Casey Mears, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Team Take a Top 15 from Watkins Gl en

Race: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen - Venue: Waktins Glen (NY) International - 
Start: 11th - Finish: 15th - Points: 21st (no change)

WATKINS GLEN, NY. – Casey Mears and the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS team of Richard Childress Racing endured the roller-coaster like, 11-turn, 2.45-mile road course of Watkins Glen International on Monday afternoon en route to a top-15 finish.

The up and down elevation of the track seems like a roller coaster itself, but the team also rode the ups and downs of the running order in the 90-lap race as well.

For the second-consecutive week, the Sprint Cup Series race was postponed because of rain on Sunday, forcing another Monday lunch-time start. Even though the delay was disappointing, Mears & Co. carried some good feelings into the race.

They were fifth fastest in the pre-qualifying practice on Friday afternoon. They backed that up with the 11th-fastest qualifying speed to clinch the starting position inside row six. The good times kept rolling as Mears and the Todd Berrier-led team were seventh for Saturday’s first practice session.

Comments from Mears like, “This car feels awesome” and team owner Richard Childress saying, “You have a nice little hot rod there,” led Berrier to make an interesting decision on Saturday. The handling, speed and preparation in that first session allowed them to voluntarily sit out the second practice session.

Their anticipation on Sunday was dampened by Mother Nature forcing the delay to Monday. For fans returning to Watkins Glen International the next day, they were greeted by sunny skies to finally begin the race.

From the initial green flag, Mears remained in the top 15 before pitting for the first time on lap 19. Fuel, tires, track bar and air pressure adjustments were the call. Just as he was about to pull out of his stall, the rear-tire carrier from the No. 20 came around the rear of their car pitted in front of Mears.

Rather than run the crew member over, Mears stopped and backed up far enough to exit his pit stall. Even with the delay, they only lost three positions and restarted 16th on lap 20. From there, two more cautions slowed the pace of the race before the halfway point.

But, Mears and Mr. Jack’s Crew decided to remain on the racing surface rather than hit pit road. Berrier had his game plan and he was sticking to it through the race, allowing Mears to race his way to eighth place.

Under green-flag conditions on lap 53, Mears came down for fuel and tires. When he returned to the road course, he was 26th in the running order. By lap 57, they were back up to 15th and moving forward.

A five-car wreck on lap 62 brought out the red flag for almost 15 minutes. Once the race restarted on lap 66, Mears was in 10th place with 24 laps remaining. As the field made its way through the ess turns side-by­-side, the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet got shuffled out of the normal racing groove.

After going three-wide down the long straightway to the bus stop, cars were reduced to double file as they made their way through the quick right and left turn. As a result, Mears lost eight positions before a caution waved on lap 71. But, give a nod to perseverance and grit as he battled back gaining three positions from the lap-73 restart until the checkered flag flew 17 laps later.

As a result of his finish, Mears remains 21st in points but is now only two markers from 20th and 76 from catching 19th place.

His fellow RCR teammates of Clint Bowyer finished ninth; while Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton got caught up in separate wrecks to finish 35th and 38th, respectively.

Tony Stewart won his third race of the season with Marcos Ambrose close behind him in second. Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five finishers, respectively.

Mears and team return to action next Sunday, Aug. 16th at the two-mile oval of Michigan International Speedway for the CARFAX 400. The 43-car field will take the green flag at 2 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) with pre-race coverage beginning at 1 p.m. on ESPN TV. MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 128 are providing the radio broadcast. Qualifying is slated for Friday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2 with radio coverage on MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 128.

Casey Mears quotes – “We had a pretty good weekend here at Watkins Glen," said Casey Mears, driver of the No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet. "We were doing alright there with track position and pit strategy. I just got hung out going through the esses on the one restart (lap 66) and then freight trained through the bus stop. We were able to get some spots back to finish 15th, but I felt we could've had a much better finish. The good news is we’re gaining on the ones in front of us in points.”