- KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST TEAM FINISHES 26TH AT POCONO -

POTENTIAL TOP-10 FINISH MELTS AWAY 
AT HOT PENNSYLVANIA TRACK

LONG POND, Pa. (June 8, 2008) – Thanks in large part to an ill-timed caution late in Sunday’s Pocono 500, Casey Mears and the No. 5 Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet team left a hot and humid Pocono Raceway with a 26th-place finish.

Drivers fired up their engines at 2:08 p.m. ET, and Mears quickly relayed to crew chief Alan Gustafson that the track lacked grip and his No. 5 Chevy was loose, mirroring the feedback of many in the 43-driver field. Slick conditions and difficulty passing characterized much of the 200-lap race at the unique 2.5-mile triangle.

The Kellogg’s/CARQUEST crew, which performed with the heat index above 100 degrees for much of the afternoon, immediately focused on resolving the handling issues. The race’s initial caution -- at Lap 23 for debris in Turn 3 -- provided the first opportunity, with Gustafson giving Mears four tires, Sunoco fuel and a chassis adjustment.

Mears reported a significant improvement when he radioed the team at Lap 37 and again at Lap 40, telling the crew that the changes allowed him to “hustle the car more.” But even with a better-handling Impala SS, it remained extremely difficult to pass throughout the day.

Gustafson decided not to have Mears visit pit road after the race’s third caution at Lap 47 and instead opted for all-important track position. The call paid immediate dividends, as the No. 5 Chevy improved more than 10 spots in the running order to 21st overall.

Throughout the race, the team kept the handling issues in check with chassis adjustments and worked hard to improve track position with quick pit work and strategy. Gustafson held Mears on the track when other teams pitted and used two-tire and fuel-only pit stops to gain ground on the leaders.

Mears moved into 16th at Lap 70 -- an 18-spot improvement over his 34th-place qualifying position -- just before the field was red-flagged for seven minutes and 45 seconds after a brief rain shower passed over the track. The race resumed at Lap 73, and Mears held his place inside the top 20.

After the halfway mark of the 500-mile event, many on pit road -- including all four Hendrick Motorsports teams -- began focusing on fuel mileage and pit strategy due to the difficult track conditions. Gustafson made the call to pit out of sequence with other teams in hopes of finding the right combination for a solid result.

With less than 50 laps to go in the Pocono 500, Mears was running inside the top 10, but a caution at Lap 177 threw off the No. 5 team’s game plan. At Lap 178, Mears brought his car to pit road for its final service, as did a number of other competitors, and finished the race on the lead lap in the 26th position.

“This was a great effort by the Kellogg’s/CARQUEST team,” Mears said. “Alan and the guys did a great job working on the car and coming up with a smart strategy. We weren’t able to get the result we wanted, but the crew worked really hard, and the communication was excellent. I just wish we had the finish to show for it.”

After Pocono, the No. 5 team is 26th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings going into the 15th race of the season -- the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The event will air live Sunday on TNT (12:30 p.m. ET) and MRN Radio (1:15 p.m. ET).