Team Target scores Top-25 in Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 5, 2003) --- Rookie Casey Mears opened his NASCAR Winston Cup textbook to start the second half of his school year with the subject of Superspeedways at hand.  

The Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway was Mears' second race at the famed-track.  At the start of the 2003 season, he finished 27th in the Daytona 500, leading his first Winston Cup race for one lap in the process.  Mears' came to July's Pepsi 400 at Daytona with quite a bit more confidence.

Team Target placed one of its top qualifying efforts of the season on Thursday night as they secured the 12th place starting position for Saturday nights race.  At the start of the race, Mears found that his car was tight and aerodynamics of the chassis was off.  He dropped back to 36th by lap 20.  

Team Target adjusted on the car during pit stops to loosen it up for Mears.  The Dodge was competitive in the top-25 but was not able to gain a lot of ground.  Mears ended up taking home a 25th place finish; he remains 34th in championship points.

"It wasn't the night we wanted but we did get to run the entire race and get that experience," Mears said.  "Our car was really tight and we could not get the handling correct on it.  Team Target did a great job in the pits tonight.  I think we have one of the best pit crews in NASCAR.  I learned a lot out there tonight and even though it's not a great finish we did finish the race and get that experience."
 
Ganassi teammates Sterling Marlin and Jamie McMurray finished 19th and 37th respectively.

Team Target heads to Chicagoland Speedway next weekend for the Tropicana 400 on July 12th.  The race will be broadcast live on NBC television and MRN radio.