MEARS AT DOVER: Casey Mears has competed in 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, posting a career-best finish of sixth there last September. Mears also posted a top-10 finish at the one-mile track in September 2005.
MONSTER STARS: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet has earned four top-five finishes in six starts at the Dover concrete oval. In 2005, the No. 5 team earned runner-up results in both Sprint Cup races there.
CHASSIS 414: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-414 for this Sunday’s race at Dover. Chassis 5-414 was raced earlier this year at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
TESTING CONTINUES: The Kellogg’s/CARQUEST team is participating in the Sprint Cup Series testing session at Pocono Raceway this week. The team also will continue to fine-tune its road-racing package at Virginia International Raceway on Tuesday, June 3. It will test the following week at The Milwaukee (Wis.) Mile.
HENDRICK AT DOVER: In 48 races at Dover, Hendrick Motorsports has posted 10 wins, 35 top-five finishes and 61 top-10s. The organization has posted six pole positions, three of which happened in the last four years. Jimmie Johnson earned Hendrick’s most recent win there on Sept. 25, 2005. The No. 5 Chevrolet trailed Johnson by .080 seconds to take the runner-up spot.
STREAK INTACT: Hendrick Motorsports’ streak of top-10 finishes improved to 77 Sprint Cup races after Sunday’s event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway when Jeff Gordon took fourth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. nabbed fifth. The last time a Hendrick driver wasn’t in the top 10 was April 9, 2006. Finishing 11th, Johnson was Hendrick’s top performer that day at Texas Motor Speedway.
CASEY MEARS, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON POSTING HIS BEST FINISH AT DOVER LAST YEAR.): “We actually struggled throughout that race last year. We fell a lap down at one point, but the team made some really good calls and got us back onto the lead lap late in the race. The changes we made throughout the race really helped, too. The handling was just so good there at the end that we were able to make up a lot of positions.”
MEARS (ON IF HE PREFERS CONCRETE OR ASPHALT RACETRACKS.): “Asphalt, but only because it has more grip. I have a lot of fun racing on both surfaces though. I guess asphalt is just easier because that’s what we race on 95 percent of the time.”
MEARS (ON HIS TWO WEEKS AT HOME IN CHARLOTTE.): “Man, I felt like we never stopped the past two weeks. I got to sleep in my own bed, which was a perk. But, those two weeks are so full of sponsor commitments and appearances. It’s crazy, but good crazy. I’m ready to get back on the road though, just to get a break (LAUGHS).”
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON THE NO. 5 TEAM’S SUCCESS AT DOVER.): “We, as a company, have always taken good cars to Dover and, in turn, have experienced a lot of success there. In 2005 Hendrick Motorsports held a test there and that really helped us to understand the track. Dover is an extremely specific racetrack. There are little things that we can learn, as a team, that will always help, no matter how the car changes. Hendrick Motorsports has done a great job of figuring those little things out.”
GUSTAFSON (ON IF HE PREFERS CONCRETE OR ASPHALT RACETRACKS.): “Concrete. Actually, it’s hard for me to pick one over the other. But, concrete is a very consistent surface. There’s usually no repaving either, which is part of the problems we continue to encounter in this series, with tire issues and speed issues. Asphalt is smoother, though, which can be good or not good. Asphalt tracks can make the car’s setup a little easier, but it’s bad because it generates so much more speed. Concrete is just more consistent. Don’t get me wrong, though, the handling of the car still changes throughout the race. But it’s mostly because the surface changes from tire build up, not from temperature increases.”
GUSTAFSON (ON PIT ROAD AT DOVER.): “Pit road is extremely narrow at Dover. The pit boxes are small, too. And, it’s one of the few tracks we go to that has a wall between pit road and the front stretch. If someone pulls out of their pit box in front of you, there’s nowhere to go. You just slam on the brakes and hope you don’t hit them. I think a lot of drivers have issues entering pit road, too, because the transition from the steep banking to the flat entrance is so drastic. With all of that said, pit selection is really important.”
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