Mears Finishes 20th at Phoenix, Remains 10th in Standings
Avondale, Ariz. (April 22, 2006) --- Casey Mears and the Texaco/Havoline team remain 10th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings, despite finishing 20th at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday night. Mears battled a tight car, an impatient fellow competitor and fuel mileage to earn his first top-20 finish at the 1-mile track.
“That is not what we were hoping for this weekend,” said Mears. “The car was so tight at the start of the race I couldn’t get it to turn in the corners. Once the sun went down and the guys made some major adjustments, the Texaco/Havoline Dodge got better. Unfortunately, we went a lap down, got back in position to get our lap back and the caution never came our way.”
After his qualifying effort, Mears started the 312-lap race from the 12th position. When the green flag dropped for the Subway Fresh 500, he fell back to the 16th position and was 18th when the first caution waved on lap 26. Mears told crew chief Donnie Wingo the car wouldn’t turn in the center, so the Texaco/Havoline crew made a track bar adjustment, changed four tires and added fuel.
Racing resumed on lap 38 with Mears in 18th. The changes made the car better getting in and off the corner, but he still struggled through the center. The team continued to adjust on the car during the pit stop on lap 54, but Mears continued to run around the 17th position through the first 98 laps of the race. On lap 98, Mears was racing side-by-side with the No. 5 car and it eventually spun out on lap 99, bringing out the caution. A multi-car incident behind Mears also broke out and NASCAR was forced to red flag the race to clean up the track. The driver of the No. 5 took out his frustration by hitting the back of the Texaco/Havoline Dodge under the red flag.
Wingo was unable to determine the damage to the No. 42 Dodge Charger, so he told Mears to bring the car to him under the yellow before the pits were open to make sure a tire wasn’t going down. The team made another chassis adjustment, pulled out the damaged rear sheet metal, changed four tires and added fuel. The car did have some valance damage, but not enough to send the car behind pit wall. NASCAR assessed a five-lap penalty to the No. 5 car once it returned to the track.
The green flag dropped on lap 104 with the No. 42 Dodge Charger back in the 27th position, the last car on the lead lap. Mears said the car was as tight as it was at the start of the race and fell a lap down to the leader on lap 149. Green-flag pit stops began for the leaders on lap 165, and the team was hoping for a caution. Mears eventually drove the Texaco/Havoline Dodge down pit road on lap 180 to pit. When the caution finally waved on lap 198, Mears was 29th and a lap down.
Racing resumed on lap 203 with Mears in 27th and just 17 cars on the lead lap. Several caution flags waved over the next 25 laps, and Wingo told Mears to remain on the track to gain track position. On lap 244, Mears was sitting 20th and in position to receive NASCAR’s free pass back onto the lead lap. Unfortunately for Mears and the team, the caution flag didn’t wave in their favor. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge was sitting 20th on lap 300, and fuel mileage began to come in to question. Wingo told Mears it would be close over the closing few laps. With just three laps remaining in the race, cars began to run out of gas while other cars pitted for a splash of fuel. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge did neither, and made it to the checkered flag in the 20th position.
Mears and the Texaco/Havoline team remain 10th in the standings for the third consecutive week, and have not fallen out of the top 10 yet this season. His Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates David Stremme and Reed Sorenson finished the race 29th and 40th respectively.
The Texaco/Havoline team is preparing for its second restrictor-plate race of the season at Talladega Superspeedway next Sunday. Mears finished second at Daytona in the season opener.
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