Engine Failure Ends Dave Blaney’s Night Early at Bristol

The No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet finished 35^th in the IRWIN Tools Night Race

BRISTOL, TENN. (August 27, 2011) – Dave Blaney drove the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet to a 35^th-place starting position in the IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. After struggling with handling at the beginning of the 500-lap race, Blaney was marred two and three laps down. With 40 laps to go, the rod broke in the engine of the No. 36 Chevrolet and relegated the Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) team to a 35^th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) event.

Blaney posted the 39^th- and 44^th-fastest times in the first and final practice sessions respectively. He wheeled the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet to the 35^th starting spot with a fast lap of 15.930 seconds, just three tenths of a second slower than pole winner Ryan Newman.

The Hartford, Ohio native took the green flag of the 500-lap race and drove to the 32^nd position by lap 13. He told the Golden Corral crew that the Chevrolet was loose on top and a little in the center. A debris caution was called on lap 33 and allowed the TBR team to change four tires and make a trackbar adjustment. Coming off pit road, NASCAR radioed that the No. 36 Chevrolet was speeding, and Blaney had to restart at the tail of the field in the 35^th position.

By lap 66, Blaney fell a lap down and radioed that the Golden Corral Chevrolet was very tight in the center and too loose driving into and off of the corner. Another debris caution was called on lap 105, and Crew Chief Philippe Lopez called Blaney down pit road for four-tire stop and wedge adjustment.

The field restarted on lap 111 with Blaney in the 34^th position, one lap down. The No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet was tight in the center of the turns on this run, but the loose condition was fixed for both driving in and off the corner.

The third debris caution was called on lap 130, and the TBR team elected to stay on the racetrack. Blaney restarted 32^nd on lap 136 and radioed that the car was tight early in the run. By lap 160, he fell two laps down but was improving his lap times. After falling to 36^th, he worked his way back to 33^rd by lap 214. He told the crew the car was driving much better now that the air pressure was building in the tires. Late in the run, he was posting times comparable to the leader.

Caught in traffic, by lap 241, he fell three laps down in 36^th. Blaney worked up to 34^th by lap 258 and drove passed the leader to get one of his three laps back. On lap 227, Lopez called Blaney down pit road for a scheduled four-tire pit stop and air pressure adjustment.

By the fourth caution of the night for a four-car incident in turn three on lap 299, Blaney drove up to the 31^st spot. He radioed that the car was really good. Lopez called Blaney down pit road to change four tires and make a small air pressure adjustment. After Blaney restarted, he radioed that the car was really tight.

A three-car incident on the backstretch brought out the fifth caution of the night on lap 362 with the Golden Corral Chevrolet in the 30^th position, three laps down. The team elected to stay out and get the wave around. Blaney restarted from the 28^th position, two laps down, on lap 369 and radioed that the car was still tight.

The final yellow flag flew on lap 415 for an incident in turn three. Lopez called Blaney down pit road for the team’s final, scheduled pit stop. The TBR team changed four tires and made an air pressure adjustment. The No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet restarted 31^st, three laps down, on lap 420. Ten laps later, Blaney radioed that the car was brutal tight.

On lap 460, Blaney came over the radio and said he was having a possible transmission or engine problem. He drove down pit road, and the team concluded that the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet had an engine issue and pushed the car back to the garage. Blaney finished 35^th, 43 laps down.

The 35^th-place finish dropped the No. 36 TBR team to the 33^rd position in the NSCS Owner Point Standings. The team is now seven points behind the No. 13 Germain Racing machine and 63 points ahead of the 36^th position. Blaney held onto the 32^nd spot in the NSCS Driver Points. He is 21 points behind Casey Mears in 31^st and 17 points ahead of Andy Lally in 33^rd.

“It was disappointing to have the engine blow near the end,” explained Blaney. “We struggled a bit with the handling at the beginning and fell some laps down. The car was great near the middle of the race and really fun to drive. We were laps down but running as fast as the leaders. We didn’t make any changes, and on the next set of tires, the handling was horrible. We worked to get back to that setup but broke a rod in the engine late in the race. It’s really unfortunate that things keep going wrong the past few weeks, but we’ll move on and work to get better next week.”

Blaney will return to the NSCS racing for the Labor Day event at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 4^th.

About Golden Corral Corporation:

Founded in 1973, privately held Golden Corral Corp. is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. Golden Corral currently has 485 restaurants in 41 states.  The company’s vision is to be the leader in the family restaurant segment by making pleasurable dining affordable for every guest, at every restaurant, every day.  Golden Corral restaurants nationwide have long been strong supporters of the U.S. Military and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).  Golden Corral helped raise more than $1,000,000 for the DAV in 2010 as part of its annual “Military Appreciation Monday” initiative.  For more information on Golden Corral, visit www.goldencorral.com.

About Tommy Baldwin Racing:

Tommy Baldwin Racing was formed in 2009 by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crew Chief Tommy Baldwin. Baldwin utilized a slumping economy to open a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team with a stringent budget. The team competed in two full seasons with multiple drivers behind the wheel of the No. 36 Chevrolet and improved in the standings each year.

Based in Mooresville, N.C., TBR will compete in the full NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule in 2011 with NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney piloting the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet. Looking to improve on-track performance, TBR found success early in the 2011 season with partners Golden Corral, Big Red and Accell Construction. TBR’s driver development program, Heinke-Baldwin Racing, will also compete in various NASCAR series in 2011.

For more information on Tommy Baldwin Racing, visit tommybaldwinracing.com or follow us on Facebook, facebook.com/TBR.HBR, and Twitter, twitter.com/TBR_Racing.

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Media Contact:

Heather Lumpp – heather@heinkebaldwinracing.com – o: 704.696.0036 – c: 847.302.5509