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BUSCH: Sparta: Casey Mears preview

Casey Mears No. 66 Phillips 66 Dodge Intrepid NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division June 15, 2002 - Kentucky Speedway Race Information Saturday, June 15, 2002 Kroger 300 Kentucky Speedway Track Size: 1.5-mile oval Laps: 200 Miles: 300 TV: ...

Edited: Apr 16, 2008, 12:40 AM

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Casey Mears
No. 66 Phillips 66 Dodge Intrepid
NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division
June 15, 2002 - Kentucky Speedway

Race Information
Saturday, June 15, 2002
Kroger 300
Kentucky Speedway
Track Size: 1.5-mile oval
Laps: 200
Miles: 300
TV: FX- 8 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN- 8 p.m. ET

Notes & Quotes
The Equipment... "Brutus" is the car the Phillips 66 team will compete with this weekend in the "Kroger 300" at Kentucky Speedway. "Brutus" made its last appearance at California Speedway in April. "Brutus" is also the same car the team tested at Kentucky Speedway with in May.

A Top-10 Finish... Casey Mears and the Phillips 66 team scored their second top-10 finish of the season last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway with their 10th-place performance.

A Good Start... The Phillips 66 team scored its best qualifying effort of the season last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway with a second-place start. Mears missed the pole position by .014 seconds.

Going Back Home... Crew chief Donnie Richeson, who currently resides in North Carolina, was born and raised 200 miles from Kentucky Speedway in Owensboro, Ky. The 1999 season served as Richeson's first full season as crew chief for the No. 66 Busch Series entry. Since then, Richeson has amassed one win, 28 top-five and 46 top-10 finishes.

Casey Mears' Thoughts On The Team's 10th-Place Finish At Nashville Last Weekend... "By far Nashville was our best overall performance of the season. It feels really good to finally have had a problem free race weekend and to get a good finish for everyone involved with this team. We accomplished what we know we're capable of week in and week out."

Casey Mears' Thoughts On The Team's Test At Kentucky Speedway... "I felt like we had a pretty successful test there in May. We made gains the entire time we were there and the car was fairly well balanced. In terms of our lap times there during the test, we don't really know how we stacked up because there was only one other team there with us. Hopefully we'll be fast, but we won't really know until we get there."

Crew Chief Donnie Richeson's Thoughts On Kentucky Speedway... "I'd compare Kentucky Speedway to Las Vegas a little bit. The shape of the track is similar to Las Vegas and the speeds are close as well. The preferred line in the corners is around the bottom, but I think once we get some rubber laid down you'll see cars run two wide in the corners."

-wjm-

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