Martinsville is a new textbook for Mears

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (April 13, 2003) --- Martinsville Speedway proved to be a
whole new textbook in Casey Mears' Winston Cup education.  Mears had never
competed on the half-mile track or raced on anything like it in his racing
career.  Yet, he completed the Virginia 500 and took home a 36th place
finish with 496 laps of Martinsville education under his belt.

Mears, a Raybests rookie candidate, started his Target Dodge in 22nd
position for the 500-lap event but within 10 laps of the race, he radioed in
to the crew that the car would not turn at all.  This problem became the
subject of the day as Team Target adjusted on the car during every pit stop
to make it turn better.  Although, Mears raced in the back of the field, he
was able to keep up with the leaders at times.  His 36th place finish puts
him in 36th in Championship points as well.

"I am disappointed with the finish but I did come out of here with a lot of
laps under my belt at this place," Mears said after the race.  "This is my
first race here and my first time on such a short track that requires a lot
of braking.  Team Target gave me great pit stops today.  We had some
problems with the turning of the car; it was tight all day.  The good thing
is that we completed the whole race and we're learning every weekend.  I'll
be prepared when we come back here later in the season."

"Casey made pretty decent progress here today," crew chief Jimmy Elledge
said.  "For his first race at Martinsville, he did pretty good.  I've seen
guys come here year after year and not progress as much as he did here
today."

Ganassi teammates Sterling Marlin and Jamie McMurray finished sixth and 39th
respectively.  Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet, won the
race; his first win of the season.  

Team Target will enjoy their first off-weekend of the season this week.
After resting up for a week, the team heads to California Speedway for the
Auto Club 500.  The race will be broadcast live on April 27 on FOX
television and MRN radio.