Mears on the move: 18th at Watkins Glen and 20th in the point standings

Germain Racing arrived in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York on Friday looking to continue logging solid finishes. Casey Mears hit the track on Friday sitting 21st in the point standings, but flirted with the thought of breaking back into the top-20 with a strong run at Watkins Glen International.

 
Mears and his No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS darted off of the truck and shot straight to the top of the scoring tower, where they were the fifth fastest car at the conclusion of the weekend’  s opening practice session. Qualifying proved frustrating after a fellow driver inadvertently blocked the run of Mears in the first round, relegating him to 29th on Sunday’s starting grid.
 
Despite rolling off of pit road from the 29th position on Sunday, Mears  was seemingly unfazed and spoke only of the cars he would pass when the event got underway. The crafty veteran had his work cut out for him, but began collecting positions the moment the green flag started the second road course race of the 2015 season. He reached the top-20 by lap 24 and had ascended to the eighth position by lap 56.
 
As the race began to wind down, the caution flag made way for what would be the final restart of the day with 30 laps to go. After making a fuel-only pit stop under yellow, Mears took off from the 15th position on old tires, a strategy that would assist with track position. The Cheez-It 355 would go on a surprisingly long 30-lap green flag run to the checkered flag.
 
Over the final laps, Mears would hold on, despite battling competitors with fresh tires, and hustle to an 18th place finish at Watkins Glen International. Today’s result is Germain Racing’s 11th top-20 finish of the 2015 season and their sixth in the last nine races. With his solid performance, Mears also re-enters the top-20 in the point standings after a brief hiatus. A strong season to date, the single-car team of Germain Racing continues to command the attention of the Sprint Cup Series garage.
 
“It’s nice to get another top-20 finish and also to be back in the top-20 in the standings,” Mears said. “I’m proud of the guys on this GEICO team and I’m appreciative of the work they did on pit road today. We executed well and got a decent finish. We’re looking forward to getting to Michigan and getting on the track. We’ve done a nice job this year of gaining some consistency in our on-track performance, so next week is another opportunity for us to keep moving forward.”
 
Next week, Germain Racing will return to the Irish Hills of Michigan for the second time this season. They recorded a 13th place finish during their visit in June.
                                                     
Casey Mears and the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS will hit the track at Michigan International Speedway for the weekend’s opening practice session on Friday, August 14th, at 11:00 AM (ET). Qualifying will follow at 5:05 PM (ET) live on NBC Sports.

PMI PR