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Blaney, Pemberton on NASCAR Teleconference

JASPER MOTORSPORTS

**NOTE: #77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions driver Dave Blaney and Crew Chief Ryan Pemberton will be featured tomorrow morning (Tuesday, August 13) on the weekly NASCAR Media Teleconference. The following is a comprehensive statistical career overview on Blaney, as well as pre-race notes for the upcoming Pepsi 400 at Michigan. Those interested in participating in the teleconference should contact NASCAR Public Relations. 

DAVE BLANEY - #77 JASPER ENGINES & TRANSMISSIONS FORD

PEPSI 400-MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (8-18-02)

  a.. DAVE BLANEY and the #77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford team enter the Pepsi 400 at Michigan international Speedway ranked 20th in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series standings, only 30 points behind 19th-place Jeff Green, 34 points behind 18th-place Bobby Labonte and 81 points behind 17th-place Dale Earnhardt, Jr.; in six career WC starts at Michigan, BLANEY has a best-start of fourth at MIS (38.365 secs.-6/01) and an average-start of 21.33, his best-finish is sixth (8/01) and his average-finish is 18.17; in 18 starts at MIS, the #77 Jasper team has a best-start of fifth (Ted Musgrave-6/93), an average-start of 24.6, a best-finish of fifth (Robert Pressley-6/00 & Musgrave-6/93) and an average-finish of 24.17.
  a.. In the June race at Michigan, BLANEY started 23rd (38.615 secs.) in the #77 Jasper Ford, and finished 13th, running in the top-ten through much of the race until being shuffled back after the race's last restart in the final 10 miles of the event; Robert Pressley finished a team-best fifth (in 18 starts) in the #77 Jasper Ford in the rain-shortened June, 2000 race at MIS, leading until the final 20 miles when Tony Stewart slipped past and won over the late Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett and Pressley.
  a.. In last year's Pepsi 400 at MIS, BLANEY started 41st, but finished sixth, contending for his first WC win until being shuffled out of the front pack during Sterling Marlin's late charge to Dodge's first win of 2001; he started fourth and finished eighth in the June, 2001 race at MIS; BLANEY also made his first career WC start at MIS (6/99), starting 21st and running in the top-20 throughout the caution-free race until running out of gas on the white-flag lap; he finished 33rd; BLANEY finished third behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon in his only Busch Series start at MIS, starting from the pole-position after a then-track-record qualifying lap. 
  a.. As the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season reaches Race #23 after the Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen last weekend, the #77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford team in 2002 ranks two positions lower (20th) in the Winston Cup standings than the 2001 team entering the Pepsi 400, but has a better average-start (24.21-26.25) and average finish (20.36-20.99) ratios; BLANEY ranks fourth in miles completed behind defending NASCAR Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon (fifth in points), Rookie-of-the-Year leader Jimmie Johnson (third in points) and Bill Elliott (eighth in points); BLANEY ranked 25th in the 2001 Winston Cup standings entering the 2001 Pepsi 400 at Michigan with the #93 BDR Dodge.
  a.. Rusty Wallace leads the three Penske-Jasper Engines entries in the 2002 Winston Cup standings in sixth-place (2,812 points-3 top-fives, 12 top-tens), 132 points behind leader Sterling Marlin; Ryan Newman (2,683 points) ranks ninth (10 top-fives, 13 top-tens); BLANEY ranks 20th (2,250 points).
  a.. For the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, BLANEY joined the #77 Jasper Motorsports team that had very similar statistics to his own #93 BDR Dodge team in 2001; with drivers Robert Pressley (34 starts) and Boris Said (two starts), the #77 Ford finished a career-best 23rd in the overall 2001 WC team standings-125 points ahead of the #93 BDR team (26th); under the guidance of fourth-year Crew Chief Ryan Pemberton, the #77 Jasper Ford matched the #93's six top-ten finishes with a best-finish of second (with Pressley) at Chicago-the team's best finish in eight seasons.
  a.. The #77 Jasper Motorsports team was formed prior to the 1996 through the multiple ownership of DOUG BAWEL (President of Jasper Engines & Transmissions), MARK WALLACE (Team CFO and Jasper's largest national distributor) and MARK HARRAH (Team Manager and Jasper distributor in Greensboro, NC); after beginning their NASCAR involvement as an engine supplier for Hedrick Motorsports (#41), BAWEL gained part-ownership in the #55 RaDiUs team prior to the 1994 season; the team's best WC points-finish is 25th (Robert Pressley/25th-2002), best race-finish is second (Pressley/Chicago-2002) and has not won pole position; BLANEY is the tenth driver for the Jasper team.
  a.. DAVE BLANEY finished 22nd in the final 2001 WC points standings (3303), 23 points ahead of two-time champion Terry Labonte; BLANEY posted 11 top-15 finishes in his second WC season, including six top-tens ; he had a best-start of third (ATL-2) and best-finishes of sixth (Texas, MIS-2, Miami).
  a.. In his fourth season (2 WC, 2 BGN) with Bill Davis Racing, BLANEY finished sixth three times including Miami (November), where he passed more than 50 cars for the fifth time in 2001 as he charged into contention late in the race; BLANEY passed 61 cars enroute to his sixth-place finish at Texas (April) after taking the final provisional spot (43rd) when tire problems doomed his qualifying effort; he also finished sixth at Michigan (August), running as high as fourth in the final laps of the rain-shortened race; BLANEY led 70 laps at Atlanta (March) before a late-race mistake in the pits derailed his effort and was a contender early in the fall at Atlanta before engine problems ended his day. 
  a.. BLANEY's season-best qualifying effort (third) at Atlanta (November) was one of 13 top-15 starts in 2001 and beat previous career-bests (fourth) at Miami (1999), Daytona (7/00), Atlanta (11/00) and Michigan (6/01).
  a.. BLANEY also ranked 19th in miles-completed (92%), more than 85% of his unfinished miles coming in the Daytona 500 and NAPA 500 (engine failure), and in New Hampshire, Dover and Charlotte (blown tires); he finished fourth in the 2001 point standings among the 10 Dodge drivers who participated in their return to NASCAR, trailing only Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton and Bill Elliott.
  a.. Under the guidance of Crew Chiefs Gil Martin (thru mid-July) and Doug Randolph, BLANEY and the #93 BDR team finished the 2000 season ranked 33rd in the NASCAR Winston Cup team standings, 34 points behind the #4 Morgan-McClure team; BLANEY ranked 31st in the 2000 WC driver point standings; BLANEY closed first WC year and his third-ever stock car season with a flourish, finishing eighth at Phoenix, ninth at Miami and challenging for the win in the season-finale at Atlanta; BLANEY finished third in the 2000 Winston Cup Rookie-of-the-Year standings, winning the top-rookie awards three times; Matt Kenseth was the top first-year WC driver in 2000 followed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
  a.. BLANEY ranked third among all 2000 rookies in miles completed (90%), trailing only Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (95.1%) and Matt Kenseth (94.5%);he failed to qualify for the season's second race (NCMS) after a second-day practice crash; BLANEY ranked second in average start (24.12) behind Earnhardt and third in every other statistical category behind Kenseth and Earnhardt.
  a.. With Crew Chief Martin at the helm, BLANEY completed the 1999 Busch Series season ranked sixth in the team owner standings with 3,691 points, and BLANEY ranked seventh in the driver's standings with 3,582 points in his second NASCAR season; among his 15 top-15 finishes in 1999 were seconds at Atlanta (March) and Darlington (September); he made five WC starts in 1999, qualifying in the top-ten at Miami (4th) and Atlanta (7th); BLANEY's best BGN finish in 2000 was third (Dover-9/23;Charlotte-10/7).
  a.. BLANEY tied with Jeff Green for the most Busch Series pole positions in 1999 (four); BLANEY's average start (12.21-29 races) ranked fourth behind Earnhardt (9.04-29 races), Green (10.38-29 races) and Matt Kenseth (10.92); BLANEY's improvement (29thto 6th)was the best among all Busch drivers.
  a.. In only 60 Busch starts, BLANEY has won six BGN pole positions (all in track-record time) at Charlotte (10/1/98 and 5/25/00), Atlanta (3/13/99), Texas (3/27/99), Colorado Springs (7/23/99) and Michigan (8/19/99) (Charlotte and Atlanta still active) and outside poles at St. Louis (10/17/98) and Charlotte (10/7/99); BLANEY's career average BGN start (57 qualifying sessions) since the start of his rookie season (2/98) is 12.596.
  a.. One of open-wheel racing's most respected and successful racers of the 1990's, BLANEY won 192 feature sprint-car events in 1,349 starts (14.2%) over 17 seasons of competition in the division's three major organizations; he won the 1995 World of Outlaws championship and finished second every other year between 1993 and 1997 (four times).
  a.. After years of considering the possibility, BLANEY bought historic Sharon (PA) Speedway, the hometown track for the racing family and one of the oldest continuously running weekly racetracks in the United States, late in 2001; he purchased the track, which began competition in 1929, with father, Lou-still a regular competitor at the facility-and a group of local investors; with expansion to a capacity of 8,500, the high-banked 3/8-mile oval now hosts four divisions for the first time on Saturday nights from late spring through the traditional Sharon Nationals over Labor Day weekend; the track also features two World of Outlaws dates (May 31 and July 31), the first time sprint-car racing's premier series has visited the 72-year old track.
  a.. Celebrating its 60th year in 2002, Jasper Engines & Transmissions serves as the primary sponsor of the #77 Jasper Motorsports Ford, with associate sponsorship from RBC-Term.com; with locations in 29 cities nationwide, Jasper Engines is the largest mass-remanufacturer of gasoline and diesel engines in the world; Jasper Engines also serves as co-owner of the Penske-Jasper Engines NASCAR operation that serves the #77 Jasper Motorsports team as well as the Penske South #2 (Rusty Wallace) and #12 (Ryan Newman) teams.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact: BILL ARMOUR (704-662-6222)

WEB SITE: daveblaney.com and jasperengines.com