Casey Mears Homestead Race Advance
Casey Mears - #41 Target Dodge
Ford 400 Race Advance
CONTACT: Nealie Hamilton, Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates,
cell: 704-500-6068, nhamilton@ganassi.com
RACE INFORMATION:
EVENT:
Winston Cup: Ford 400 (race 36 of 36)
Busch Series: Ford 300
TRACK:
Homestead-Miami Speedway
QUALIFYING:
Winston Cup: Friday, November 14, 1:35 p.m. ET
Busch Series: Thursday, November 13, 2:45 p.m. ET
RACE:
Winston Cup: Sunday, November 16, 1:00 p.m. ET
Busch Series: Saturday, November 15, 12:00 p.m. ET
BROADCAST:
NBC television and MRN radio
TARGET TEAM FACTS:
* Target Dodge: Team Target is taking chassis # 108 to
Homestead-Miami. This is the same car that placed 28th in Atlanta, 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.
* Busch Series Racing: Mears will also be racing in the Ford 300
on Saturday.
CASEY MEARS QUOTE:
What are your plans for the offseason?
"It's a long year. So, definitely when the season's over I'm going to
be looking forward to hanging out with some friends and getting some
time to relax. I'll get away from it for a little bit, and then get
ready to focus on it for next season. Right now I have no immediate
plans, but at some point we'll go someplace really warm where there's a
beach and someplace cold where there's some snow. Right now that's the
plan. We'll start preparing for 2004 as soon as the last lap of this
season stops. You never stop working. Right now we're working on cars
and doing things for next year already. We are constantly testing new
things out and that never stops. I'm really looking forward to next
season, just to start fresh. We dug ourselves in a hole early on in the
season here, not getting the finishes that we needed. To overcome that
towards the end of the year points-wise, it's really hard to dig out of
that hole. I'm really looking forward to just getting a clean sheet of
paper for next year and starting from scratch."
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY STATS:
Busch Series
DATE
RACE
LOCATION
START
FINISH
STATUS
11/16/2002
Ford 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
4
12
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
XXX
Jennifer Powell
Media Relations
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
office: (704) 662-9642 x1147
cell: (704) 658-8540
jpowell@ganassi.com
