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Coca-Cola 600 - Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Mears Stretches Fuel to Reach First NEXTEL Cup Win
Casey Mears gambled and won Sunday night.
Crew chief Darian Grubb’s fuel-mileage call in the closing laps of the Coca- Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway propelled the No. 25 National Guard Chevrolet into victory lane in NASCAR’s longest event.
Though it was Mears’ first win in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, it extended the dominance of Hendrick Motorsports to nine victories in 12 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races this season.
“We were a third-place car, a fourth-place car at best, and that was the only way to win it,” said an elated Mears.
The top five finishers all stayed on the track while the front-runners pitted for splashes of fuel in the final 10 circuits, but Mears and Grubb believed they could finish the race without coming to pit road.
After he crossed the finish line, the engine in Mears’ Chevy began to sputter on the cool-down lap.
J.J. Yeley finished second to post the best result of his career.
Kyle Petty, who won the 600 in 1987, ran third, followed by Reed Sorenson and Brian Vickers, who gave Toyota its best finish of the season.
Tony Stewart, who pitted from the lead for fuel on Lap 393 of 400, was sixth. Ricky Rudd was seventh, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson, who lost the lead because of a lug nut
problem in the pits on Lap 338.
Thanks to Johnson’s problem, Stewart inherited the lead for a restart on Lap 342 and pushed his advantage to more than two seconds before coming to the pits for fuel. Earnhardt and Hamlin followed him to pit road on subsequent laps, as none of those drivers had enough fuel to finish the final 59-lap green-flag run.
Hendrick Motorsports has won nine of the past 10 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races, and Chevrolet drivers have claimed victory in 11 of the 12 events this season.
The Rocketman Captures Coca-Cola 600 Pole Position
The Rocketman is back. From the site where he captured his first career pole in 2001, Ryan Newman won the Bud Pole for the Coca-Cola 600 with a lap of 29.140 seconds, at an average speed of 185.312 mph. This is his 39th Bud Pole in 200 career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races. This is just his second top-10 start in 2007 – both Bud Poles. He also won the Bud Pole at Atlanta. This is Newman’s sixth Bud Pole at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He has 11 top-10 starts in 13 races at
Lowe’s – all forth or better.
Teammate Kurt Busch posted a lap of 29.179 seconds, 185.065 mph to join Newman in an all-Penske Racing
South front row. It is just his second top-10 start in 14 races at Lowe’s.
Elliott Sadler (third) completed a sweep of the top three positions for Dodge.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (fourth) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2007.
Dave Blaney (eighth) was the fastest of the drivers required to qualify on time as all four
manufacturers posted top-10 starting positions.
Bill Elliott qualified the Wood Brothers' No. 21 Ford Fusion in the 22nd position, this is Elliott's first NEXTEL Cup start since Homestead - Nov. 19, 2006.
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