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Texaco/Havoline Team Battles a Loose Car to Finish 16th at Michigan
BROOKLYN, MI (August 20, 2006) --- The Texaco/Havoline team was extremely optimistic heading into Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan. Unfortunately a change in weather on Sunday altered the handling of the No. 42 Dodge Charger, and driver Casey Mears battled a loose condition for the 200-lap race to finish 16th.
"The car just had no grip," said Mears. "The Texaco/Havoline Dodge was a rocket ship on Friday and Saturday, but it felt like a different car today. We didn't touch the car following practice on Saturday, so it's amazing the track changed that much. Donnie (Wingo) and the guys made adjustments all day, but nothing seemed to help. It was really disappointing because they’ve been working so hard on these cars."
Mears started the race from the seventh position after his qualifying effort. It took just one lap before the caution flag waved and Mears could already tell the car was going to be a handful. The No. 7 car spun on lap five bringing out the second caution, and Mears' teammate David Stremme got a tap from behind that sent his Dodge around for the third hiatus of the race. Wingo called Mears down pit road for and an air pressure adjustment in the right front and left rear tires, four fresh Goodyear's and fuel. When racing resumed on lap 14, the Texaco/Havoline Dodge was back in 27th.
Mears was able to work his way back up to 22nd when the No. 29 car spun on lap 22. Most of the cars that did not pit with Mears on lap 12 now came down pit road while the No. 42 Dodge remained on the track. NASCAR waved the green flag on lap 25 and Mears was now up to fourth. He was able to maintain his track position until lap 42 when the yellow flag was displayed again. Mears brought the black and red Dodge to pit road for a chassis adjustment, four tires and fuel. He was seventh for the restart on lap 48.
Mears told Wingo the changes didn't seem to help the handling of the car much and by lap 52 he had fallen back to 11th. When the No. 38 car spun on lap 53, Wingo decided to bring Mears back down pit road to make adjustments on the car while there were still plenty of laps remaining in the race. The Texaco/Havoline crew removed a right-rear spring rubber, made an air pressure adjustment and fitted the car with fresh tires. Mears was back to 25th when racing resumed on lap 56.
Over the next 40 laps, Mears was hanging on to the car despite the "wrecking loose" condition. Green-flag pit stops began on lap 96 with the No. 42 Dodge in 17th. Wingo called Mears down pit road on lap 102 for another chassis adjustment, tires and fuel. At the conclusion of pit stops, Mears was 14th. The Texaco/Havoline crew continued to work on the drivability of the car over the next few caution periods. The team made several chassis and air pressure adjustments, but the car was still difficult for Mears to drive.
With 50 laps remaining in the race, Mears was 24th. He maneuvered his way up to 21st when the caution flag waved on lap 160. The No. 42 crew jumped over-the-wall to make a chassis adjustment and fit the car with four fresh tires for the final stint of the race. The green flag dropped on lap 163 with Mears now in the 19th position. He remained in 19th until the No. 1 blew a tire moving him up to 18th. He battled side-by-side with the 21 car on lap 195, and after two laps of intense racing was able to make the pass for 17th. The No. 07 lost a motor with two laps remaining and Mears finished the race in the 16th spot.
The top-20 finish moved the Texaco/Havoline team up two spots in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings to 17th. Mears' Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Reed Sorenson and Stremme finished eighth and 28th respectively.
On Saturday, Mears followed up his win in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Chicagoland Speedway with a second-place finish at Michigan. He qualified his Texaco/Havoline Dodge seventh, had a problem early on in an incident with Greg Biffle and battled back to contend for the win in the closing laps.
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