Mears, Jack Daniel’s Chevy Just Miss Top 20 in Martinsville

Race/Date: Goody’s Fast Relief 500 – March 29, 2009 - Location: Martinsville Speedway – Martinsville, Va. - Start Position: 25th - Finish Position: 21st - Points Position: 26th (Lost One Position)

Martinsville, Va. – Casey Mears and the Jack Daniel’s Racing team came up one spot short in their bid for a top-20 finish in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Mears raced inside the top 25 all afternoon and was the first car one lap down when the checkered flag waved. While he ultimately lost one spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, a slim 37 markers separates 26th through 18th in the standings.

Rain soaked the Martinsville area on Friday and Saturday, washing out qualifying and both of Saturday morning’s practice sessions. Accordingly, NASCAR set the field by owners’ points, affording Mears the 25th starting spot for Sunday’s 500-lap feature.

He slipped from his 25th starting spot to 27th in the opening four laps but worked himself back to 25th by lap 19.

With track position always at a premium on the tricky half-mile, crew chief Gil Martin opted for just right-side tires during the team’s opening pit stop. The move paid off in the form of 10 positions and when the green flag waved for the lap 47 restart, the Jack Daniel’s Chevy was 15th in the running order.

Mears picked up three more positions over the next 22 laps and was 11th in the running order before making his second pit of the afternoon during the day’s third caution period.

After a number of teams opted not to pit, Mears was relegated back to 22nd when green-flag racing resumed.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native spent practically the rest of the afternoon stifled in traffic, fighting a tight-handling machine. Still, Mears fought the good fight in his attempt to get back on the lead lap. Unfortunately, every time the yellow flag flew and NASCAR awarded the “Lucky Dog” free pass – allowing the first car one lap down back on the lead lap – the driver of the Jack Daniel’s Chevy was just outside the window of opportunity.

As the race wound down and 500 laps at Martinsville came to a close, Mears moved up to 21st on the scoreboard, just missing the team’s third top 20 of the six-race young 2009 season.

Jimmie Johnson took home the checkered flag, earning his sixth career victory at the venerable .526-mile oval. Denny Hamlin dominated the race but had to settle for second after Johnson took over the point with 15 laps to go. Tony Stewart finished third; Jeff Gordon was fourth while Mears’ Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five.

Fellow RCR stable mates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton finished 11th and 15th, respectively.

The cars and stars of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series will be big and bright next weekend as the premier division in American motorsports heads for the Lone Star State and the first of two stops at Texas Motor Speedway.

Live coverage of the Samsung 500 begins Sun., April 5 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The event will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the seventh event on the 2009 Sprint Cup Series calendar is scheduled to take the green flag on Fri., April 3 at 4:30 p.m. EDT and will be telecast live on SPEED. PRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will provide live qualifying updates.

CASEY MEARS QUOTES

“The Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet was pretty good on old tires and we were as fast as anybody for a long time, but we just couldn’t get any track position. It’s frustrating because I know we had better than a 21st-place car. We’ll just keep working. We’ve got a good car and a good setup for Texas next weekend, so we’re ready to get back after it.”