Mears Earns First Career NASCAR Win at Chicagoland Speedway
Drives Texaco/Havoline Dodge to Victory Lane in the Busch RaceJoliet, Ill., (July 8, 2006) --- Casey Mears has been driving stock cars in the NASCAR ranks for over four years, and today earned his first-career victory. The Texaco/Havoline team headed by Brad Parrott put Mears up front with 45 laps to go and Mears never relinquished the lead. With fuel mileage in question, Mears was able to drive the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge to the checkered flag at Chicagoland before running the tank dry on his victory lap.“What a great day for everyone on the Texaco/Havoline team,” said Mears. “I can’t figure out if I’m more excited or just relieved to get this first win under my belt. The guys did such a great job today in the pits, and Brad (Parrott) called a great race. We knew we had a good car all weekend, and once it got in clean air we were gone. “I knew we were going to be close on fuel, Brad assured me we wouldn’t run out. After what happened at Charlotte, I knew he wouldn’t do that again. I couldn’t believe it when it ran out on the cool down lap; I really wanted to do a burnout to celebrate.” Mears qualified for the USG Durock 300 sixth for his 69th-career Busch Series start on Saturday morning. It wasn’t long after the green flag dropped that Mears had his first close call of the day. The No. 20 car spun in front of Mears, nearly missing the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge. Mears came over his radio in disbelief about how he was able to avoid the car. Racing resumed on lap five with Mears in sixth. He told Parrott the car was loose on entry and was sitting fourth when the second caution waved on lap 15. Mears reported the oil and water temperatures were running hot, so he came down pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and to have the grill on the Texaco/Havoline Dodge cleaned. Several of the front runners remained on the track, so Mears took the green flag back in the 18th position on lap 19.
Mears maneuvered the No. 42 Dodge back into the top 10 on lap 31. While the temperatures were coming back down, the car was now a little tight. He began to encounter lapped traffic on lap 48. Green-flag pit stops began on lap 60 for the cars that did not pit on lap 15. Mears made his stop on lap 78 for tires, an air pressure adjustment and fuel. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge was in the sixth position on lap 89 with only 15 cars remaining on the lead lap. The yellow was finally displayed on lap 94 for a single-car incident. The car was running such quick times, Parrott elected to pit for tires, fuel and no adjustments. Mears was seventh for the restart on lap 100. Three additional cautions waved over the next 20 laps, and Mears was able to pass three cars to assume the fourth position. When the caution waved on lap 128, strategy and fuel mileage would come into play. Parrott knew it would take several additional cautions to make it to the end of the race on fuel, but he was determined to set Mears up for victory. He called Mears down pit road on lap 130 for tires and fuel, while six cars elected to stay on the track. Racing resumed on lap 132 with the No. 42 Dodge in seventh. Mears took over the sixth position from the No. 33 car on lap 135 and set his sights on the No. 66. It took just six laps to catch and pass the car for fifth, and five additional laps to pass fellow Dodge driver Kasey Kahne for fourth. Mears and Parrott both knew the front three still had to pit. When the caution flag waved on lap 151, the front three cars pitted and Mears remained on the track and assumed the lead. Parrott told Mears he would need about eight laps of caution over the closing laps to make it to the checkered flag. The green flag waved on lap 155, and Mears quickly put distance between himself and the second-place car. Parrott radioed Mears to take it easy on fuel. The team got the break it needed when the caution flag waved again on lap 168 for debris. Racing resumed after four laps of caution with the red and black No. 42 still out front. Mears quickly put two seconds between himself and the field. He assured the Texaco/Havoline team he was doing all he could to conserve fuel. With 10 laps remaining, he started to catch slower traffic. Spotter Tab Boyd stayed calm on the radio and maneuvered Mears around the cars. He held on to take the checkered flag for his first NASCAR victory. As he was making his way to the front stretch to celebrate, the fuel cell ran dry. The Texaco/Havoline team pushed the car into victory lane for its first celebration of the season, in its sixth start. “We run these Busch races to try and help out the Cup program,” Mears said. “Today we did just that. We have a good car tomorrow, so hopefully the Texaco/Havoline team will be celebrating again Sunday.”
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