(Photo by Justin Brester)
Inside Line Promotions – BARBERVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 15, 2016) – Dale Blaney was stout throughout last week’s 45th annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park, where he guided the Mainstream Holdings, Inc., backed CH Motorsports team to a top-10 finish during all five sprint car races.
“The whole Florida trip was really good,” he said. “To come out of there with top 10s in all the races, especially against that field of cars at Volusia, I felt like we ran really good every night.”
The event began last Wednesday with the first of two straight nights of Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions races. Blaney qualified second quickest and placed fourth in a heat race to earn a spot in the dash. He then finished fifth in the dash before scoring a sixth-place result in the main event.
“The track was rough and choppy, pretty fast all night long,” he said. “We weren’t great, but we weren’t bad by any means. It was tough to pass and it wasn’t our type of race track. To come away with a sixth was really good.”
He returned to the fast track on Thursday, when the Mainstream Holdings, Inc., sponsored team qualified ninth quickest overall, won a heat race and ended fourth in the dash. Blaney then powered to a runner-up result in the feature.
“The track was pretty slick, which fit our style really well,” he said. “You could move around wherever you wanted to. We had a red about 10 laps into it and I felt like I had just got going when the red came out. It took me about eight laps to get going again after the restart. It would have been pretty hard to beat (Donny) Schatz either way though.”
The midpoint of the sprint car portion for the DIRTcar Nationals featured the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series season opener on Friday. Blaney’s race car endured a mechanical problem during qualifying, which relegated the team to time in 26th overall.
Following a quick engine change, Blaney rallied from seventh to fifth place in a heat race to lock into the main event. He then charged from 18th to a seventh-place finish in the main event.
“We passed two good cars, (Paul) McMahan and (Terry) McCarl, to get to fifth in the heat,” he said. “I was just happy to get through the heat and make it. Then, to come from 18th to seventh in the feature was probably the highlight of the week because it was a tough track to pass on. We managed to get ourselves in a good position. That one was awesome.”
Blaney continued to run strong on Saturday when he timed in sixth during qualifying, placed second in a heat race and ended sixth in the dash. He then maneuvered to a third-place result in the main event thanks to a last-lap pass.
“It was solid all night,” he said. “The track was slick again. We could maneuver and run anywhere on the race track. I had a couple restarts I couldn’t get going good on, but once we got a couple of laps in I got going. We cleared (Daryn) Pittman on the last lap for third. Any time you can be on the podium with the Outlaws it’s a good night.”
The event concluded for the sprint cars on Sunday at Volusia Speedway Park, where the Mainstream Holdings, Inc., backed team timed in seventh quickest during qualifying, ended third in a heat race and finished 10th in the main event on the fast track.
“It was wide open from hot laps through the main event,” he said. “The heat race lap times were 12.7s and 12.8s. It’s hard to race when you’re going that fast. It stayed fast all night. I didn’t get a very good start in the feature and fell back. It was a tough night, but to end with a top 10 on that type of track was good. I just needed to get a better start.”
Blaney has now recorded 10 top-10 finishes in 11 races in 2016.
QUICK RESULTS –
Feb. 10 – Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 4 (3); Dash: 5 (3); Feature: 6 (5).
Feb. 11 – Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 4 (6); Feature: 2 (4).
Feb. 12 – Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. – Qualifying: 26; Heat race: 5 (7); Feature: 7 (18).
Feb. 13 – Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 2 (2); Dash: 6 (6); Feature: 3 (6).
Feb. 14 – Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. – Qualifying: 7; Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 10 (7).
SEASON STATS –
11 races, 1 win, 7 top fives, 10 top 10s, 11 top 15s, 11 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
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INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
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- Shawn Miller on Feb 15, 2016
- Article Date: 2/15/2016 by Inside Line Promotions