Blaney, Jasper Notes; pre-Michigan

JASPER MOTORSPORTS

DAVE BLANEY - #77 JASPER ENGINES & TRANSMISSIONS FORD

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

DAVE BLANEY on hopes for Pepsi 400 at Michigan this weekend..

"For sure, I'm excited about the Michigan race this weekend, because we're taking the same car we ran so well with in June. We were pretty competitive there all day. I think we can finish a little closer to the front (than 13th) this time. 

"I like Michigan, and I have some success there in the limited number of races I've been in NASCAR. The best-handling car will win there every time, because-although it's a wide and fast surface-the entries into Turn 1 and Turn 3are real tricky, and right on the edge, if you want to get through the middle of the corners and off the way you need to.

"Our Penske-Jasper engine program is awesome, and getting better every week. If we can get good track-position and get a lot of green-flag laps the way it usually is at Michigan, we'll be in the hunt.

"We didn't move up in the points (still 20th) after Watkins Glen, but we still had a good points day because many of the guys we're chasing had a little trouble. Our goal at the start of the year was to finish in the top-15 in the points. If we can run the way we think we can on Sunday, we'll take another big step toward that goal. We go into every race aiming for the top-10, but I don't see why we can't get our first top-five of the season at Michigan this weekend."

  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 only 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.. In the last five races (Chicago through Watkins Glen), the Penske-Jasper Engines powered #12 Alltel Ford of Ryan Newman ranks first among all NASCAR Winston Cup drivers with 815 points, 71 more than Kevin Harvick; Robbie Gordon ranks third-122 points back, followed by Tony Stewart and Bill Elliott. Rounding out the top-ten over the past five WC events are Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Rudd, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Green-the third Richard Childress Racing entry in the top-ten; Newman has an average finish of 4.2 during the stretch-all top-five finishes, and has eight of his series-leading ten top-fives in his last 12 starts.