Target House Dodge completes Double Duty at Rockingham

 

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (November 9, 2003) --- Casey Mears completed 600 miles
at North Carolina Speedway this weekend in his No. 41 Target House
Dodge.  Mears competed in the Target House 200 Busch race on Saturday,
as well as the Pop Secret 400 Winston Cup race on Sunday.

 

In Saturday's Target House 200, Mears started in 11th position but
quickly moved to the front.  For the majority of the race, Mears kept
his No. 41 Target House Dodge in the top-3.  For 180 laps of the 197 lap
race, he led the field alongside Ganassi teammates Jamie McMurray and
David Stremme.  

 

Unfortunately, with 20 laps to go, Mears pitted for the last time but on
the restart, he sustained a right rear flat tire.  Mears immediately
dropped to the back of the field and was forced to pit, losing a chance
at the win.  Team Target was relegated to a 21st place finish.

 

Mears started the Pop Secret 400 in 39th position and quickly found that
his car was handing bad.  Team Target adjusted on the ill-handing Dodge
during pit stops on lap 70 and 85.  Unfortunately, more work was to be
done to the car when Mears was sandwiched between the No. 88 and No. 97
cars on lap 92.

 

The accident put out the caution flag and did damage to the sheet metal
of Mears' car.  The team pitted a few times to fix the damage and put
Mears on his way.  For the remainder of the race, Mears stayed in the
top-35 and finally finished in 33rd position.

 

Mears remains 35th in NASCAR Winston Cup Championship points.  Ganassi
teammates Sterling Marlin and Jamie McMurray finished the race in 10th
and 35th place respectively.

 

Team Target races at Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend.  The Ford
300 Busch Series race will be broadcast live on NBC television and MRN
radio this Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET.  The Ford 400 Winston Cup race
will run on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on the same broadcast stations.