Early Handling Woes Overshadow Another Strong 
Run by Mr. Jack’s Team

Race/Date: Samsung 500 – April 5, 2009 - Location: Texas Motor Speedway/Fort Worth, Texas Start Position: 35th - Finish Position: 21st - Points Position: 23rd (Gained three positions)

Fort Worth, Texas – Early handling issues with the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS overshadowed a strong run by Casey Mears in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

However, the 21st-place finish allowed Mr. Jack’s team to move up three positions, to 23rd, in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings after seven of 36 points-paying events. Mears is now 43 points out of the top 20, 87 out of the top 15 and 147 out of the top 12.

The 43-car field took the green flag for the first of the scheduled 334 laps at 1:20 p.m. Central Daylight Time. Mears called over the radio to crew chief Gil Martin just five laps later that the handling of the No. 07 Chevy was very tight in the corners. A long green-flag run prevented Martin from making changes under caution and Mears was passed by the leader on lap 46 before he finally had to make a green-flag pit stop on lap 53. Mears returned to the fray after Mr. Jack’s Crew supplied fuel, fresh Goodyear tires and major chassis adjustments.

Unfortunately, the adjustments didn’t help and it wasn’t until the 97th lap that the first caution flag waved, allowing Mears to return to pit road while running in the 33rd position. Quick work by the over-the-wall crew netted four spots on pit road and the adjustments Martin called for were on the mark. Mears took over the 24th spot in the running order on lap 127 and, in so doing, put himself in position to get his lap back via the Lucky Dog award.

The Bakersfield, Calif., driver would maintain the Lucky Dog position for 30 laps but the needed caution flag never materialized before Martin again called his driver to pit road for a green-flag stop on lap 156. In a true case of “if it weren’t for bad luck …,” the caution flag slowed the field just one lap later when a car spun while attempting to enter pit road.

The good news was that Mears didn’t go a second lap down to the leaders. Further adjustments by Mr. Jack’s crew over the second half of the race continued to improve the handling, allowing Mears to run his quickest laps of the event and keep pace with what the leaders were running. He grabbed the 20th spot in the running order on lap 292 and looked to be in position to earn a top-20 finish but a late-race caution shuffled the field enough that he lost one spot before the checkered flag waved.

Fellow Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon snapped a 47-race winless streak with his first victory at TMS. He was followed across the line by Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth.

Fellow RCR stable mates Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick finished ninth, 22nd and 27th, respectively.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series takes a week off before heading back out west to Phoenix International Raceway.

Live coverage of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 on FOX begins Sat., April 18 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio beginning at 7:45 p.m. EDT. Qualifying for the eighth event on the 2009 Sprint Cup Series calendar is scheduled to take the green flag Fri., April 17 at 7:10 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 Chevy started out really tight. The first adjustment didn't do a whole lot but Gil (Martin, crew chief) made a good call during the first caution and got us headed in the right direction. We were in position for the Lucky Dog for about 30 laps in the middle of the race but never could get a caution. We're learned some things today with the air pressures that should help moving forward. We were good most of the day and just need to qualify better."