Mechanical Woes Plague Casey Mears and GEICO Team at Charlotte
Player Management International Media Release
CONCORD, N.C. (October 15, 2011) – Some tracks on the schedule are special for drivers and for Casey Mears, Charlotte Motor Speedway would definitely be on his list. Mears recorded his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at the North Carolina track in 2007 and the veteran driver had high hopes of continuing his success at the 1.5-mile oval. Unfortunately, fuel and engine issues plagued the GEICO Racing team in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 and relegated Mears to a 32nd-place finish.
“It’s disappointing because I really think our GEICO Toyota was one of the best cars we’ve had on mile-and-a-half tracks so far this season,” said Mears. “The fuel probe issues got us behind in the beginning of the race and once we got it fixed we were a handful of laps down. The guys on this No. 13 team never gave up, kept making the car better and trying strategy to gain us some track position. And then with only a few laps remaining, the engine blew which put us behind the wall early. Overall it was a tough night for us but we will head to Talladega.”
On Thursday night, Mears took to the track for his qualifying effort. After clocking a lap of 28.462 seconds (189.727 mph), the GEICO Toyota was placed in the 24th starting position for Saturday night’s event under the lights.
The green flag flew shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET and Mears quickly reported that the GEICO Camry was “tight through the center and needed more front grip.” With the race starting caution-free, teams were forced to start green flag pit stops around lap 40. Mears came to pit road on lap 43 for four tires, fuel, and air pressure adjustments. However, the car did not get full of fuel on the pit stop, forcing Mears to pit once again under green on lap 70.
The first caution came on lap 78 for debris in turn one, allowing Mears to take the wave around and receive one of his laps back. The GEICO driver was told under yellow that the Toyota was once again not full of fuel, due to an issue with the fuel probe. Once the field restarted on lap 82, Mears was scored in the 35th position.
On lap 99, Mears once again returned to pit road under green flag conditions to change out the fuel probe, allowing the car to properly take a full tank of fuel. Returning to the track in 36th-place, the California native continued to pilot the No. 13 GEICO Toyota and moved up four positions.
Throughout the final 200 laps, Mears and the GEICO team used strategy calls to gain a couple of laps, but with only a few cautions, the opportunities were limited. While running in the 31st position with only a handful laps remaining, the engine expired which forced the team to the garage earlier than expected. When the checkered flag flew to end the 334-lap event, Mears received a 32nd-place finish.
The GEICO Racing team will head to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for an action-packed race on Sunday, October 23rd. The Good Sam Club 500 will begin at 2 p.m. ET and can be seen live on ESPN. MRN Radio and Sirius XM Radio will also have the live radio broadcast.
To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.geicogarage.com
You can also follow GEICO Racing on Twitter: www.twitter.com/geicoracing
Please visit the Casey Mears Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/caseymearsracing