Mears’ gasoline gamble pays off with Coca-Cola 600 victory

Tony Stewart’s stop for a little gas paved the way for the struggling Hendrick driver.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — With his job presumably on the line, Casey Mears stretched his fuel to the finish line Sunday night to win the Coca-Cola 600 for his first Nextel Cup victory.

Mears, struggling through his first season at elite Hendrick Motorsports, ran strong all night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, but only took the lead when Tony Stewart ducked onto pit road for a splash of gas.

Mears and his team gambled and pushed their Chevrolet to the finish, running out of gas moments after he took his first checkered flag. It was Hendrick’s fifth straight win and the ninth in the past 10 Nextel Cup races, but came from the unlikeliest driver.

And it put a Mears back in Victory Lane on the biggest day in racing for the first time in 16 years. Mears is the nephew of Rick Mears, a four-time Indianapolis 500 champion.

Overwhelmed

Mears seemed overwhelmed during the celebration, and needed a moment to make sure it was real.

“Actually, let me look at this for a second,” he said, turning to look at the scoring tower.

J.J. Yeley, like Mears considered one of the drivers in jeopardy of losing their ride to make room for free agent Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished second for the first-top five finish of his career.

Kyle Petty was third — his first top five in 10 years — and quickly praised Mears, who was friends with Petty’s late son, Adam.

“I couldn’t be more excited for Casey Mears if his name was Adam Petty,” Petty said. “I am tickled to death for Casey Mears. I want to tell you something: That kid got what he deserved tonight. I want to say, on the record, a lot of great things are going to come for that kid.”

Reed Sorenson was fourth, and Brian Vickers was fifth in the highest finish this season for Toyota.

In fact, the top five all celebrated their best result of the year.

Giveaway

Stewart, who seemed to have the win in the bag after Jimmie Johnson gave it away in the pits, wound up sixth after figuring he was two laps short on fuel and had to make a late stop.

“I don’t know I’m just a driver. I don’t calculate fuel,” he grumbled. It’s at least the fourth time this season Stewart lost a win he seemingly had in the bag.

Ricky Rudd was seventh, followed by Earnhardt and Denny Hamlin. Johnson, who came into the event with five wins in the past eight races, wound up 10th after his crew dropped a lug nut during a pit stop with 62 laps remaining.

Johnson had led 82 laps and was out front when he brought the field into the pits. But his Hendrick crew made a rare mistake while changing his tires, lost time scooping up the dropped part, and Johnson came out of the stop in 10th place.

Flawless stop

Stewart, meanwhile, had a flawless stop and came out of the pits in first. He led Mears and Earnhardt on the restart with 59 laps to go, and it should have been smooth sailing from there.

But like almost all the other teams, Stewart worried he wouldn’t have enough gas to make it to the finish line. He was one of the last drivers to surrender and head down pit road for a splash of gas, and it put Mears out front.

Crew chief Darian Grubb coaxed Mears to take it easy on the gas pedal and make it to the finish line.

“It was an excellent call — he told me to conserve fuel,” Mears said. “That was our game plan. We were a third-place car, a fourth-place car at best, and it was the only way to win.

“I can’t believe I’m sitting here right now.”