Player Management International Media Release
Brooklyn, MI (August 28, 2016) - This weekend, Casey Mears and the Germain Racing team returned to Michigan International Speedway. They had high aspirations of making up for the lost opportunities during their June visit after a damaged rear gear cooler left them sidelined for part of the FireKeepers Casino 400.
For this weekend’s Pure Michigan 400, the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS would be sporting the experimental aerodynamic package, which, once again, reduced downforce for the entire field. After qualifying 28th on Friday, the team made the necessary corrections in the two subsequent practices, before being rained out early during Happy Hour.
Once the green flag waved on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Mears took advantage of his finely tuned No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS and gained six positions on the first two laps and landed in 22nd place. Soon after, Mears encountered handling issues in the corners that he would fight hard to overcome. Crew chief Bootie Barker advised him throughout the race to keep digging and to do what he could. Mears obliged, as he continued to pedal hard around the two-mile oval.
With long green flag runs occurring throughout the race, the veteran handled the car equipped with less down force as best as he could. “The biggest thing we fought was being really loose in, and then tight in the center, landing,” Mears said after the race. “We just had a hard time getting the loose-in situation dialed in. It seemed like if I got it in, it would be really tight in the center, so we had to compromise a little too much.”
The Germain Racing team never gave up, making effective adjustments to the GEICO Chevy as the race wound down. This allowed Mears to make a late push, gaining three positions over the final 25 laps of the 200-lap event to cross the finish line in 22nd place. “It seemed like everything on pit road went pretty well today. Overall, it was a solid day; we just needed a little more speed,” Mears added.
The next stop for Casey Mears and Germain Racing will be the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. This race will feature the much-anticipated special throwback paint schemes that fans have been looking forward to since the Sprint Cup Series departed the track a year ago. Mears is excited to be sporting the famed Smokey Yunick paint scheme. The race is on Sunday, September 4, 2016, and will be televised live on NBC at 6:00 PM (ET). The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast, along with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
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