tool name
closeMears claims Windy City pole
Earnhardt merchandise on sale outside track
DAVID POOLE, dpoole@charlotteobserver.com
Friday, Jul. 13, 2007
JOLIET, Ill. - Casey Mears' Chevrolet moved fastest while Dale Earnhardt Jr. merchandise was priced to move fast Friday at Chicagoland Speedway.
Mears, who got his first Nextel Cup victory in his 156th career start in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway, ended a 105-race streak without a pole with a lap 182.556 mph. That gave him his first No. 1 starting spot since August 2004 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Mears lap bumped Martin Truex Jr. out of the No. 1 spot, denying Truex his first career Cup pole. Truex, in his 64th start, still earned his best career start with his lap at 182.476 mph.
On the track, Earnhardt Jr., Truex's teammate at Dale Earnhardt Inc., was fifth fastest at 182.272 mph behind Ryan Newman and Mark Martin.
Meanwhile outside the track, at the souvenir trailers surrounding this 1.5-mile facility about 50 miles from downtown Chicago, Earnhardt Jr. items were marked down 50 percent after it was confirmed that Budweiser will not sponsor his car at Hendrick Motorsports next year.
"I would have loved to continue working with Bud, but under the circumstances that's not a possibility," Earnhardt Jr. said after team owner Rick Hendrick said agreements already in place with sponsors for 2008 will "prevent us from having a relationship with Budweiser."
Earnhardt Jr. and Budweiser, which has been his primary sponsor since he came to the Cup Series in 2000, also will end a personal services contract following this season, which will be Earnhardt Jr.'s last in the No. 8 Chevrolets at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
"Our future is apart," he said. "But you don't have to pay me to drink the beer. I'll always drink it. ...The relationship I had with Budweiser is a huge chunk of my life and it will always be very memorable to me."
Earnhardt Jr. announced June 13 that he would drive for Hendrick next year. Primary sponsorship on that team remains undecided.
Tony Ponturo, vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch, said Budweiser, which has sponsored a car since 1983, will remain "an active sponsor" in NASCAR. Published reports have linked Evernham Motorsports and driver Kasey Kahne to a potential deal.
Earnhardt Jr. said he would still like to take the No. 8 with him to his new team. "But that's between the owners and obviously NASCAR," he said. "I don't have any influence, I reckon."
Mears made his move to the Hendrick team this season, and after getting that first win at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 he has now added a pole with his new team to two he won for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in back-to-back races at Pocono and Indy in 2004.
"When you start something new you want to do things right," Mears said. " Now we're in the all-star race and in the Bud Shootout next year."
Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, the three other Hendrick drivers this year, all wound up in the top 11 for Sunday's race. Busch was sixth, Johnson eighth and Gordon 11th. Clint Bowyer was seventh fastest with John Andretti ninth and Matt Kenseth 10th.
Dave Blaney, Paul Menard, Bill Elliott, Jeremy Mayfield, David Reutimann, Chad Chaffin, Michael Waltrip and Ward Burton all made the race on their speeds. Scott Riggs, Brian Vickers, Dale Jarrett, A.J. Allmendinger, Kevin Lepage and Kenny Wallace failed to make the field.
RACE: 4 p.m., Sunday
TV: TNT