Sprint car racing career

Blaney, born in Hartford Township in Trumbull County, Ohio, was awarded the 1983 All-Star Sprint Circuit Rookie-of-the-Year. He raced in the United States Automobile Club (USAC) Silver Crown Series in 1984 and won the national touring series' championship. Blaney won his first World of Outlaws (WoO) race at Tri-City Speedway in 1985 and won the Championship in 1995. He also made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in the No. 80 Daffron's Body Shop Ford for Hover Motorsports in the 1992 AC Delco 500, finishing 31st. In the 1997 season, he won the Gold Cup, the Eldora Speedway event, and the Knoxville Nationals, which is considered the premiere event in sprint car racing. He was the first driver who did not defend his Knoxville win, when he moved into NASCAR. After moving to NASCAR, he kept his sprint car team going, fielding a car for his brother Dale and the late Kevin Gobrecht.

NASCAR career

1998-2005: Early career and team instability

Blaney began his Busch Series career in 1998 with Bill Davis Racing, driving the No. 93 Amoco-sponsored Pontiac and in his first season had three sixth-place finishes and a pole position at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The following season, he ran a full-time schedule and won four poles and ended the season a career-best seventh in points. That season, he returned to the Winston Cup series with Davis, earning a best finish of 23rd at Homestead in the No. 93.

In 2000, Blaney and his Amoco team moved up to Winston Cup full-time and posted two Top 10's. He finished third in the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award standings for the season. He returned to the Busch Series that year with a limited schedule in BDR’s No. 20 AT&T-sponsored Pontiac, gaining a pole position at Charlotte and also finish 3rd twice. In 2001, the team would switch to Dodge and he would compete in all the races with a best finish of sixth in three race. He left Davis at the end of the season due to sponsorship concerns and signed with the No. 77 Jasper Motorsports team. His best finish during the 2002 season was seventh at Phoenix. Blaney started the 2003 season with three Top 10's and a pole the first five races, but fell to 28th in points at the end of the season, forcing his release.

Blaney returned to Bill Davis Racing in 2004 for a limited schedule, due to a lack of a sponsorship. Part of his deal was making his Craftsman Truck Series debut for the team in the No. 23 at Dover, where he finished sixth. After two 11th-place finishes, Blaney joined Richard Childress Racing, taking over the No. 30 AOL-sponsored Chevrolet for eight races. After two Top 15 finishes, he was replaced by Jeff Burton and started one race for Roush Racing in the No. 99 Canteen Vending/Kraft Foods-sponsored Ford in the place of rookie Carl Edwards, who missed the start due a Craftsman Truck Series race that ran late. Blaney exited the car on lap 24, and Edwards went on to finish 37th after a crash. He also ran the spring race at Richmond International Raceway in the No. 7 Dodge for Ultra Motorsports and finished 40th.

Blaney returned to Richard Childress Racing in 2005 to drive the No. 07 Jack Daniel's-sponsored Chevrolet. During the season he would post only two Top 10 finishes and finished a dismal 26th in points.

2006-2008: Second Bill Davis Racing stint

In 2006, he returned to the Bill Davis stable to run the No. 22 Caterpillar-sponsored Dodge. His best finish in 2006 came at the Richmond International Raceway, where he finished fourth. He also scored his first Busch Series victory at Lowes Motor Speedway, when Matt Kenseth spun on the last lap and Blaney was in the lead. In 2007, he failed to qualify for three races and finished 31st in points. The following season, he had two Top 10's and moved up to 30th in points.

2009-2010: Loss of ride and start and park teams

BDR shut down before the 2009 season, leaving Blaney without a ride. In 2009, Blaney signed to run the start and park No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota for a full season, getting a best finish of twenty-eighth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Incidentally, Blaney did not qualify for 3 out of the 4 races the team had sponsorship for (Hyde Park was on the car at Las Vegas, and the Denny Hamlin Foundation at Charlotte and Texas). With the team continuing to start and park during the 2010 season, Blaney has a best finish of 29th at Las Vegas and led 3 laps the previous week at Fontana, he has parked his car prior to completion in all but one race this season. For the race at Phoenix, Blaney piloted the No. 55 Prism Toyota, with teammate Michael McDowell driving the No. 66 in an attempt to get both teams in the top 35 in owners points according to team owner Phil Parsons.

Throughout the summer of 2010, Blaney ran in dirt track 410 sprint car racing, and the "Buckeye Bullet" has been successful in his return posting two top 5 finishes during Ohio Sprint Speedweek and has one feature win thus far as he was triumphant at TRI-CITY Speedway in Franklin Pennsylvania on July 4, 2010.

Blaney has his sights set on some major events during his summer dirt tour including a stop at family owned Sharon Speedway for the Lou Blaney Memorial and Eldora Speedway for the Kings Royal.

For the remainder of the 2010 Sprint Cup season, Blaney split his time between Front Row Motorsports and Tommy Baldwin Racing. Compared to Prism, both teams have some degree of sponsorship; Front Row Motorsports ran full races while Tommy Baldwin Racing was an occasional start and park entry. For example, Blaney ran the entire race at Loudon in the No. 36 with only associate sponsorship from Connecticut-based construction company Mohawk Northeast (owned by Alan Heinke, part owner of TBR) while parking an unsponsored TBR entry at Talladega after 12 laps.

2011-2013: Career revival with Tommy Baldwin

For the 2011 season, Blaney joined Tommy Baldwin Racing for the full season, with the team now committed to running full races. At the 2011 Daytona 500, Blaney received last minute sponsorship from Golden Corral. He led three laps and finished 26th after a late race accident. Blaney piloted the No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet with backing from Accell Construction Inc. in several races during the season. Golden Corral returned at the 2011 Aaron's 499, and Blaney led 21 laps but was spun out by Kurt Busch with 3 laps to go and finished 27th. He led the second most laps behind Clint Bowyer.

On April 27, Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that Blaney and the No. 36 team would be sponsored by Golden Corral for 19 races and Big Red / All Sport for 5 races leaving only 3 races without a sponsor. The team did not run the Sprint All-Star Race in May in order to focus on the points-paying events. Blaney finished third at Talladega in the fall, which was the best finish for Tommy Baldwin Racing and tied for his best career finish.

Golden Corral returned for three races in 2012, with Ollie's Bargain Outlet, Accell Construction and TMOne sponsoring other races. During the 2012 Daytona 500, Blaney led after 160 laps. During a caution, shortly after race leaders had made pit stops, Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into a jet dryer, which was being used to blow debris from the track. As a result of the crash, the jet fuel that powered the helicopter engine spilled out onto the track and was ignited. NASCAR put the race under a red flag, at which point Blaney had the lead. Blaney finished 15th after a crash on lap 196.

Blaney returned to Tommy Baldwin Racing for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, moving to the new No. 7 Chevrolet; he also signed with Brad Keselowski Racing to drive their No. 19 in the Camping World Truck Series at the series' inaugural visit to Eldora Speedway, which he drove to a ninth-place finish. With Blaney's son Ryan's career having reached a level in which it no longer needed family funding, Dave went into semi-retirement after 2013. His last race with TBR was the season finale at Homestead. He was replaced at TBR by rookie Michael Annett. Blaney was credited with being a major part of building TBR into a legitimate Cup-level organization.

2014: Semi-retirement

In January 2014, it was announced that Blaney would be driving the No. 77 Ford for Randy Humphrey Racing during several 2014 races. However, during practice for the Daytona 500, Blaney's car was caught up in a wreck. The team attempted to purchase a backup car from another team, but was unable to, and was forced to rescind their entry. Blaney and the No. 77 team have yet to make a race as of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team was on the entry list for the Auto Club 400, but the team withdrew the Tuesday before the race. The team was again on the entry list for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but withdrew before practice. After failing to qualify in their first four races, the No. 77 team qualified for the first time in 2014 at the Duck Commander 500. At the season's midway point, Humphrey's team suspended operations.

At the August race at Pocono, Blaney returned to TBR for the first time, driving a third car for the team he helped build. He finished 26th in the race. Blaney returned to the car at Michigan later in the month.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * - Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts
1992	Hover Motorsports	80	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL								79th	70
1999	Bill Davis Racing	93	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	TEX	BRI	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	CAR	PHO	HOM	ATL			51st	332
2000				DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	CAR	PHO	HOM	ATL			31st	2656
2001			Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MAR	TAL	PHO	CAR	HOM	ATL	NHA	22nd	3303
2002	Jasper Motorsports	77	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	19th	3670
2003				DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	MAR	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV		KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM	28th	3194
			Dodge																													TAL
2004	Bill Davis Racing	23	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL		CLT	DOV																								38th	1347
	Ultra Motorsports	7	Dodge											RCH
	Richard Childress Racing	30	Chevy														POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN
	Roush Racing	99	Ford																															CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM
2005	Richard Childress Racing	07	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	26th	3289
2006	Bill Davis Racing	22	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	27th	3255
2007			Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	31st	2781
2008				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	30th	2851
2009	Prism Motorsports	66	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	41st	1204
2010				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR			TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH														37th	1416
		55								PHO	TEX
	Tommy Baldwin Racing	36	Chevy																								BRI		RCH	NHA	DOV				MAR	TAL		PHO
	Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford																									ATL				KAN							HOM
		37																															CAL	CLT			TEX
2011	Tommy Baldwin Racing	36	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	KAN	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC		MCH	BRI			CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR				32nd	508
		35																							GLN				RCH								TEX	PHO	HOM
	Germain Racing	60	Chevy																									ATL
2012	Tommy Baldwin Racing	36	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV		MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA		TAL	CLT	KAN	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	33rd	417
		10															POC
		37																														DOV
2013		7		DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	30th	526
2014	Randy Humphrey Racing	77	Ford	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	KAN	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND																	50th	46
	Tommy Baldwin Racing	37	Chevy																					POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2000	Bill Davis Racing	Pontiac	31	27
2001		Dodge	20	42
2002	Jasper Motorsports	Ford	42	25
2003			39	24
2004	Bill Davis Racing	Dodge	23	15
2005	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	38	14
2006	Bill Davis Racing	Dodge	34	22
2007		Toyota	37	34
2008			34	38
2010	Prism Motorsports	Toyota	DNQ
2011	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	42	26
2012			24	15
2013			30	17
2014	Randy Humphrey Racing	Ford	Wth

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NNSC	Pts
1998	Bill Davis Racing	93	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	NSV	DAR	BRI	TEX	HCY	TAL	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	RCH	PPR	GLN	MLW	MYB	CAL	SBO	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	GTY	CAR	ATL	HOM					29th	1915
1999				DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	TEX	NSV	BRI	TAL	CAL	NHA	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	SBO	GLN	MLW	MYB	PPR	GTY	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	CAR	MEM	PHO	HOM				7th	3582
2000		20		DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSV	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	CLT	DOV	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NZH	PPR	GTY	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	CAR	MEM	PHO	HOM				46th	976
2001	Team Goewey	93	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	KEN	MLW	GLN	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	PHO	CAR	HOM			154th	0
2002	Marsh Racing	31	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM		114th	63
2003				DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	NSH	CAL	RCH	GTY	NZH																								43rd	1133
			Ford													CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM
2004				DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN								60th	4979
	FitzBradshaw Racing	82	Chevy																													CLT		ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM
		14																															MEM
2005	Marsh Racing	31	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	NSH	BRI	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	56th	780
2006	Braun Racing	32	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	MAR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	47th	854
2007			Toyota	DAY								PHO																											22nd	2491
		10			CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX		TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM
2008				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	115th	112
2009	MSRP Motorsports	90	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW															79th	357
		91																							GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL
	NEMCO Motorsports	87	Toyota																															CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCWTC	Pts
2004	Bill Davis Racing	23	Toyota	DAY	ATL	MAR	MFD	LOW	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	CAL	TEX	MAR	PHO	DAR	HOM	74th	150
2007	Bill Davis Racing	22	Toyota	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	LOW	MFD	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	GTW	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	80th	139
2013	Brad Keselowski Racing	19	Ford	DAY	MAR	ROC	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	IOW	CHI	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM				95th	01

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

Images

• Blaney after a sprint car win at Port Royal Speedway in 1984

• World of Outlaws sprint car

• Blaney practicing for the 2007 Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

• Blaney's Prism Motorsports Toyota at Atlanta, March 2009

• Blaney at Martinsvile Speedway in 2011

[ Source: Wikipedia ]