| | | | | | | 22 - Dave Blaney | Hartford, Ohio |
| | Primary Sponsor: Caterpillar Manufacturer: Toyota Car Owner: Bill Davis Team: Bill Davis Racing Dave Blaney, who currently drives the #22 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing, has been racing in the Cup series for 10 years.
Blaney didn’t start racing until after he graduated from high school, when, in 1981, his dad gave him the opportunity to drive a Sprint car. The very next year, he was named rookie of the year for the All-Star Sprint Car Circuit of Champions.
At age 20, Blaney became the youngest driver – and first rookie – to win the championship in the USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet Series in 1984.
Blaney earned the nickname “Buckeye Bullet” after collecting more than 180 Sprint car victories. In 1993 and 1994, he finished second in the World of Outlaws championship standings and won the title in 1995. He was also named National Sprint Car Poll driver of the year.
In 1993 he won a Chili Bowl Midget Nationals championship.
Blaney made his Cup debut in 1992, and he began to show potential as a racer when he teamed up with Bill Davis in 1998. The same year Blaney started 20 Busch series races, and in 1999 he made all but one start in the Busch series.
He ended that same season with five top-fives and 12 top-10s, finishing seventh in points. He also started five Cup races.
Blaney was racing full time in the Cup series by 2000, and had six top-10s in 2001 – a career high. He parted company with Bill Davis after that season, raced for Richard Childress in 2005, and then rejoined Davis for the 2006 season.
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