Earnhardt-Childress Racing to supply engines to No. 90

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Keyed-Up Motorsports announced Thursday that it has formed an alliance with Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines to supply the No. 90 Chevrolet and driver Casey Mears with horsepower for the remainder of the 2010 Cup Series schedule.

Mears

ECR develops and builds engines for its Chevrolet Cup and Nationwide teams and also leases engines for teams in NASCAR's top three series. ECR engines dominated at Daytona earlier this season, as ECR engines were used by Nationwide race winner Tony Stewart, Shootout winner Kevin Harvick, and Daytona 500 race winner Jamie McMurray. The season's second Cup race at Fontana saw ECR engines take the top three starting spots, with McMurray on the pole.

"This is a huge step in the right direction to be competitive," Mears said. "We still have a lot of short-term work to do to accomplish our goals, but this gives us more of an advantage to making races."

"We ran an ECR engine in the Gatorade Duel race back in February and we were very competitive amongst the multi-car teams," owner Raymond Key said. "We utilized another company's engines following Daytona, and after failing to make the last three races, we decided to make some serious adjustments. Our engine program was high on our list."