Never-Quit Attitude Pays Off with 11th-Place Finish for Mears, 
Jack Daniel’s Racing

Race/Date: LENOX Industrial Tools 301 – June 28, 2009 Location:  New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, N.H. Start Position: 21st Finish Position: 11th Owner Points Position: 20th (gained one position)

Loudon, N.H. – Casey Mears, driver of the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, was involved in a mid-race accident but his team’s hard work kept him on the lead lap and resulted in an 11th-place finish in the rain-shortened LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The finish advanced Mears one spot, to 20th, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. With only nine races to go before the top-12 Chase for the Sprint Cup lineup is filled, Mears & Co. are 302 markers behind Juan Pablo Montoya in 12th and 194 markers behind Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton in 16th.

On Friday, Mears ran the 19th-fastest lap during the first practice session. Rain canceled qualifying and the field was set by the NASCAR rule book. The Bakersfield, Calif., native started on the inside of row 11, in 21st, based on the 2009 NSCS owners’ standings.

In Saturday’s dual practice session, Mears showed how quick the No. 07 Chevrolet was as he posted the third-quickest time during the first practice and 21st in the latter session.

In front of an estimated 101,000 race fans, the 43-car field took the green flag to start the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 just past 2 p.m. local time. The Jack Daniel’s Impala SS advanced six spots, to 15th, in the opening 33 circuits around the ‘Magic Mile.’

Mears raced his way to 13th on lap 55 and remained in the top 20 until lap 121, when he hit pit road for four tires and fuel. After green-flag pit stops cycled through, the No. 07 Chevy was scored 18th. Mears raced his way to 16th on lap 142 but lost those spots seven laps later.

A caution on lap 171 brought Mears down pit road for a fuel-only pit stop that netted the team two spots, to 18th, as racing resumed four laps later. Then, on a green-flag restart on lap 175, the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident in Turn 1 that red-flagged the race for approximately 13 minutes. Once the red flag was lifted, the Jack Daniel’s team began making repairs to the damaged No. 07 Chevy. Mears resumed racing on lap 180 in 28th position but more repairs were needed.

Two caution periods assisted the Mr. Jack crews’ efforts as Mears was able to hit pit road several times during yellow-flag conditions betweens laps 184 thru 187 and 191 thru 195 for further repairs. With each stop, more fuel was added to Mears’ Chevrolet and his crews’ quick work kept him on the lead lap.

Mears was 28th on the lap-195 restart and as a long green-flag run ensued, aiding Mears’ advancement on the scoring pylon. On lap 236 he was 15th, ninth on lap 239 and sixth on lap 249.

As pit stops cycled through and the clouds rolled in, Mears was overtaken by drivers with fresher Goodyear tires and was scored 11th on lap 260. He maintained that spot when rain forced NASCAR to throw a caution on lap 268 for the 11th and final time of the afternoon. The red flag came was displayed on lap 273 as the field was brought to pit road, and the race was declared official shortly thereafter.

Mears’ RCR teammate Clint Bowyer finished 20th, while the other two RCR entries of Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, who were also involved in the lap-175 incident, finished 31st and 34th, respectively.

Joey Logano scored his first career NSCS victory while Jeff Gordon finished second. Kurt Busch, David Reutimann and Tony Stewart rounded out the top-five finishers.

Next weekend, NASCAR’s senior circuit heads to Daytona International Speedway for their annual July 4th-weekend event.

TNT’s live coverage of the Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola will begin on Saturday, July 4 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time The Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will begin their lap-by-lap coverage at 7:15 p.m. EDT. Qualifying for the 18th points-paying event of the 2009 season will air live on Friday, July 3 at 4 p.m. EDT on SPEED. MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will also provide live updates of time trials.

Casey Mears Quote: "Our Jack Daniels Chevrolet was pretty fast today and then we got caught up in an accident. The team’s hard work and never quit attitude kept us on the lead lap as they made repairs on pit road. Then, we got lucky when the rain came and were able to score an 11th-place finish. We'll head to Daytona next Saturday night and look for another solid run."