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Casey Mears Will Start 20th at Home-State Track of California Speedway
Fontana, Calif. (February 24, 2006) -- After visiting his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., earlier this week, Casey Mears traveled to Fontana to pilot the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge at California Speedway. Mears turned a lap time of 29.232 seconds on Friday to earn the 20th starting position for the Auto Club 500 on Sunday.
Mears rolled off 43rd for qualifying as the track temperatures began to cool. The change in weather also altered the handling of the No. 42 Dodge Charger as Mears ran an average speed of 183.524 mph.
"The Texaco/Havoline Dodge was tight through the center of the corner," said Mears. "The tough part was that it was bouncing into the corners, got tight and was loose off. We picked up some speed from practice, and we have two practices to tweak on the car. Donnie (crew chief Wingo) and the team will continue to work on the car tomorrow to get it dialed in and ready for Sunday."
Mears best finish on the 2-mile track is an eighth-place effort in May of 2004. The team hopes to carry the momentum from last week's race at Daytona with them on Sunday and hold on to a top-10 position in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points standings.
Mears' Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Reed Sorenson and David Stremme qualified 29th and 41st respectively.
The Auto Club 500 from California Speedway will air live on Fox television and MRN radio on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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