Casey Mears - #41 Target Dodge Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500
Advance
RACE INFORMATION:
EVENT: Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 (race 33 of 36)
TRACK: Atlanta Motor Speedway
QUALIFYING: Friday, October 24, 7:05 p.m. ET
RACE: Sunday, October 26, 12:30 p.m. ET
BROADCAST: NBC television and PRN radio
TARGET TEAM FACTS:
* Atlanta Action: When Mears raced here in the spring it was
only his fourth race of the season and the rookie was still learning.
At that point in the season he was 27th in Winston Cup championship
points and he was the highest Raybestos Rookie. Mears started in the
33rd position and worked his way through the field for a 23rd place
finish in the spring.
"We just keep progressing every weekend," Mears said after the race.
"We came here and we were a little off on the setup for qualifying. I
think if we started in the top-10 or top-15 then I think we could have
run up there all day long. We had a good car. We keep improving every
weekend. I've got so much to learn. How we're running now isn't a
direct result of how we are going to run at the end of the year. We are
going to improve throughout the year."
* Target Dodge: Team Target is taking chassis # 108 to
Atlanta. This is the same car that placed 40th in Dover (accident) and
35th at Darlington.
* Best Qualifying: Mears' best qualifying effort this season
was a fourth place starting position at Chicagoland Speedway.
* Raybestos Rookie Teammates: Casey Mears and Jamie McMurray
are the first teammate rookies to compete for Raybestos Rookie of the
Year honors. Mears currently sits in third place in rookie points while
McMurray leads
the points.
* Leader: Mears became the first 2003 rookie to lead a lap
and the only rookie to lead a lap in the Daytona 500.
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY STATS:
Winston Cup Series
DATE RACE LOCATION
START FINISH STATUS
3/9/2003 Bass Pro Shops 400 Atlanta Motor Speedway 33
23 Running
TEAM TARGET CREW:
Name Crew position Race shop
duty Hometown
Casey Mears Driver Driver
Bakersfield, California
Jimmy Elledge Crew Chief Crew Chief
Redding, California
Andy Graves Team Manager Team Manager
Syracuse, New York
Tony Glover Team Manager Team Manager
Kingsport, Tennessee
Darren Wolfe Front Tire Changer Front Mechanic
Fletcher, North Carolina
Marty Forcier Front Tire Carrier Paint Shop
Superior, Wisconsin
Randy Cox Rear Tire Changer Car Chief
Trinity, North Carolina
Heath Cherry Rear Tire Carrier Race Day Only
Belmont, North Carolina
Mark Jacobs Jack Man Race Day Only
Ft. Walton Beach, Florida
Les Huntley Gas Man Suspension
Specialist Renwick, Iowa
Todd Anderson Catch Can Man Chassis Setup
Jewell, Iowa
Doug Spees Windshield Tire
Specialist Toledo, Ohio
Russ Bales Engine Specialist Engine
Specialist Sandy Springs, Georgia
Tim Smith Engineer Engineer
Cope, South Carolina
Tim McKichan Spotter Body Shop
Ontario, Canada
Paul Clapprood Pit Support Front
Mechanic Stafford Springs, Connecticut
Trevor Lynse Pit Support Test Team
Fergus Falls, Minneapolis
Dave Shano Pit Support Truck Driver
El Cajon, California
Eric Hoyle Pit Support Rear
Mechanic Asheville, North Carolina
Roger Parkinson Pit Support Shocks
San Diego, California
Melissa Zeno Scorer/Cook Cook
Lynchburg, Virginia
