Casey Mears Continues Roll, Gets Pole in Chicago
Casey Mears continues his run this past month or so, grabbing the pole for this year’s race in Chicago, the USG Sheetrock 400. Mears bumped Martin Truex Jr. late, on what would have been his first career pole, Ryan Newman, who said there is already a second groove out there, qualified third, Mark Martin qualified fourth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified in the fifth position.
It was Mears’ third career pole, and the latest in a series of benchmarks that indicate improvement for the 29-year-old nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears.
Mears joined the elite Hendrick Motorsports team this year and won his first career race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May.
And Mears said he got a little boost in qualifying on Friday when a cloud floated over Turns 3 and 4 during his lap to cool off the track and make it slightly less slippery.
Can one cloud really help a driver go faster in qualifying?
“Whether it’s in my head or there’s grip on the track, I always go faster when there’s a cloud out,” Mears said. Source: Surging Mears edges Truex for pole position at Chicago
Michael Waltrip qualified for only his fourth race of the year, qualifying in the 28th position. Here is how they qualified:
1 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 182.556 29.580 Leader
2 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 182.476 29.593 -0.013
3 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Mobil 1 182.463 29.595 -0.015
4 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 182.297 29.622 -0.042
5 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 182.272 29.626 -0.046
6 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 181.885 29.689 -0.109
7 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 181.653 29.727 -0.147
8 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 181.580 29.739 -0.159
9 45 John Andretti Dodge National Tire & Battery 181.427 29.764 -0.184
10 17 Matt Kenseth Ford USG Sheetrock 181.409 29.767 -0.187
11 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Nicorette / DuPont 181.330 29.780 -0.200
12 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 181.263 29.791 -0.211
13 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Express 181.226 29.797 -0.217
14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 181.147 29.810 -0.230
15 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 181.038 29.828 -0.248
16 15 Paul Menard* Chevrolet Turtle Wax Ice / Menards 180.959 29.841 -0.261
17 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 180.808 29.866 -0.286
18 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Yellow Trans. 180.693 29.885 -0.305
19 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 180.638 29.894 -0.314
20 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 360 OTC 180.632 29.895 -0.315
21 00 David Reutimann* Toyota Burger King 180.602 29.900 -0.320
22 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 180.536 29.911 -0.331
23 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 180.463 29.923 -0.343
24 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 180.319 29.947 -0.367
25 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 180.312 29.948 -0.368
26 49 Chad Chaffin Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America 180.210 29.965 -0.385
27 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet CertainTeed 180.198 29.967 -0.387
28 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 180.174 29.971 -0.391
29 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Comcast 180.150 29.975 -0.395
30 42 Juan Montoya* Dodge Wrigley’s Big Red 179.910 30.015 -0.435
31 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 179.874 30.021 -0.441
32 6 David Ragan* Ford AAA Insurance 179.850 30.025 -0.445
33 16 Greg Biffle Ford Aflac 179.778 30.037 -0.457
34 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 179.671 30.055 -0.475
35 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 179.653 30.058 -0.478
36 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 179.563 30.073 -0.493
37 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management 179.444 30.093 -0.513
38 40 David Stremme Dodge TUMS 179.354 30.108 -0.528
39 7 Robby Gordon+ Ford Jim Beam 178.749 30.210 -0.630
40 96 Tony Raines+ Chevrolet DLP HDTV 178.731 30.213 -0.633
41 88 Ricky Rudd+ Ford Pedigree 178.601 30.235 -0.655
42 38 David Gilliland+ Ford M&M’s 178.182 30.306 -0.726
43 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet Lucas Oil / State Water Heaters 179.581 30.070 -0.490
Here are the cars that did not qualify:
44 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Stanley Tools / Valvoline 179.134 30.145 -0.565
45 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 178.980 30.171 -0.591
46 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 178.766 30.207 -0.627
47 84 A.J. Allmendinger* Toyota Red Bull 178.642 30.228 -0.648
48 37 Kevin Lepage Dodge Front Row Motorsports 178.353 30.277 -0.697
49 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 178.200 30.303 -0.723
