Team-best performance for Jasper Motorsports

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Jasper Motorsports owner Doug Bawel took his NASCAR Winston Cup team on a more engineering oriented tack in 2002, and it paid off with his organization's best points finish in its nine years of existence.

Year in Review  •  Richard Childress Racing  •  Petty Enterprises  •  The Wood Brothers  •  Hendrick Motorsports  •  Bill Davis Racing

Former World of Outlaws Sprint Car champion Dave Blaney continued his upward learning curve by elevating his performance level and, while not logging his best statistical season in terms of top-10 finishes, still recording his first top-20 points finish, 19th.

Blaney, who had a remarkable string of track record qualifying performances while driving in the NASCAR Busch Series for owner Bill Davis, continued to impress those in the know in Winston Cup -- despite having well under 200 career starts in stock cars.

Before the season was over, Blaney was on a very short list of possible drivers for one of Chip Ganassi Racing's Dodges -- but in the end he opted to remain with the No. 77 Jasper Fords where, for the first time, he could take an integral role in forming the team's makeup.

	Bristol was one of the few times Blaney didn't finish near the lead lap in 2002. Credit: VPS Motorimages

The team's technical orientation continued immediately after the end of the 2002 season as Blaney was a key player in selecting his new crew chief, Robert "Bootie" Barker -- an Old Dominion University engineering graduate who he had worked with at Davis' operation.

After an inauspicious beginning in the season's first two races, Blaney showed the consistency that would mark his entire year when he finished in the top-20 in six of his next eight starts. For the rest of the season, he would never fall lower than 22nd in the standings.

Dave Blaney  •  Driver Page  •  2002 Stats

Blaney took good advantage of a cooperative engine building deal between Jasper and Penske Racing to record average starting positions of 23.685 and an average finish of 20.228. He ended the season with five top-10s, one under his career best from the season before.

With his top-20 finishing spot on the line, over the last 16 races of the season Blaney recorded 10 top-20 finishes in that streak, marked by a season's best run of seventh at Phoenix, which came after one of three top-five qualifying performances, including a best of third at Richmond in the fall.

Possibly the most significant statistic that kept Blaney in the top-20 in the standings for 26 of the 36 weeks in the season was his ratio of DNFs. Blaney cut his previous season's DNF total in half as he failed to finish only three races all season.

He was also among the leaders in miles and laps completed, with only an admittedly over-aggressive move early in the season finale Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway -- resulting in an accident that rendered him the first car out -- costing him more spots in those standings.