Mears adds new chapter to his California Speedway history book

FONTANA, Calif. (April 27, 2003) --- Casey Mears added another chapter to his racing history at his home track, California Speedway, during Sunday's Auto Club 500.  Mears has now driven four types of cars at California Speedway - Indy Lights, Champ Cars, Busch Series and now Winston Cup.  Although Mears has many miles California Speedway in a variety of race cars, the Winston Cup car proved to be its own chapter in racing.  

Mears started the race in 17th position after a great qualifying run on Friday in his Target Dodge.  At the start of the 250-lap race, Mears radioed in that his car was really tight in the corners and he began to fall back through the field due to the condition.  For the remainder of the day, Mears and Team Target fought the balance of the car.

Team Target's rough day got worse when Mears got caught in a late race accident on lap 230.  The good news was that the car was drivable.  The bad news is that the accident knocked the fitting off the cooling system and water was spraying out of the hood of the No. 41 Target Dodge.  The team had to pit two more times to repair the damage and get Mears back on the track.  

Mears finished the race in 34th position and currently sits 37th in NASCAR championship points.  

"We definitely had a long day today," Mears said. "We just couldn't get the balance right on the car.  The Target crew did a great job working hard in the pits all day.  We'll just have to chalk this up to experience and move on to the next race."

Ganassi teammates Jamie McMurray and Sterling Marlin finished fifth and 10th respectively.

Team Target heads to Richmond International Raceway next weekend for the Pontiac Excitement 400.  The race will be broadcast live on May 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FX television and MRN radio.