Mears Earns Eighth Top-10 Finish of the Season at Texas
Ft. Worth, Texas (November 5, 2006) --- Casey Mears and the Texaco/Havoline team led the charge for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates at Texas Motor Speedway with a seventh-place finish in the Dickies 500. Mears and the team earned their eighth top-10 finish of the season with just two races remaining.
"We had about a 10th or 12th-place car all day long," said Mears. "Quite a few guys had issued toward the end and we hung in there all day, made the right calls at the end and got some track position. The Texaco/Havoline team earned a top 10 out of it. The car was tight all day and didn’t turn real good. But this is a great group of guys and they worked hard to get us that finish tonight."
Rain postponed the start of the Dickies 500 on Sunday and the first four laps were run under caution to finish drying the track. On lap 4, NASCAR dropped the green flag with Mears in 23rd after his qualifying run on Friday. While other competitors appeared to be taking it easy, Mears went to the high side and passed four cars to cross the stripe in 19th on lap 5. He passed teammate Reed Sorenson on lap 8 to move up to 18th but told crew chief Donnie Wingo the car was really tight, a condition the team would battle the entire race.
NASCAR threw a competition caution on lap 40 with Mears and the Texaco/Havoline Dodge in 17th. The crew made an air pressure adjustment in the right-rear tire, changed all four tires, made a trackbar adjustment and packed the car full of fuel. Racing resumed on lap 45 with Mears in 16th. He was still struggling with the handling of the No. 42 Dodge Charger and slipped back to 19th before the caution waved on lap 89 when the No. 31 car blew a tire directly in front of Mears.
Mears brought the tight-handling car to pit road for air pressure adjustments in three tires, a spring rubber in the right rear, fresh tires and fuel. When the green flag waved on lap 94, the Texaco/Havoline Dodge was 18th. Mears would maintain the 18th position over the next 40 laps and learned how crucial track position was as it was difficult to pass. The yellow flag waved on lap 135 and the crew went to work on trying to get the car to turn better for Mears. He pitted to have two spring rubbers removed from the left rear, a wedge adjustment, tires and fuel on lap 137. Despite the time it typically takes to make those adjustments, the Texaco/Havoline team picked up two spots on pit road.
Racing resumed on lap 140 with Mears now sitting 16th. The changed loosened up the rear of the car, but the Texaco/Havoline Dodge still had no front grip. The Texaco/Havoline crew continued to adjust on the car during a caution period on lap 165 and pick up spots in the pits. Mears was sitting just outside the top 10 for the restart on lap 170.
Mears broke into the top 10 for the first time on lap 180 when he passed the No. 10 car. As he got to the bumper of the No. 99 car on lap 188, the driver of the No. 99 car checked up and Mears had to slow down. As a result, the No. 5 and No. 43 cars passed Mears and he dropped back to 12th. The caution flag waved on lap 195, so Mears drove the Texaco/Havoline Dodge down pit road for a trackbar adjustment, four tires and fuel. Two cars elected not to pit, so Mears was now 13th for the restart on lap 199.
Mears dropped back to 16th on lap 206, but began to battle back. He maneuvered around the No. 25 car on lap 207 and the No. 26 car on lap 218, the two cars that remained on the track during the last caution period.
Sorenson spun on lap 232 and brought out the next caution flag. Mears drove the No. 42 Dodge Charger down pit road for an air pressure adjustment, tires and fuel on lap 233. Unfortunately, the team pitted in front of Mears rolled a tire into the Texaco/Havoline Dodge as it was leaving the pits. Mears lost two spots on pit road as a result, but didn’t have any damage on the car.
The green flag waved on lap 235 with Mears in 14th. He passed the No. 38 car on lap 238 for 13th and would continue to run in that position through lap 261. Mears maneuvered around the No. 24 car on lap 262 to move up to 12th and the No. 99 car on lap 263 for 11th. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge broke into the top 10 again on lap 300 when Mears drove around the No. 16 car that was running on just seven cylinders. On lap 314, green-flag pit stops began.
Wingo called Mears down pit road on lap 319 for an air pressure adjustment, right-side tires and fuel. When pit stops were completed on lap 324, Mears was back up to 10th. The caution flag waved on lap 326 when the No. 16 car blew a tire. Wingo told Mears to remain on the track, as they learned how important it was for track position. Several cars elected to pit behind Mears, but would not be a factor in the closing laps.
The green flag dropped on lap 330 and Mears was now ninth. The No. 10 car spun just a few cars in front of Mears and he was able to maneuver around it with the help of his spotter. The caution flag meant the race would end under a green-white-checker finish. After five laps of cleaning up the track, the green flag waved on lap 337 with the Texaco/Havoline Dodge in seventh. Mears guided the No. 42 Dodge Charger across the finish line in seventh, his fourth top-10 finish at Texas Motor Speedway.
Mears’ CGRFS teammates Sorenson and David Stremme finished 17th and 24th respectively. Mears and the Texaco/Havoline team remain 14th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings, but moved within 67 points of the 13th-place team. Mears and the team head to Phoenix International Raceway for the 35th race of the season next weekend.
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