NASCAR Cup

Atlanta II: Casey Mears preview

TARGET TEAM FACTS: Atlanta Action: When Mears raced here in the spring it was only his fourth race of the season and the rookie was still learning. At that point in the season he was 27th in Winston Cup championship points and he was the ...

Published: Oct 23, 2003, 4:18 AM

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TARGET TEAM FACTS:

Atlanta Action:

When Mears raced here in the spring it was only his fourth race of the season and the rookie was still learning. At that point in the season he was 27th in Winston Cup championship points and he was the highest Raybestos Rookie. Mears started in the 33rd position and worked his way through the field for a 23rd place finish in the spring.

"We just keep progressing every weekend," Mears said after the race. "We came here and we were a little off on the setup for qualifying. I think if we started in the top-10 or top-15 then I think we could have run up there all day long. We had a good car. We keep improving every weekend. I've got so much to learn. How we're running now isn't a direct result of how we are going to run at the end of the year. We are going to improve throughout the year."

Target Dodge:

Team Target is taking chassis # 108 to Atlanta. This is the same car that placed 40th in Dover (accident) and 35th at Darlington.

Best Qualifying:

Mears' best qualifying effort this season was a fourth place starting position at Chicagoland Speedway.

Raybestos Rookie Teammates:

Casey Mears and Jamie McMurray are the first teammate rookies to compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. Mears currently sits in third place in rookie points while McMurray leads the points.

Leader:

Mears became the first 2003 rookie to lead a lap and the only rookie to lead a lap in the Daytona 500.

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