Mears rides fumes to Coca-Cola victory
CONCORD, N.C. -- Because of the year-long dominance of Hendrick Motorsports, it was only a formality that one of the four vehicles with the bright yellow digits would have the
It just wasn't the car everyone expected.
Jeff Gordon (three wins this season) and his No. 24 hauler beat traffic out of the track, knocked out of the race early when a cringe-inducing wreck -- the points leader called it spectacular -- lifted his Chevrolet into the air, courtesy of a collision with A.J. Allmendinger.
Jimmie Johnson (four victories in 2006), who has five career wins at Lowe's Motor Speedway's 1.5-mile track, suffered a miscue on pit road, came back to his stall for a late splash-and-go, and returned to claim 10th place.
Kyle Busch (one win this year) fought tire issues and finished 30th.
So it was left to Casey Mears, the also-ran of the Hendrick garage, to come through for his owner. Mears, who landed at Hendrick after leaving Chip Ganassi Racing last season, scored his first career win last night, crossing the start/finish line with mere drops in his tank -- he couldn't even perform the traditional burnout, running out of gas soon after retrieving the checkered flag.
Before last night, the first-year Hendrick driver was better known for his iconic surname. He is the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, who last chugged from the milk bottle in Indy in 1991, and the son of Roger Mears.
But now the 28-year-old driver of the No. 25 Chevrolet has a pedigree of his own.
"My uncle won four races on this day, so it's a special day because of that," said Mears. "It's unbelievable. My family's had an unbelievable history in racing. But I always wanted to make my mark in history with my family. I've got a long ways to go and a lot of races to run. But this sure feels good to come home with the win today."
Mears didn't have a flawless car. Early in the race, the alternator went dead, forcing the team to swap out the battery during a pit stop.
It looked like yet another stumble for Mears and his team, which entered the race 35th in the standings. Had he dropped one more position, Mears would have had to qualify for following races on speed, facing the real possibility of being sent home from future events.
"We've had a lot of mishaps and failures," said crew chief Darian Grubb. "It's put us back in points. But guys don't give up. Nobody gives up. We keep fighting."
Mears couldn't have challenged for the checkered without the help of Grubb. Late in the race, the gas burned out of the tanks of the leading cars, including the No. 25 of Mears. One by one, the favorites ducked onto pit road for splash-and-go refills. Johnson. Tony Stewart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. All drivers with winning cars that just didn't have enough
When Grubb pecked the numbers into his calculator, he determined the No. 25 was approximately half a lap short of reaching the start/finish.
Grubb relayed the news on the radio to Mears, who feared his crew chief would say the words he didn't want to hear:
Come in for gas.
Grubb didn't. Instead, he gambled, instructing his driver to ease off the accelerator and save fuel. Mears, elated to get the stay-on-the-track order from his boss, was happy to oblige.
J.J. Yeley was in Mears's mirror, but the No. 18 couldn't get close enough to mount a late-race challenge and finished second. So when Mears rolled off Turn 4 and knew he was going to grab his first win, he unleashed yells loud enough to drown out his 850-horsepower engine.
"It makes me proud as a crew chief," said Grubb. "We've got an entire team and organization backing us up.
"It's unbelievable to go out and feel that. It's not that it's not special just being in Victory Lane. But it's that much more special because it's Casey's first win and it's our first win together. We earned it."
Mears climbed to 29th in the standings. Despite his wreck, Gordon is still atop the leaderboard, 132 points ahead of Johnson.
And so the Hendrick dominance continues, with each team now having claimed at least one win this season -- perhaps none bigger than the career-defining victory that came last night.
"I couldn't be more excited for Casey Mears," said third-place finisher Kyle Petty. "I'm tickled to death for Casey Mears. That kid is a great racecar driver. He's very underrated. He jumped into Hendrick and struggled a lot this year, but that kid got what he deserved tonight. There's going to be a lot of great things from him.
"He's going to be someone to be reckoned with."
