Blaney brings NASCAR friends

Kasey Kahne hopes to win another Nextel race as the pole-sitter.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
HARTFORD -- It's not often that you see a pole-sitter standing.
Yet that's what Kasey Kahne did outside a parked RV at Sharon Speedway Saturday evening.
Kahne, however, wasn't the only NASCAR Nextel Cup driver in the midst of the media. The 26-year-old was joined by Dave Blaney, Kyle Petty and Ken Schrader during an appearance to benefit the Victory Junction Gang.
The four drivers flew in from Brooklyn, Mich. where they will run in today's 3M Performance 400 at Michigan Internationl Speedway. It's the 15th of 36 races for 2006.
10th Nextel pole
Kahne is the pole-sitter for the 400. He earned the spot after qualifying first on Friday.
The pole was the 10th for Kahne, a third-year Nextel racer for Evernham Motorsports. Of the 10, he's won three.
"We did pretty good when we start off the front row," Kahne said of his No. 9 Dodge, sponsored by Dodge Dealers/UAW/"Click".
"Hopefully, we'll have another good one [today]. It's been a great race track for me. It's always nice to run well and up close to Detroit where all the Dodge people are."
Kahne is ranked No. 5 in the Nextel Cup standings after finishing 23rd last season. His wins this year were the Golden Corral 500 (March 19), Samsung/Radio Shack 500 (April 9) and Coca-Cola 600 (May 28).
"Ray [Evernham] changed a lot of things around at our organization. He made a lot of good changes for my team. I think [crew chief] Kenny Francis and everybody who works on my Dodge has done an awesome job this year. It's been fun to drive and the communication between me and the team has been really good. Things have worked out."
Fan of Blaney's
Kahne said that he's been a fan of Blaney's since his youth.
"I grew up in Washington State watching sprint cars and waiting for the World of Outlaws to come to town."
Kahne said he raced sprint cars at Sharon Speedway in 1999 and 2000, before Blaney bought into the facility and helped make improvements.
"They made a lot of progress here. This place looks really nice."
The Victory Junction Gang serves children ages 7-15, who have a variety of health issues.
The VJG camp, located in North Carolina, is operated year-round. It's on land donated by Richard Petty.
Richard Petty, known as "The King", had 36 Winston Cup wins and earned $5,126,884 in the circuit from 1975-1992. He and race team owner Bill Davis were unable to make the trip from Michigan.
However, his son, Kyle, is grateful to Blaney and his wife, Lisa.
"They look at life a lot like we do. They're blessed to have a healthy family and they wanted to do something for Victory Junction. They're one of the first ones to see the camp -- they live right up the road from where the camp's at. Blaneys are such good people."
Kyle Petty will start 35th for today's Performance 400.
Schrader
Schrader, who will start 22nd at Michigan today, has made all of the trips to Sharon for the VJG benefit.
"It's amazing what the camp does for so many children throughout course of the year. We all have different causes that we try to raise money for, but I think everyone in the NASCAR fraternity and so many fans have gotten behind it and helped out because nobody can say no to those kids.
"It's for such a good cause. The weekly show tracks like this are the backbone of automobile racing in this country. It's just neat to get out and see the people."
Schrader already raced at regional dirt tracks three nights this week.
Blaney, who will start 33rd today, was pleased to bring his colleagues.
"It's great for Kyle to come out every year and for us to raise a little bit of money.
"It's tough to ask them to take time out, especially when they're in Michigan racing, but Schrader and [Tony] Stewart have tracks and we all go to each other's tracks and have nights like this and support whatever they have going on. It's fun. It's what we all came from and grew up doing."
bassetti@vindy.com