Late-Race Incident Erases Solid Run for Mears, Jack Daniel’s Team

Race/Date: Toyota/Save Mart 350 - June 21, 2009 - Location: Infineon Raceway - Sonoma, Calif. -
 Start Position: 21st - Finish Position: 23rd - Points Position: 21st (maintained position)

SONOMA, Calif. -- Casey Mears and the Jack Daniel’s team stuck to the plan crew chief Todd Berrier had devised specifically for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway and, with just six laps remaining, were looking at an 11th-place finish at least.

The No. 07 Chevrolet Impala SS getting spun out after contact by another car was, unfortunately, not part of the plan and Mears & Co. were left with a 23rd-place showing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ first of two road course races on the 2009 schedule.

The Jack Daniel’s team maintained its 21st-place position in the season point standings after 16 races.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native was the ninth driver to take the green flag during Friday afternoon’s one-lap qualifying session. He wheeled the Jack Daniel’s Chevy around the 11-turn road course in 1:17:505 minutes at an average speed of 92.433 mph. The run was good enough for the 21st qualifying spot, lining up on the inside of the 11th row for Sunday’s race. Brian Vickers took the pole with a lap of 1:16:475 minutes.

Mears posted the fifth- and 17th-quickest times in Saturday’s two practice sessions. Mr. Jack’s team left the race track with confidence both in their Chevrolet Impala SS and the race strategy Berrier had devised a couple weeks prior.

Clear skies and warm temperatures, though nowhere near the heat from last year’s race, greeted the more than 90,000 estimated fans who filled the grandstands and dotted the hillsides, setting the stage for Sunday afternoon’s scheduled 110-lap race. The green flag waved at 2:24 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time and the 43-car field snaked its way through the picturesque rolling hills of Sonoma County.

Unorthodox pit strategy is a key element to road course racing. Mears ran between 19th and 15th until the first of the day’s seven caution periods slowed the field on lap 22. Sitting 19th at the time, Berrier’s plan called for his driver to stay on the track while some of the leaders chose to head down pit lane for service. The No. 07 Chevy restarted in the 11th position on lap 25 and, according to the plan, Mears came down pit road under green on the next lap. A solid stop by Mr. Jack’s crew returned Mears to the racing service in the 40th position but, all according to plan.

From there, the Jack Daniel’s Impala SS made its way through the field, picking up positions in the few areas at Infineon where overtaking is possible as well as from the misfortune of others who spun out on their own or with the assistance of others. Mears ran 32nd at the race’s halfway point, was 21st on lap 75 and 14th when the day’s fourth caution flag waved on lap 91. He had worked his way around a number of close calls when cars spun in front of him and was in the ballpark of where Berrier had planned for him to be. A quick caution for debris on lap 98 set up what looked to be an 11-lap dash to the checkers.

Mears was 16th on the lap-100 restart and picked up five positions by the time he crossed the start/finish line to complete the 106th lap. He raced through the first turn and headed up the hill toward the low speed sharp right-hand turn two. While attempting to get through the apex of the corner, contact from the No. 55 car into the right-side of the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet forced Mears to spin and a number of cars flashed by before Mears could get going again. The day’s final caution flag waved on the proposed final lap, forcing a green/white/checkered flag finish that saw Mears cross the finish line in the 23rd position.

Kasey Kahne earned his first victory of the 2009 season. He finished 0.748-of-a-second ahead of Tony Stewart, while Marcos Ambrose, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five. Mears’ RCR teammates Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton finished eighth, 29th, and 34th, respectively.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes a cross-country run to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for next week’s race. Flag-to-flag coverage of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 will take the green flag Sunday, June 28, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on TNT and broadcast on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 17th points-paying race on the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will be telecast live on SPEED Friday, June 26 beginning at 3 p.m. EDT.

CASEY MEARS QUOTES

"The Jack Daniel's team deserved a lot better finish than what we ended up with. The guys did a great job in the pits all day and we just stuck to the plan Todd (Berrier, crew chief) put together. We were sitting pretty good in 11th place with just a few laps left when we got taken out. It's frustrating but there's nothing we can do but prepare for next week in Loudon."