Hot Day for Team Target in Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. (September 28, 2003) --- It was a hot day in Talladega for Team Target on Sunday.  Hot, as in extreme conditions in their engine.  

Casey Mears started the EA Sports 500 in eighth position and was consistently lrunning in the top-25.  Ten laps after teammate Sterling Marlin came in for an overheated engine, Mears brought his Target Dodge into the garage on lap 113.  The engine had overheated and the team had to retire for the day.  The team was left with a 37th place finish.

"I haven't seen Sterling's car yet, but we had a similar problem," Mears said.  "We're not exactly sure what happened, to be honest.  But it's a pressurized system, and it built up a lot of pressure and it looked like it blew the radiator apart.  It's just too bad for the Target Dodge and the whole team.  We've had a tough year, and this looked like it would've been a pretty good race for us.  

"Really, we were just trying to stay out of trouble the whole race.  Anytime we wanted to go towards the front, we could.  We were just kind of riding in the back and going up there every now and then to see how things were.  I'm really proud of the guys back in the shop and Ernie Elliott's engines.  I mean, we had a good motor and we had a good car.  Obviously we qualified good. We just needed a break."  

Team Target races at Kansas Speedway next weekend.  The race will be broadcast live on NBC television and MRN radio on October 5, 2003 at 1:00 p.m. CT.