From Motter Motorsports PR
Barberville, FL — (February 8, 2016) — National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Dave Blaney will make his debut as pilot of the Motter Equipment Mohawk Northeast Beltline Body Shop 71M sprint car Wednesday, February 10 at Volusia Speedway Park in the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions event . This will be the first of five consecutive days of racing for the team: two days of All Star racing followed by the three day kick off of the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car series.
Blaney, who has had a storied career on dirt tracks from 1983 to 1997, moved to NASCAR, competing in Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) and Busch Series (most recently Nationwide Series) racing from 1998-2014.
He began to stick his toe back into the shark infested sprint car waters in 2013, racing a very limited schedule, adding a few more races each year.
For 2016, Dan Motter and Blaney have collaborated to create a 56-event schedule comprised mostly of a hand-picked compilation of World of Outlaw and All Star races.
“This is still a part-time schedule,” explained Blaney, “but it’s considerably more than I’ve raced the last three years. We’re going to be running J&J chassis and Speedway Engines which Dan has had so much success with.
“Dan and I have known each other a long, long time and I’m excited to be back. We think we can be competitive and we’ll have some fun racing together.
“My brother Dale has been racing better than ever out on the sprint car circuit. We both want to see each other do well and he will be a good sounding board for me when it comes to sharing information about these tracks that I haven’t raced on for a few years.
“Physically we’ve raced enough recently that I think my body can absorb the abuse from racing hard.”
Dave and Dale Blaney were raised at the race track watching their father Lou contend for sprint car victories. The racing gene continues into the third generation of Blaneys with Dave’s son Ryan piloting the Wood Brothers Ford on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit.
“We have chosen to go with a schedule that will allow me to spend some time going to selected NASCAR Sprint Car races to watch Ryan. So this year I’ll either be driving or off watching Ryan race.”
“This team will still be focused on winning,” said team owner Dan Motter. “This is not a hobby, it’s a business. Since we aren’t campaigning for a series title, there won’t be pressure from a point system perspective. But each time we unload, we intend to put every effort forth to win. The look, decorum and attitudes of every member of this team will be professional. This could make a difference in our future.
“We are confident we will compete at a high level. Dave has done a lot of experimenting the past three years and he is at the race shop at 8 a.m. every morning, working all day. He is ‘hands on’ and he’s got a pretty good handle on what he wants in a race car.
“We have good Speedway engines. The car looks good. Both of us expect to run out front.”
The Buckeye Bullet, as he is best known on the sprint car circuits, competed at Volusia Speedway the past three years with a best A Main finish of 11th place on Feb. 12, 2015 in the All Star event.
Blaney was the 1995 World of Outlaws Champion and was the 1997 Knoxville Nationals winner. To date he has scored 70 Outlaws victories tying him with Stevie Smith for eighth place in all-time wins. Pretty amazing for a fellow who rarely donned a sprint car driver’s uniform after 1997.
Both Motter and Blaney are excited to get into the eye of the sprint car hurricane at Volusia.