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2006 Team Performance
Most of Bill Davis Racing's energies over the past few years have been devoted to an ongoing feud with Dodge, and a long-standing plan to move to Toyota. Things finally came to a head in '06, as BDR announced a switch to the Camry in '07, plans for which had led to a lawsuit by Dodge that was eventually settled out of court. Because of this tension, BDR's cars haven't received any manufacturer support in at least a couple of years. Given how poorly many teams using Chargers have fared over the past two seasons even with manufacturer support (read: money and technology), it's not difficult to understand why Bill Davis Racing has fallen on such hard times. Dave Blaney was definitely a steadier hand behind the No. 22 than his predecessor Scott Wimmer, finishing six spots higher in the points standings and notching a top-5 and two top-10s (compared to Wimmer's zero in both categories in '05). Remember, it wasn't that long ago that the No. 22 won a Daytona 500 behind Ward Burton, and was a breeding ground for Bobby Labonte's first successful foray in Cup racing. In preparation for the move to Toyota, BDR signed Michael Waltrip to run a second car, which was an unmitigated calamity; he finished just 83.9 percent of all possible laps. Davis knew Mikey was just a one-year rental, though, and that to finally make the Toyota change as a multicar team, he'd have to find someone else.

2007 Team Outlook
Jeremy drove in … class todaaaaaaay. In 2006, Jeremy Mayfield handled his disagreements with Evernham Motorsports and his own crew rather poorly, and that got him fired after the Brickyard 400. Mayfield only ran one more event, in James Finch's casino car at Homestead, and finished 42nd. And while I wouldn't categorize Mayfield as any kind of dazzling hire, he's a solid guy who's got 403 career Nextel Cup starts under his belt, and he made the first two Chases for the Championship driving for Evernham. Things just got super dysfunctional for Mayfield and Evernham last year. For '07, BDR's energies will be completely focused on how to make the Camry go fast, and Mayfield (and Blaney) seems up for that. The truth is that Davis Racing is probably Toyota's third-most important team (behind Michael Waltrip Racing and Team Red Bull), and two journeyman drivers probably aren't going to titillate many. Blaney showed some spunk at the end of '06, and that might carry over; a few decent finishes can't be ruled out for each of these cars. But it's been several seasons since BDR fielded cars that made fantasy impacts, and I don't expect that to pick completely back up again in '07.

22 - Dave Blaney
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 4th
Poles, top-5s, top-10s, DNFs: 0, 1, 2, 2

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