Photo by: Action Sports Photography
Watkins Glen, N.Y. – Dave Blaney started the Finger Lakes 355 at the Glen from the 31st position. He drove the Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) Chevrolet up to the 28th spot before a broken trackbar mount ended the team’s day early. The No. 36 Chevrolet finished in 36th place.
Blaney started the second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) road course race of the season from the 31st position. During the first two laps of the 11-turn course, the No. 36 Chevrolet fell to the 33rd position, but Blaney drove back into 31st place by lap 11.
On lap 13, the Buckeye Bullet radioed to the crew that the Chevrolet was tight in the right turns and loose in the left turns but all around not too bad. He drove into the 28th spot when green flag pit stops started. Crew Chief Ryan Pemberton called Blaney down pit road on lap 22 for the team’s first pit stop. The TBR crew changed four tires and made an adjustment to the No. 36 Chevrolet.
The No. 36 Chevrolet returned to the track in the 35th position, one lap down. Jamie McMurray made contact with the wall on lap 27 and brought out the caution. Pemberton called for Blaney to stay out and get the wave around. Blaney restarted in the 32nd position on the lead lap.
By lap 36, Blaney drove into the 29th position, but by lap 41, Blaney radioed that there was smoke coming from the No. 36 Chevrolet. The team leaned on the two spotters and driver to assess where the smoke was coming from. It looked like the trackbar broke, so Pemberton called Blaney into the garage. The team worked to fix the broken trackbar, but the mount was unfixable in the time left in the race. The No. 36 Chevrolet finished in 36th place.
The No. 36 Chevrolet is still in the 35th position in NSCS Owner Points. The team is locked into the top-35 by 82 points and trails the No. 10 Chevrolet by 26 points. Blaney is now in 33rd place in NSCS Driver Points. He is one point ahead of teammate David Reutimann and trails Landon Cassill by 48 points.
“Today was not the day we had hoped for,” explained Blaney. “The car was pretty good from the beginning. We were on point for a decent lead lap finish when the trackbar broke. The team couldn’t fix the problem before the end of the race. That’s how it goes sometimes. It seems that a lot of teams struggled with part failures today.”
TBR will return to Michigan International Speedway next weekend for the Pure Michigan 400.
Source: Tommy Baldwin Racing
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