Bill Davis Racing, with Burton and Blaney, Look to Turn it up a Notch with Dodge in 2001
19 February 2000
Bill Davis Racing, with Burton and Blaney, Look to Turn it up a Notch with Dodge in 2001
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 19 -- No one in the NASCAR Winston
Cup garage will argue that Bill Davis Racing is a championship waiting to
happen.
Having shown steady growth since joining NASCAR's top ranks in 1993, the
team, featuring drivers Ward Burton and Dave Blaney, will be a part of the
historic return of Dodge to Winston Cup racing beginning with the 2001 Daytona
500.
And, the persistent owner and drivers are hoping the move to Dodge will be
the one that pushes it over the top.
"I have every confidence in the world that this Dodge program will take us
to a new level," said Davis, whose team will campaign a pair of Dodge Intrepid
R/T racing machines for Burton and Blaney next season, joining the two-car
Dodge contingent of Evernham Motorsports and the three from Petty Enterprises.
"Not only is Dodge's return to Winston Cup a great thing for those of us
with the good fortune of being in on the ground floor, but it's going to turn
up the heat for the entire series," Davis continued. "The stakes just got
higher."
In Burton, Bill Davis Racing has a seasoned veteran who brought the team
its first win in 1995 and a solid ninth-place finish in the Winston Cup points
last season. Call him the bridesmaid for having finished second to his
brother Jeff three times in 1999.
Blaney, starting his first full season at the Winston Cup level in 2000,
is a dark horse candidate for Rookie of the Year honors after a highly
successful World of Outlaws career and a strong run in the Busch Grand
National series the last two seasons.
Between them, Burton and Blaney showed the greatest improvement in their
respective series from 1998 to 1999. Burton went from 16th to ninth in the
Winston Cup points standings while Blaney went from 29th to sixth.
"There's no question this is one of the top teams in the series,
especially now that we're a two-car team," Burton said. "For us to make the
change to the brand-new Dodge program might not look like a natural move. But
racing is a risk business, and sometimes you have to do something like that if
you want to get a leg up on the competition."
"This is just awfully exciting," said Blaney, the 1995 World of Outlaws
champion who still owns an Outlaws team that campaigns a Mopar-powered
(Dodge's parts division) sprint car. "Bill Davis Racing has been knocking on
the door for so long, this move to Dodge just might be the thing that will
bust the door all the way down."
Like Petty Enterprises, Bill Davis Racing is working every step of the way
in the development of the Dodge Intrepid R/T Winston Cup program with Evernham
Motorsports and its team owner, Ray Evernham.
In fact, Davis' head fabricator, Dave Nelson, and engineer Todd Holbert,
have been assigned to the Dodge development team that is working out of Petty
Enterprises headquarters in High Point, N.C. More staff will transition to
the Dodge program as the season progresses.
"Kyle Petty is one of my best friends in the paddock, and Ray Evernham is
probably the best choice on earth to be the point guy in a project of this
historic significance. I'm just thrilled to be a part of it," said Davis, who
is no stranger to winning after having fielded Busch Grand National efforts
for drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Geoff Bodine. "Evernham,
Petty and Davis Racing each bring significant contributions to the table. In
our case, our strength is our engine program. So our chief engine builder,
Terry Elledge, is going to be a very important part of the development
process.
"We have a very important season ahead of us in 2000, and I'm hoping we
can break into the winner's circle. But there's great comfort in knowing that
big things lie ahead for Bill Davis Racing and for the entire Dodge
Motorsports family."
Dodge 500 Countdown to the 2001 Daytona 500:
365 days, 2 hours, 45 minutes