Casey Mears: "I'd rather wreck than finish 30th. We tried, and we wrecked." Credit: Autostock

Mears' promising run ends in hard crash

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Casey Mears felt a tire going down as NASCAR was signaling one lap to go until a restart late in the Checker Auto Parts 500.

But Mears wouldn't make any breakneck moves to pit road. He was sitting in third place behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, and that would have been his best career finish.

CHECKER AUTO PARTS 500 •   Results •   Standings VIDEO Victory Lane Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates his sixth win of 2004 Desert heat Harvick and Kahne get together after the race is over Final laps Two late cautions set up a three-lap sprint to the finish Double trouble Kenseth blows an engine for second week in a row Sadler in the wall Elliott Sadler cuts a tire and hits the wall on Lap 154 Bang-up job Several cars spin and crash on lap 128 Rim riding Kenseth blows a tire, bringing out the second caution

Besides, Mears figured he still had a chance at winning. So coming in to change a flat tire wasn't on Mears' agenda.

"I didn't really notice it until we were going into (Turns) 1 and 2 to restart the race," Mears said. "All the other cars were lined up on the inside. There really wasn't a good opportunity to get in the pits. We probably could have, but the way I look at it is, we're 22nd in points and had a lot of bad luck this year. I just wanted to bring the Target car home in the top five.

"I figured, 'Shoot, if we wreck, who cares? If we can finish in the top five, that'd be great.'"

He wrecked. Five laps later, on Lap 308, the left-rear tire went completely flat, leaving Mears totally out of control and spinning up the track and into the Turn 1 wall.

The car was junk, and Mears ended up 34th. But at this point in the season, that didn't seem to matter. A late-season slump pushed Mears back to 22nd in points, so a bad finish wasn't a big deal.

The good run, however, was. And that's what Mears will remember about this trip to Phoenix International Raceway.

"We've been hot and cold," Mears said. "That's been part of a learning year. Last year was an initiation year. Nothing went right. We just got pummeled by everybody.

"This year, we've actually ran good, but we've had our good races and our bad races. This weekend was a good race."

Mears didn't lead a lap, but his car was in the mix for the victory in the last half of the race.

Casey Mears Credit: Autostock

Mears was second behind Gordon on a restart with 19 laps remaining, but Earnhardt Jr. was on his way to the front -- and let Mears know it.

"I wasn't quite up to speed yet, and he ran into my left-rear and then carried me in my left-rear for a long time," Mears said. "I don't know if that's what flattened the tire. I'm not sure. But I'd have to say it would be a good reason."

The tire didn't go flat immediately, and Mears stayed in contention. Even after feeling the tire losing air under another caution, Mears stayed in the gas.

"What's weird is the left-rear was flat the whole time," Mears said. "We were out of control, and we were catching the 24. I thought we would have passed him, and if we could've hung on to it, we probably would've ended up second."

Instead, Mears' day ended against the wall.

"I'd rather wreck than finish 30th," Mears said. "We tried, and we wrecked."

But Sunday's good run bodes well for the final two races of 2004 and for 2005, too.

"We tried to hang on, and we ended up wrecking," Mears said. "I hate it because it was a good car, but I had fun today. We ran real well. I think this is showing what's going to come in the future. This isn't our year. We're going to go get 'em next year, for sure."