Blaney gives Toyota its best COT finish

0 Comments | USA TODAY, May, 2007 | by Seth Livingstone

RICHMOND, Va. -- Dave Blaney gave Toyota its best finish in four races with the Car of Tomorrow, taking 11th in Sunday's Jim Stewart 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Blaney was positioned to place higher. His decision to take two tires on a late-race pit stop had him third, chasing eventual winner Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon with 79 laps left. Blaney still was in the top five when he was spun out with fewer than 30 laps to go, falling to 17th for the final restart.

"We took two tires, got track position, and it was working out," said Blaney, who finished outside the top 20 in the season's first eight races and then failed to qualify last week at Talladega Superspeedway. "(But) we had two fresh tires, and (the leaders) had four. We were just trying to...