#66 Mears Australia Sunday Race Notes/Quotes

#66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard
Honda Indy 300 - Race Notes/Quotes - Sunday, Oct. 28, 2001
Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia - 2.795-Mile Temporary Street Course
Round 20 of 21 on the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series

Casey Mears and the #66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard was
out of today's Honda Indy 300 on the beachside streets of Surfers Paradise
after making head-on contact with the wall on Turn 1 of the very first lap
and could not continue due to front-end suspension damage.  Mears injured
his right index finger and was sent to Allamanda Hospital for treatment.

Mo Nunn Racing teammate Tony Kanaan and the #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing
Honda-Reynard finished 17th after starting 19th.  Cristiano da Matta took
the victory today, his second of the season.  Michael Andretti was second
with Alex Tagliani third.  Gil de Ferran finished fourth, one spot ahead of
Kenny Brack, to clinch the series drivers championship for the second year
in a row.

The 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series season concludes next weekend with
the 500-miler at high-banked California Speedway tri-oval in Fontana, Calif.

CASEY MEARS

"I feel just terrible about what happened.  It was my fault ... a rookie
mistake, I guess.  I got through the first two race weekends without a
scratch.  Then we come to a track I've never driven before and still managed
to keep it all together through practice and qualifying while a lot of other
guys did not.  That was the last thing I expected.  Everybody got all
bunched up through that first corner.  They all hit their brakes a lot more
than they had all weekend.  I got in there a little hot, and before I knew
it, it was too late and I hit the wall pretty hard with the nose of the car.
I thought we could push-start the car and continue, but there was too much
suspension damage.  My finger will be alright.  I banged it pretty hard and
it swelled up pretty big.  Dr. Olvey thought I should go get it x-rayed just
to be on the safe side."

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