(Photo by DB3 Imaging)
Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 18, 2015) – Dale Blaney advanced into his 10th career Knoxville Nationals main event last weekend during the 55th edition of the famed event at Knoxville Raceway.
“Going in our goal was to get into the A Main on our preliminary night and we got that accomplished,” he said. “We drew a good number and that helped start us on the right track.”
Blaney and the Mainstream Holdings, Inc., backed CH Motorsports team went out early to qualify around the half-mile oval last Thursday and capitalized by timing in third quickest. He then maneuvered from his eighth starting position to a third-place result during a heat race to lock into the main event.
“We got fortunate in our heat race,” he said. “Sam Hafertepe Jr. was going to start sixth and he scratched so that moved us up a row. I jumped to fourth the first lap and got to third the second lap. That was a huge relief getting that out of the way.”
Blaney made the feature inversion, which lined him up on the outside of the third row for the main event.
“I knew before I lined up in the feature I had to run 12th to 15th and I’d probably be locked into the top 16 for Saturday’s main event,” he said. “I felt like I had an opportunity to run in the top five and if I did I could start in the top two or three rows.”
Blaney maintained a top five for the first handful of laps before he lost a couple of positions following a restart.
“I got myself in a couple of bad spots,” he said. “Then Brad Sweet came across my nose going into turn one. It took the air off it. I was up in the curb at that point. It packed the right front full of mud and bent the right rear wheel. It tore the tail tank out of it. It hurt the car enough where I didn’t feel very good. I knew I had to get back to about 15th and we did somehow.”
Blaney, who was running in the top 10 when the incident occurred, went to the work area during the caution. He restarted the race 22nd and rallied to earn a 15th-place result, which was good enough for 11th in overall points out of more than 110 competitors.
That started the Mainstream Holdings, Inc., sponsored sprint car on the inside of the sixth row for Saturday’s $150,000-to-win, 50-lap feature.
“I was a little snug the first 25 laps,” he said. “It was just enough where I couldn’t keep the speed up as much as I wanted to getting into the corner. That’s a tough race on Saturday. We just weren’t very good. That type of track is our worst track that we race on. I felt like we got worse and worse as the race went on.”
Blaney held on for an 18th-place finish, which was his eighth career top 20 during the event.
He is scheduled to compete this Friday at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., Saturday at Butler Speedway in Quincy, Mich., and Sunday at Millstream Speedway in Findlay, Ohio, with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 13 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 3 (8); Feature: 15 (6).
Aug. 15 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Feature: 18 (11).
SEASON STATS –
56 races, 14 wins, 28 top fives, 41 top 10s, 43 top 15s, 50 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., Saturday at Butler Speedway in Quincy, Mich., and Sunday at Millstream Speedway in Findlay, Ohio, with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.BigGameTreestands.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Game-Treestands/251832101535076?fref=ts
VIDEO –
Here is a link to highlights of Blaney’s World of Outlaws victory at Attica Raceway Park on May 29: https://youtu.be/ZZ0DlkA5T1c.
Here’s a link to highlights of Blaney’s World of Outlaws win during the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway on July 21: https://youtu.be/J9wpd7i6uDA
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INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Aug 18, 2015
- Article Date: 8/18/2015 by Inside Line Promotions