Tough Day for Texaco/Havoline Team Results in 20th-Place Finish
TALLADEGA, Ala. (May 1, 2006) --- Sunday showers resulted in Monday racing at Talladega Superspeedway. Casey Mears and the Texaco/Havoline team rallied from a brush with the No. 22 car and the outside wall, and the loss of third gear to finish 20th at 2.66-mile track. Mears led his first laps of the 2006 season, but fell to 11th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings.
Mears started the 188-lap race from the 25th position after his qualifying effort on Saturday. With two and three-wide racing the Aaron’s 499 was once again an exciting race from the start. Mears narrowly escaped the first incident on lap eight, and came down pit road so the Texaco/Havoline crew could make adjustments to his tight-handling car. After four fresh tires and a chassis adjustment, Mears returned to the track in the 12th position.
Mears drafted his way into the top five by lap 30. The No. 29 car blew a tire on lap 38, bringing out the second caution flag of the day. The team made an air pressure adjustment and changed tires during pit stops on lap 40. On lap 48, Mears drafted his way to the front of the pack and earned his first bonus points of the season. A miscommunication with his spotter on lap 50 moved Mears to the outside lane and was freight trained back to 14th.
The smaller fuel cells resulted in green-flag pit stops during the long run. Crew Chief Donnie Wingo called Mears down pit road on lap 72 for tires and fuel. Mears stalled the car leaving the pits and he lost the lead draft when he returned to the track. He caught a slower car on lap 79 and started a two-car draft. A multi-car incident involving the No. 20 and No. 8 car brought out the third caution of the day with 100 laps remaining in the race. Mears came into the pits for tires and fuel, and was now back with the lead pack for the restart on lap 92.
Over the next 40 laps, Mears consistently ran in the top 10. On lap 136, the No. 22 car got loose and made contact with the Texaco/Havoline Dodge forcing it into the outside retaining wall. Despite the hit with the wall, NASCAR didn’t wave the caution flag. Mears brought the car down pit road for right-side tires, but now had a vibration and found himself a lap down to the leaders. Without drafting help, Mears soon found the pack in his rear-view mirror. He fell another lap down on lap 150, but earned one back on lap 151 when the caution flag was displayed.
Just 12 laps later the yellow flag waved again and Mears was given the free pass by NASCAR onto the lead lap. He brought the car down pit road and the Texaco/Havoline crew took its time to repair the earlier damage, changed four tires and packed the No. 42 Dodge Charger full of fuel. When racing resumed, Mears was on the lead lap and in the 27th position. Unfortunately for the team, it would suffer another setback before the checkered flag waved.
A multi-car incident occurred on lap 173, and when Mears hit the brakes to avoid the incident he lost third gear in the process. On the restart on lap 179, Mears couldn’t get up to speed and lost the lead draft. Instead of having the opportunity to draft to the front over the final nine laps, he had to settle for a 20th-place finish.
“If it could go wrong, it went wrong today,” said Mears. “We finally lost third gear toward the end of the race, and we finally dropped out of the top 10 in the standings, too. We’re only a few points out, but a few points are all it takes to miss or make The Chase. We need to start finishing like we were at the beginning of the season. Maybe we’ll be able to get a break next week at Richmond.”
The finish dropped Mears to 11th in the NASCAR NEXTEL CUP standings, 10 points out of 10th. His Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Reed Sorenson and David Stremme finished 26th and 34th respectively.
The Texaco/Havoline team is testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Richmond International Raceway this weekend.
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