MEARS & GEICO TEAM FINISH STRONG AT SEASON FINALE IN HOMESTEAD

Player Management International Media Release

Homestead, FL (November 20, 2016) – Germain Racing has taken the month of November by the horns.  After having a fast car at Texas Motor Speedway, Casey Mears and company went to Phoenix and collected a top-20 result after finishing 18th.  With just a single race remaining on the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, the GEICO team looked to continue turning around an otherwise challenging season when they pulled into Homestead-Miami Speedway and hit the track on Friday.    

In the final qualifying session of the season on Friday, Mears advanced to the second round and notched a 23rd place starting position.  He wheeled the GEICO Chevy around the 1.5-mile oval in just 30.862-seconds, at a speed of 174.972-miles per hour.

Starting 23rd, Mears almost immediately encountered a brake issue when the green flag turned the field loose for the final time in 2016.  He dropped nine positions in as many laps and struggled to maintain control of his GEICO Chevy.  The Germain Racing crew took advantage of the pit stops throughout the race and made the necessary changes.  Mears quickly charged forward, gathering lost positions before landing in the top-20 on lap 140. 

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on the line, business would pick up quickly as the race wound down.  On lap 258 of a scheduled 267, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano got together, causing a crash that blanketed a large portion of the racing surface.  A quick-thinking Mears dashed down to pit lane and narrowly avoided near certain-peril, sparing his No. 13 GEICO Chevy and leaving him in position to score a solid finish.

The race would ultimately be settled in overtime and Mears would record an 18th place finish when the checkered flag brought a busy night of racing to a halt.  The result was Mears’ second top-20 in two weeks. 

“We’ve had a really tough year, so it’s nice to be able to somewhat turn it around and have three good weeks of racing,” Mears said.  “The GEICO Chevy was tough at first tonight, but the crew was able to make some changes, which allowed us to get going and make up a lot of lost ground.  It’s good to get a solid finish as we head into the off-season.  I appreciate the support of GEICO, Duracell and all of our partners; and I appreciate Bob Germain and his commitment to the team.”

Germain Racing will enjoy a winter break before returning to action in Daytona.

The Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is on Sunday, February 26, 2017, and it will be televised live on FOX beginning at 2:00 PM (ET).  The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast, along with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Please visit www.GEICO.com to learn about how you can save money on more than just auto insurance.

To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.caseymearsracing.com

You can also follow GEICO Racing on Twitter: www.twitter.com/geicoracing

To learn more about Duracell, please visit: www.duracell.com

To learn more about Germain Racing, please visit: www.germainracing.com