The No. 22 Caterpillar team traveled to Texas with survival on its mind. After qualifying in the 32nd spot, driver Dave Blaney and the team made it through the race unscathed to finish 21st and help solidify its place in the top 35 of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series owners’ points standings. For Blaney, the focus is trying to stay in that coveted top 35 as they head into Phoenix.

“In Texas, we simply set our sights on finishing the race in one piece and knew if we could do that, we would most likely be able to pad our lead a little over the No. 21 team in the top-35 battle. Lucky for us, we were able to make up some ground on 34th too, so maybe this week we can look ahead a bit instead of concentrating on what’s behind us as far as the points go. Obviously, we’ll still need a solid effort because we’re not out of the woods yet. So we may still have to play things a little cautious, but our Caterpillar Racing team looking forward to going to Phoenix. This will be the last time before Daytona that we’ll race the COTs, so it’s important we continue to learn as much as we can about these cars every opportunity we get.”