Mears Earns Second Top 10, Remains Second in NEXTEL Cup Points
FONTANA, Calif. (February 26, 2006)
--- The Texaco/Havoline Team earned its second consecutive top-10 finish today at California Speedway and maintained its second-place standing in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship points. Casey Mears piloted the No. 42 Dodge Charger to seventh place in the closing laps at his home-state track.
"After the final caution came out and set up the green-white-checkered finish, we had enough car and enough tires to make something happen in the Texaco/Havoline Dodge to get a couple of guys there at the end," said Mears. "It wasn’t easy to run inside the top 10. We’ve got to work at it and see where we can improve, but it’s a great finish for us and kept us up in the points."
Mears started the 250-lap event from the 20th position following his qualifying effort on Friday. Shortly after the green flag waved, Mears radioed crew chief Donnie Wingo and told him the car was better than it had been all weekend, but was still a little tight. He was sitting 16th on lap 23, but reported a vibration. The first caution waved on lap 30, and he brought the Texaco/Havoline Dodge down pit road. The No 42 crew pulled half of a spring rubber out of the left rear, made an air pressure adjustment, changed four tires and added fuel before sending Mears out on to the track in 19th.
Mears worked his way up to 15th on lap 50, but was still complaining of a tight car. Wingo assured him they would continue to work on the car, as Mears searched different lines on the track. Green flag pit stops began on lap 77 and the Texaco/Havoline crew went to work on the No. 42 car on lap 78. The team made an air pressure adjustment, fitted the car with fresh tires and added fuel. When pit stops were complete, Mears was running 15th.
The caution flag finally waved on lap 87, and Wingo called Mears down pit road for major adjustments. The crew removed another half of a spring rubber and put on fresh tires. Several cars elected to take on two tires only, so Mears returned to the track in 25th. By lap 100, Mears was up to 20th and working his way through traffic. He told Wingo the car wouldn’t roll through the center and was loose in and off the corner. He worked his way up to 14th when the car suddenly snapped loose. Mears thought he had a tire go flat and pulled down pit road for tires.
The No. 42 crew sprang into action and changed four tires and packed the Texaco/Havoline Dodge full of fuel. The team determined that Mears did not have a flat, but rallied behind Mears on the track. Mears soon found himself off pit cycle with the rest of the field and one lap down in 30th. Fortunately, the rest of the field had to make green flag stops on lap 134. When the pit stops were complete, Mears and his Dodge Charger were running 10th.
The fresh tires on the field proved to be tough to compete with as Mears slipped back to 14th by lap 167. He had to make a green flag pit stop on lap 168 for tires and fuel, putting him off sequence with the field again. The long green-flag run continued as the leaders began to pit on lap 180. Mears was sitting 13th when the yellow-flag was displayed for debris on lap 195. He brought the Texaco/Havoline Dodge down pit road for an air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel. Wingo called Mears back down pit road on lap 199 to top it off with fuel in case another long green flag run occurred.
Racing resumed on lap 200, but Mears reported the car was extremely loose. He passed the No. 2 car on lap 206 to move up to 12th. He remained in 12th until the caution waved on lap 214. The team made another four-tire stop and sent Mears onto the track in 13th for the restart on lap 218. After two additional cautions, racing resumed on lap 228 with the No. 42 Dodge in 10th. Mears dove low to make it four wide on lap 230 and crossed the line in sixth on lap 231. He slipped back to eighth on lap 238.
"People hate it when you go four wide," said Mears. "The No. 31 car was waving his hand, but I had such a huge run. If I would have backed off and pulled behind those guys I would have lost 10 spots. It was a risky move, but I was committed and it worked out for me."
The final caution flag waved on lap 246 setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Mears held on in the closing laps to finish seventh in the Auto Club 500, his best finish in a NEXTEL Cup car at California Speedway. The team remains second in the championship standings, 39 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
"This is what we needed," said Mears. "Our goal was to come out of here with a top five. We got a top 10, so we’ve got to be happy with that. It was a great day in the points and a great team effort by everyone on the Texaco/Havoline team."
Mears’ Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Reed Sorenson and David Stremme finished 21st and 33rd respectively.
The team has next weekend off before heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the third race of the 2006 season.
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