SHARON SPEEDWAY Dave Blaney can't race, so he lends a hand in the shop

Thursday's special event, featuring Tony Stewart, was rained out.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
HARTFORD -- Even when he's not racing, Dave Blaney finds a way to get his hands on a car.
That's especially true when he's back in his hometown, as was the case Thursday following the postponement of "Tony Stewart Night" at Sharon Speedway due to rain.
The event featuring NASCAR's 2002 Winston Cup champion has been rescheduled for August 5.
Blaney, a Sharon Speedway co-owner who helps arrange Stewart's appearances at the 3/8-mile dirt track in eastern Trumbull County, said his NASCAR colleague was notified early Thursday afternoon in Indiana.
Meanwhile, Blaney took the opportunity to help work on his father's car in the family's racing shop.
Blaney, ranked 21st in the Winston Cup standings, said the season so far has been up and down.
"We've had some good days and some bad ones. We just aren't consistent enough and fast enough, most times," he said. "Some days we're close and other days we aren't. We're kind of bouncing back and forth right now. We're looking for something that will get us a little faster."
Last week
At the Pocono 500 in Long Pond, Pa., Sunday, Stewart won for the first time in 2003 and Blaney finished 26th.
Blaney said the track at Michigan International Speedway for this Sunday's Sirius Satellite Radio 400 should be good for the Jasper Engines and Transmissions team with Blaney behind the wheel of its No. 77 Ford Taurus.
"I've run pretty well there in the past. It should be a good weekend to turn things around a little bit. We were up here testing two weeks ago and we ran pretty good, so we should be ready for it."
Saying there are only a couple tenths of a second between fifth and 25th, it's the little things that count.
"It's getting it all together and getting the car to handle better from the start of the race to the end. That's mostly what gets you up front in Winston Cup racing; the better-handling cars get to the front."
Following failure-free car in 2002, Jasper's team this season hasn't had mechanical problems put its car out of a race except for one engine failure and one transmission failure.
"Hopefully, that's it and we'll be done with that kind of stuff."
Similar situation
Currently, Blaney is relatively close in the points standings to where he was after 15 races in 2002.
"We'd hoped to be in better position this time, but we finished in the 30s too many times and it's killed us," he said. "If we can get those finishes in the 30s out of there, we'll climb back."
The No. 77's new look is only temporary, but Blaney said there may be another change before the season's over.
"We had a couple special paint schemes, but I think they're all done. There might be one more for Bristol, a night race, but the rest of the time it'll be back to the yellow 77."
Speaking of night races, Blaney said the weekend of The Winston, May 17, in Concord, North Carolina was good.
"We felt like that was going to be a good track for us and we were pretty competitive. We just need to do that every weekend."
bassetti@vindy.com