Mears, Jack Daniel’s Team Finish 15th at Kansas Speedway

Race/Date: Price Chopper 400 – October 4, 2009 - Venue: Kansas Speedway – 
Kansas City, Kan. - Starting Position: 36th - Finishing Position: 15th - Points Position: 19th (maintained position)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Casey Mears and the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s team earned their 10th top-15 finish of the 2009 season in Saturday’s Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway.

The strong effort allowed the Richard Childress Racing team to maintain 19th in the championship point standings, with seven races remaining in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

The Todd Berrier-led crew didn’t start the weekend as they would have hoped. Mears was 34th-fastest following Friday’s first practice session and followed that up with a less-than-desired qualifying effort of 36th.

On Saturday, after adjustments were made to the black and white Chevrolet, Mears showed consistent speeds as he registered the 11th- and 19th-fastest times in the day’s dual practice sessions. Mr. Jack’s crew was confident their efforts in the final two practice sessions would transfer over to Sunday’s race.

Sunny skies greeted an estimated 100,000 race fans at Kansas as the 43-car field took the green flag to start the 267-lap affair. Mears started on the outside of row 18 and showed patience in the opening half of the race.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native methodically worked his way into the top 25 by lap 75, but his forward progress didn’t stop there. By lap 110, Mears was a mainstay in the top 15 and the No. 07 Chevrolet was laying down lap times comparable to competitors in the top 10.

The afternoon’s fifth caution occurred, on lap 146, bringing the field down pit road. Berrier called for a right-side tire pit stop in order to gain track position and, as a result, Mears picked up four spots and restarted eighth on lap 151.

A long green-flag run ensued and Mears was able to keep his RCR-prepared machine locked in the top 10. During this time, the 31-year-old driver began conserving fuel, which would allow him to make it to the end of the race with only one final pit stop.

Scheduled green-flag pit stops began on lap 202, but Mears pushed his fuel cell to lap 208 before making what would have been his final stop of the afternoon. While the No. 07 was scored 14th, 30 laps later, oil was spotted on the track, forcing NASCAR to display the final yellow flag of the day.

The leaders hit pit road during the ensuing caution period and quick pit work by the Jack Daniel’s over-the-wall crew allowed Mears to maintain 13th for the lap-241 restart.

Mears battled hard over the final 26 laps, but lost two spots to take the checkered flag 15th.

Tony Stewart edged Jeff Gordon to the line by .894 second and clinched Chevrolet’s 33rd NSCS manufacturer’s championship. Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five finishers.

Mears’ RCR teammates Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick finished 21st, 23rd and 24th, respectively.

Next weekend, NASCAR’s senior circuit heads to Mears’ home state of California for the 500-mile Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.

ABC’s live coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, October 11. The race will also be broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio beginning at 3:15 p.m. EDT. Qualifying for the 30th event of the 2009 NSCS season will air live on SPEED on Friday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will also air live updates of time trials.

Casey Mears Quotes:

"It was a good day for the Jack Daniel's team, but I think we were better than where we ended up. At times, our Chevrolet showed speeds similar to guys in the top 10 and top five, and I felt that's where we should have finished. At the end of the race, we were a little too tight and lost some spots, but our program is definitely showing signs of improvement. We'll try to build on this 15th-place finish next weekend in California."