Mike Bliss and Tommy Baldwin Racing [#36 Checy] have parted ways, effective immediately. Bliss will replace Aric Almirola at Phoenix Racing. Bliss ran five of the first seven races for Baldwin. He failed to qualify at Bristol and last week at Phoenix. TBR is currently 38th in owner points. “Mike has been rock solid in qualifying with a Cup car,” Phoenix crew chief Marc Reno said. “We were struggling and we have to make races to keep our guys working. We’re trying to survive until we can land a sponsor. Everybody loves Aric. But we needed someone that could qualify for races. (Owner) James (Finch) has helped Aric out in trucks and if we were in a better position, we’d love to bring him up to speed in Cup as well.”(FoxSports)(4-13-2010)
UPDATE: Mike Bliss told Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody Tuesday that just moments after parting company with Tommy Baldwin Racing this week, he was offered a chance to return to the #09 Phoenix Racing Chevy. “We missed a couple of races, and last week (at Phoenix) obviously didn’t go too good,” said Bliss. “I did a lot of thinking about what I thought was wrong with the car, and honestly I wondered for a while if it was me. I had a meeting with Tommy Baldwin on Monday, and obviously didn’t feel very good about the way that meeting went. The ironic thing is that for the third time in my career, James Finch called before I was hardly even out the door to offer me a job.” Bliss said the team may be forced to continue as a start-and-park entry this weekend at Texas, but, “James wants to run (the full race) at Talladega where they won a year ago with Brad Keselowski. They are talking with one sponsor in particular that they are hopefull will pay off.”(Sirius Speedway)(4-14-2010) Share
