Mike Bliss, out of Phoenix Racing ride, hopes to stay in top 10 in Nationwide points
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Mike Bliss walked around the NASCAR Nationwide Series garage Saturday sitting sixth in the standings and possibly jumping in a car for a few laps today to get at least a few more points.
Bliss, released from his Phoenix Racing ride Monday, said he possibly will drive the No. 91 MSRP Motorsports car in today's Zippo 200 if Dave Blaney and Peyton Sellers cleanly qualify this morning at Watkins Glen International.
The 44-year-old Bliss said Joe Nemechek has offered his car for Bliss to race in the upcoming events at Michigan and Bristol but those plans have not been finalized.
There is bonus money for drivers who finish in the top 20 in the standings.
“Maybe I can finish in the top 10 somehow, just reach and grab [rides],” Bliss said.
Bliss, who won one race for Phoenix this year, wasn’t totally surprised by his release by team owner James Finch.
“When it happened I was like … [should] I get a lawn mower and start mowing the neighbors’ yard?” Bliss said. “I’m just here today to stay out of my wife’s hair. It [stinks].
“I knew going in that that race team has a history of going through some drivers. I was fortunate to make it as long as I did. We had this conversation about a month ago with James when they released me for 24 hours and then James said [we’d] get to the end of the year. But that didn’t last.”
Phoenix Racing general manager Marc Reno said Bliss didn’t win enough.
“Yeah we should [win], but there’s still a whole little bit of everything that we needed to win races,” Bliss said. “They could still possibly win a race this year. Their cars are getting better. It’s tough to say why I’m here but the way they do stuff over there is a little different.”
The 2002 Truck series champion, Bliss has 201 career starts in that series along with 164 in Nationwide and 88 in Cup. He said he has not talked with any Truck owners about returning to that series, where he has five starts this year for Key Motorsports.
“The phone really hasn’t rang, and I don’t expect it to,” Bliss said. “You need to go after it and be aggressive about it. … There’s not a lot of owners to go to right now. We’ve lost a lot of good race teams. Maybe I’m looking at next year right now. But I don’t even know if that’s a plan yet.”
