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UAW-Ford 500
Casey Mears and No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge at
Talladega Superspeedway, October 8

Texaco/Havoline Team Facts:
NEXTEL Cup Series

• Standings: Keen pit strategy and a top-10 race car went hand-in-hand to help Casey Mears and the Texaco/Havoline team coast to a second-place finish at Kansas Speedway this past Sunday, tying Mears' career-best NASCAR NEXTEL Cup finish which was set earlier this year in the season-opening Daytona 500. Mears remains 15th in the NEXTEL Cup standings, but only due to a tie-breaker situation. He currently has the same amount of points as the 14th-place driver.



• Montoya's Debut: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) announced late last week Juan Pablo Montoya would race the No. 4 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in the ARCA/REMAX Series event this upcoming Friday, October 6 at Talladega Superspeedway. Montoya and the CGRFS team tested at Talladega last week in preparation for the ARCA event, as well as his first start in a stock car. In July CGRFS announced Montoya would be piloting the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger in the NEXTEL Cup Series in 2007. The 31-year-old Colombia, South America native will become the first Formula One driver in the 58-year history of NASCAR to compete on the circuit full time. The ARCA/REMAX Food World 250 is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 ET Friday. The race will broadcast that night at 8 p.m. ET on the Speed Channel.



• Talladega Tally: Mears will be making his eighth NEXTEL Cup start at Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday. All together, he has two top-10 finishes and three top-15 finishes at the speedway. In 2004, he scored the two top-10 finishes back-to-back, crossing the finish line in eighth place during the spring and fall races.



• Ladies Night: Next Tuesday, October 10, leading into the last night-race weekend of the NEXTEL Cup season, CGRFS is calling all ladies to get a "behind the scenes" look at the fast world of racing during its first-ever Ladies Night at its Concord, N.C. race shop facility. Attendees will be taken on a private tour of the team’s race shop, along with a preview of the latest Trackcouture ladies fashions. Guests will also get some time to chat with Becky Sorenson, mother of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup rookie Reed Sorenson. Limited seating is available, so please call 1-866-888-6388 to make your reservation. For more information go to www.chipganassiracing.com and click on "Charlotte Race Week October 9-14."



• Rolex 24 Champion Session: Mears and Dan Wheldon will be teaming up again next week in the Charlotte area, but this time it will be to meet race fans and sign autographs at the CGRFS race shop in Concord, N.C. The 2006 Rolex 24 at Daytona winners will be signing from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET next Friday, October 13. Wristbands will guarantee an autograph and can be picked up in person at the team's gift shop or by calling 1-866-888-6388 to reserve one. To learn more and keep up to pace on this event and further team updates, go to www.chipganassiracing.com.



• Chassis: The No. 42 Texaco/Havoline team is taking chassis #006 to Alabama this weekend for the UAW 500. The No. 42 CGRFS team has made this chassis its Talladega car, as the car's most recent and only runs have been at the notorious 2.66-mile superspeedway. This past May, Mears and team rallied from a brush with another car and the outside wall, and the loss of third gear to finish 20th (started 25th). The same chassis also helped the No. 42 team (then with driver Jamie McMurray) score second and 12th-place finishes at the super fast track in 2005.

Casey Mears Quotes:
"After our run last weekend, I really hope we get a good finish this weekend. We always seem to have cars that work well at the superspeedways and in the draft. Everyone in the shop and fab shop have been working hard. It's such a crap shoot, but if we can use some of the momentum from this past weekend and come home with a solid finish it would mean a lot to everyone on the Texaco/Havoline team. Now if I could improve my result from a last week one spot, it would be even better."