes had helped the car feel more secure in and off the corners, but that he still couldn’t turn in the center of the corners. All the while, the veteran driver was able to pass slower traffic and broke back into the top 20 on lap 62 of the 250-lap event.
While it was still tight in the center of the corners, the Bill Davis Racing entry became much too loose in and off the turns just prior to the lap-100 mark. The crew took an opportunity to make a wedge adjustment during a lap 113 pit stop, but problems on the stop resulted in the car going one lap down to leader Jimmie Johnson after Blaney returned to the track.
More misfortune hit the team when a piece of debris from a lighting unit fell onto the track surface and into the path of the Caterpillar Toyota. The team assessed the situation during a lap 164 pit stop and was disappointed to find that the front splitter was broken. Though the crew did not have the time to fix it during that particular stop, Baldwin made plans for the repairs during the next caution period. Blaney could indeed feel a vibration when the green flag waved for the restart, but he remained in the top 25. The team worked on the splitter during the caution period that began on lap 182, and after making several stops during that time period, Blaney lined up for the lap 187 restart in the 37th spot.
Blaney communicated to his crew that the changes made in the latter stages of the race were beginning to make a difference, and he was able to make his way into 30th place with 14 laps to go in the race. He fought hard in the final laps of the race to take the checkered flag in the 29th position. The team remains in the top 35 in NASCAR Sprint Cup Owners’ points heading into next weekend’s race.
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