Team: Jasper Motorsports
Car/sponsor/make: No. 77 Jasper Engines Ford
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| | Blaney |
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STATS
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Year
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Rank
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Wins
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Top 5
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Top 10
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Best finish
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2002
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19
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0
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0
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0
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7th, Phoenix
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Career
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0
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0
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0
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Sixth, three times
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2002 recap
The good: Blaney finished the season strong, posting top-20 finishes in five of his last six races. It was the season finale that snapped that
streak, and that was on account of an accident early in the day. If not for that outing, his average finish over the final portion of the year would have been a 14.6, more than six spots better than his average finish for the season. That bodes well for Blaney and Co. in 2003.
Season highlight: While Mark Martin and Tony Stewart waged a battle for the Winston Cup title, and folks like Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace vied for a top-five finish to the year, Blaney and crew chief Ryan Pemberton were just trying to see if they could stumble upon a setup that worked. They found it at Phoenix, where Blaney qualified fifth and drove the car to a season-best seventh-place finish.
The bad: Blaney still has not notched a top-five in his career. Other than that seventh-place finish, in fact, Blaney had only three top-10s.
Certainly, the bad for him and the No. 77 crew is that it has not found a way to run at the front of the pack enough to knock on the door for a first victory or top-five.
Season lowlight: Going out of the season-finale in an accident on the 19th lap was the worst way to end a season -- especially one that was starting to come together.
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| Blaney has three career-best sixth-place finishes. |
Key stat: 96.3. That's the percent of laps he managed to complete this season.
2003 outlook
What needs to be done: Blaney, a former World of Outlaws champion, is definitely a skilled racer. And the No. 77 crew, though not among the sport's elite, is solid. But the car just doesn't unload fast consistently. Whether it be an issue of money or not doing the right things with the money, more emphasis must be placed on making this car capable of running at the front. Then we'll grade Blaney and Co. on how well they handle it.
Prediction: Since that won't happen this year, expect the No. 77 to remain a middle-of-the-pack ride. Blaney will accomplish much to notch a top-15 finish.
Your take
Can Blaney build upon his consistency and score better finishes in 2003? Here's what our users had to say about Blaney's prospects for 2003.
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