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Subway Fresh 500
Casey Mears and No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge at
Phoenix International Raceway, April 22

Texaco/Havoline Team Facts:
Nextel Cup Series

• Standings: Casey Mears and the Texaco/Havoline team remain in the NASCAR Top 10 for the seventh consecutive week after finishing 14th at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago. Mears and the team currently sit 10th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings, 218 points behind the leader.



• From the oval to the diamond: On Wednesday, April 19, Mears will drive the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger on the warning track of Chase Field to throw out the first pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks' game against the Giants. The No. 42 Texaco/Havoline racing simulator will also be located in the rotunda for fans to test their driving skills.



• Phoenix International Raceway: Mears is looking for his first top-10 finish at the 1-mile oval in a NEXTEL Cup car. This weekend's Subway Fresh 500 will be Mears' fifth race at the track where his best finish is 22nd. Mears was running third in the fall of 2004 with six laps to go when a blown tire sent him into the outside wall.



• Chassis: Crew chief Donnie Wingo and the Texaco/Havoline team will take chassis #503 for the eighth race of the 2006 season. This is the first race Mears will compete in this chassis, however it was run at Phoenix last spring by the No. 42 team and finished 25th.

• Busch Racing: Mears will make his fourth NASCAR Busch Series start of the season this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. Mears and crew chief Brad Parrott finished third at Texas in Parrott’s debut at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Mears will race a new chassis, #653, from the No. 42 Busch Series stable this weekend in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200.

Casey Mears Quotes:
"I've struggled at Phoenix for some reason in the Cup cars. It's been a fun track for me because I've had the opportunity to run stock cars, Indy Cars and Indy Lights cars. But it's been challenging on the Cup side. Two years ago we had an awesome car, we drove through the field and we were running third when we blew a left rear tire with less than 10 laps to go. I think we really had a good shot at winning the race. I know Donnie (Wingo) and the guys have been working hard all week, and I typically run better at this track once it cools down. I think the night race is going to be beneficial for me and the entire team.

"We're in 10th place right now and we did a good job of maintaining our top-10 standing at Texas. We need to do our homework and focus on those tracks where we can run well. Not finishing up front at Texas and Atlanta was tough, because those are the tracks that we thought we would perform well at and get further up in the standings. Now we have to rely on Phoenix and Talladega to get us back up in the points."