Casey Mears and the Texaco/Havoline Dodge Finish Seventh in Duel at Daytona
Daytona Beach, Fla. (February 16, 2006) --- Casey Mears earned his best starting spot for the Daytona 500, 14th, after finishing seventh in the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona. Mears started 14th for the second Duel, and with smart driving and quick pit stops earned a top-15 starting spot for the “Great American Race.”
“All in all I think it was a good race for the entire Texaco/Havoline team,” said Mears. “We didn’t have quite enough speed and had slow restarts. We’ve got to work on that. We were still a little bit tight there at the end and have to work on getting a little more front grip without taking too much away from the rear. I’m really happy though with the way we performed today.”
NASCAR spoke with all the drivers in the mandatory driver’s meeting about bump drafting, a practice widely used to make passes on superspeedways. NASCAR told the drivers it would police the move and make judgment calls regarding any penalties.
“I thought everybody did a good job,” said Mears. “I hope NASCAR looks at that race and sees that everything was pretty safe. We really didn’t race a whole lot different than we’ve been in the 500. I think that race was a little more indicative of how we normally race. I think they did a good job of scaring everybody and making them clean up their act a little bit. We all bump drafted a little bit, but we did it where we were supposed to and it was a good day.”
Mears was little bit tight at the start of his 60-lap event. He shuffled back and forth between the top and bottom lines to figure out where the Texaco/Havoline Dodge worked best. The caution flag waved on lap 26 with the No. 42 Dodge Charger in 15th. Mears brought the car down pit road for an air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel. The Texaco/Havoline crew busted off an amazing stop and moved Mears up to ninth for the restart on lap 32.
Mears had a tough time on the restart and lost the lead draft on lap 34. Four cars tucked up behind Mears and they caught the lead draft by lap 37. The caution flag waved again on lap 51 with the Texaco/Havoline Dodge in eighth. Six cars remained on the track, three cars took on two tires only, but crew chief Donnie Wingo made the decision to put on four fresh tires for the final 10 laps.
Racing resumed on lap 54 with the car in 13th. He battled back up to eighth when the final caution waved on lap 59, setting up a green-white-checker situation. Mears hung on to finish seventh, while Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Reed Sorenson and David Stremme finished 11th and 20th respectively.
The Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway will be broadcast live on NBC television and MRN radio at 2 p.m. ET.
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