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Texaco/Havoline Dodge Will Roll Off Starting Grid 32nd at Martinsville
Martinville, Va. (March 31, 2006) -- Casey Mears and the Texaco/Havoline team will start the DirecTV 500 from the 32nd position on Sunday after the team's qualifying effort on Friday.
Mears was 33rd on the speed chart in the morning practice session. Crew chief Donnie Wingo and the Texaco/Havoline crew made a few adjustments on the No. 42 Dodge Charger before Mears went out to qualify. He turned a lap time of 20.030 seconds around the .526-mile oval to earn the 32nd starting spot.
"I thought we ran better than what the speed charts showed in practice," said Mears."We ran our quickest time on old tires, so I thought we'd be quicker on new tires. This is one of the better cars I've had here. It's tough to get your rhythm at these short tracks, but I think we're going to be fine on Sunday. We had a decent qualifying lap, obviously we expected it to be better, but it's a long race and we will continue to work on it during the final two practices."
Mears' best finish at Martinsville is 17th, so he and the team tested twice at a local short track in preparation for the event. The team currently sits eighth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Point standings after the first five events of the season.
Mears' Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Reed Sorenson and David Stremme qualified 25th and 38th respectively.
The DirecTV 500 from Martinsville Speedway will air live on Fox television and MRN radio on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
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