After leading the second-most laps (21) last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway and coming close to scoring at least his first top 10 since 2008, Dave Blaney is hoping his No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing team can continue to run whole races and gain on the momentum that has been building for the third-year Sprint Cup Series team.

“Yeah, we’ve got some [races] lined up. Hopefully, we’ll have something firmed up with Golden Corral soon to run a few more. And Accell Construction has been with us for a few races and are going to do a few more,” Blaney told News/Talk WSB during a test Wednesday at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson. “We’ll keep doing that – see how many races he can get sponsored and see how many we can afford to run. You know, funding determines how hard you can run, how much equipment you can afford to burn up.”

Blaney’s boss and No. 36 team owner, Tommy Baldwin, told ESPN’s NASCAR Now earlier this week that the team has funding through the June 5^th Kansas Speedway race, but then would have to evaluate his Cup program after that. Blaney says that team will at least be able to go to all of the races.

“For sure. We are going to go to all of them, no doubt. It’s just when you get there, can you swing racing hard all day. That’s the question. We have [raced hard] every race this year and hopefully can keep that going.”

In other words, Blaney says that the No. 36 team will start-and-park at races that it does not have adequate funding, a practice that is prevalent amongst smaller teams in each of NASCAR’s top-three national series. The No. 36 has only started-and-parked once this season, after doing so in the majority of races last year. TBR ran Steve Park in a second entry, the No. 35 Chevy, which did start-and-park at Talladega.

During this overcast Wednesday, a small group of men in plain shirts and a teenager in an all-black racecar and non-sponsored driving suit are making test runs at GMP. At first glance one would never know that the leader of the group, armed with a headset radio and nothing more is a full-time Sprint Cup Series veteran driver coaching along a son with the same aspirations.

But this is the case, as the 48-year-old Blaney is coaching his son, Ryan, on how to best maneuver a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East car around the half-mile track. The elder is helping the younger, in hopes of getting the 17-year-old high school junior the experience he needs to get to the next levels in NASCAR.

“Right now, we’re just racing as much we can race and getting as much experience as we can. And if he gets the chance to do something bigger, hopefully he has the experience behind him to take advantage of the opportunity. That’s all we can do. Right now, he’s doing very good. He does a very nice job in the cars – he looks like he’s got plenty of what it takes to be a good racecar driver. But, you never know. Your head has got to be in it. Right now, things are going smooth with him. We’ll just see where it goes.”

And while dad is making money as a Cup Series driver, he does not have deep-enough pockets to buy out a full-time ride for his son. He only hopes that Ryan will be at the right place and the right time to get the opportunities in NASCAR he once had after a successful dirt racing career in World of Outlaws.

Ryan’s expectations are tempered and grounded, as he looks forward to making his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut at Richmond International Raceway next week.

“We’re planning on running the Richmond and Iowa races and maybe it will lead to something better. We’re just really getting a feel for it today. I’m really excited and hopefully we can run good at Richmond and Iowa.”

And just as Dave is excited about his son’s success in racecars, Ryan lit up when talking about his dad’s best run in a long time in a Cup car.

“It’s great. I was at South Boston [Speedway] Sunday watching the K&N East cars. My sister calls me and says, ‘Dad is leading the race’. So, I found a TV and watched him and we were rooting for him. It’s great to see Tommy Baldwin [Racing] get sponsorship. It’s great to see that team finally get a break. It wasn’t what they were hoping [they finished 27^th after get shuffled to the apron in the closing laps], but at least they ran up front.”

Both Blaneys’ success lies not only in skill, but in dollars…and both hope that the former leads to the latter in each of their careers.

Be sure and listen to the Allan Vigil Ford Lincoln Speedshop on Saturday from 12-1 p.m., with host Captain Herb Emory, Jason Durden, and me, on AM-750 and NOW 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB and wsbradio.com. We will talk the crazy Talladega NASCAR race and the opeing weekend at Gresham Motorsports Park.

Come out to the GMP US Auto Sales 100 Pro Late Model race on I-85 at exit 140. Adult tickes are $12 and kids 12 and under get in free! All local series will also race and helicopters will drop Easter eggs for kids on the front straightaway, and the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame will have a ceremony and autograph session for fans! Get all of the details on GreshamMotorsportsPark.com. I will be the co-track announcer in the booth.

Feel free to comment on what you see and hear anytime on this blog.
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