FONTANA, Calif. -- As Saturday's final practice for this Sunday's Auto Club 500 stretched toward its conclusion, Dave Blaney stretched out on the couch in his team's hauler.

Blaney's work for the weekend essentially was done long before Sunday's green flag was set to drop. Remarkably, Blaney qualified fifth in the No. 66 Toyota that his Prism Motorsports team plans to start and park Sunday.

With only three members working for his team this weekend, Blaney really had no choice. He knew Friday qualifying would be his "race."

“

We'll race once in a while this season when we get enough money put together and a little bit of sponsorship.

”

-- DAVE BLANEY

"That's our weekend," Blaney said, who will make his 334th career Cup start Sunday. "Yeah, it's different. But I went through it all of last year, too. Friday's are fun. They're competitive and there is a lot on the line.

"And then it's over. Even if you make it, your weekend is over. It's kind of hard to deal with -- but that's where we are at this point in time."

For Prism Motorsports, which also fields the No. 55 Toyota driven by Michael McDowell that will start in the 30th position Sunday, it's all about trying to keep the No. 66 out in front of potential sponsors as much as possible.

Crew chief Bill Henderson said it costs in the ballpark of $60,000 to make the trip to the West Coast for his team to try to make a Cup race. Last place in this race last year paid $82,690.

"It's not really about the bottom line for us," Henderson said. "It's about trying to keep the eyes of sponsors on us. All we can do is try to keep doing what we did here this weekend, and hope someone with some money to spend in our sport will notice.

"The top teams might be looking for $15 million to run a season. We can do it for more like $5 million."

Right now they're trying to do it for a whole lot less. Blaney failed to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500 -- and when crew member Scott Creque had to miss that race and this weekend after his wife had a baby, the team with very little suddenly had to do with even less.

Rick Liptrat not only drives the hauler to events, but also picks up the groceries for the weekend, makes the coffee every morning, helps with tires (more in Creque's absence than usual), works as a fabricator and mechanic, and in general is a jack of all trades. In his spare time, he tries to make a little cash by working as a gas man on pit crews who need help in the Nationwide and Truck series.

"I don't sleep much. And when I do it's usually for less than six hours," he said, smiling nonetheless.

Prior to taking his current job, Liptrat served as truck driver and in the shop for the No. 48 team of Hendrick Motorsports for two years before "getting burnt out" and taking a year off. The rest of the No. 66 crew includes Henderson and car chief Dan Heiser. That's it.

"The last two races, we've been one man down," Liptrat said. "It's pretty interesting because we all split it up 25 percent -- and when you remove one guy from the equation, that really increases the workload. Now we gotta pick that other 25 percent back up."

Henderson put that in perspective. He said he had to make a couple personnel changes earlier this year.

"We had some people who didn't quite carry their weight," Henderson said. "Someone was like, 'What do you mean I didn't carry my weight?' And I had to say, 'Well, you're 25 percent of the workforce.'

"You walk into any shop and there are 100 guys there. Grab 25 of 'em and tell them to stand in the middle of the shop and not to do anything. That's pretty big -- 25 people not moving. If one guy's not doing that for us, it's the same thing."

Blaney said Friday's strong qualifying run is evidence that his team has gotten progressively better since owner Phil Parsons, a former Cup driver himself, formed the team with modest expectations last season. They do what they can with what little they have, and maybe even just a bit more each time out, he said.

"We don't have much stuff," Blaney said. "We'll race once in a while this season when we get enough money put together and a little bit of sponsorship. We'll see. But equipment-wise, I think we've upgraded a lot; so when we do get a chance to race, we'll be better. That's the way I look at it."

Blaney ran eight laps during a morning practice session Saturday at Auto Club Speedway, posting a top lap speed of 177.074 mph that ranked 32nd-fastest of the 43 drivers on the speed chart. But when the final practice commenced, he stretched out on the couch in the hauler and the car stayed in its garage stall -- the team unwilling to risk damaging it for a race that it cannot afford to run.

The No. 66 car was the only one in the 43-car field that did not participate in Saturday's final practice.

"In [the earlier] practice we could run right with other guys, some of the best guys, even on old tires. We don't put new tires on it after qualifying," Blaney said. "This weekend, for us, we can't race. So qualifying well is a moral victory. Running well today in race trim is another moral victory. It's just stuff that we can build on, so when we can go race, we're ready."

Blaney added that he will do what he can to get out of the way of the real contenders for Sunday's victory. It might not be all that easier with him starting up front, but he has earned that right to feel like he belongs -- even if it's only for a few laps.

He laughed when he was asked if he's ever tempted to stay out longer than planned, to extend his weekend by just a few more precious laps.

"Actually, we don't really set it like we're going to come in on this certain lap," Blaney said. "If the car is really good, sure, yeah, we'll stay out a while and race. But if it's not any good, we're not going to jeopardize our car or anyone else's car -- since we're going to come in eventually anyway. That's the thing: you don't want to jeopardize anyone else in this thing, either. So yeah, it's a hard thing."

It's not like he currently sees himself with a whole lot of other options.

"In my situation, my other option is to sit at home. I still don't think that's a better option," Blaney said. "At least I'm here. I'm staying in the car and staying current, or whatever you want to call it.

"If we get some money to race on, I'm here. If something happens to somebody, I'm here. Like I said, I still think it's a better option than sitting at home."

He also knows he is not alone.

"There are only so many sponsored seats at the moment," said Blaney, 47. "And I'm old enough now that they're going to go the other way if it comes down to age. [Fellow driver] Casey Mears is out here doing the same thing -- and he drove for Hendrick and Childress the last few years.

"Man, it's tightened up here as far as good available rides -- and it seems like the only new stuff coming in are guys who can bring their own sponsor or their own money. That's the only way teams are staying alive."

Well, by that and, for the smallest of the small teams, by the type of grit and determination being displayed by Blaney's current close-knit group.

"It's really tough on the four of us -- because we're frustrated, and Dave included. You've got to have the sponsorship," Liptrat said. "All we can do is keep doing what we did here this weekend -- and sooner or later, somebody's got to notice."