FAST-PACED MEARS SLOWED BY LATE-RACE CRASH AT TEXAS

Player Management International Media Release

Fort Worth, TX (November 6, 2016) – With just three races remaining on the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, Casey Mears and Germain Racing blew into the Lone Star State looking to finish strong as the season continues to wind down.  The weekend started off as planned, with Mears hustling around Texas Motor Speedway at a blistering pace, turning in fast speeds in both practice and qualifying.

When practice got underway on Friday, an expeditious Mears zipped around the 1.5-mile oval quick enough to place his No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet SS 10th on the speed chart when the session came to a close.  He continued turning heads when Sprint Cup Series qualifying got underway on Friday evening.  The speedy veteran traveled around the north Texas facility in a prompt 28.238-seconds, at a speed of 191.232-miles per hour, advancing to the second round and landing his GEICO Military Chevy 13th on Sunday’s starting grid.

Before Sunday’s race would see a green flag, it would first be forced to endure a six-hour rain delay that turned the afternoon event into a night race.  When things got started under dark skies and bright lights, Mears and his No. 13 GEICO Military Chevy set sail from the 13th position.  With rain moving toward the Fort Worth area, teams were uncertain if they would see the completion of the full 334-laps/501-miles.

While Mears made immediate progress, his GEICO Military Chevy became tight, which left him at odds with his racecar.  The Germain Racing pit crew would later make adjustments that freed up the car and allowed Mears to regain speed and begin gathering up lost real estate.

Unfortunately, misfortune would strike with just 71 laps left in the advertised distance.  Kevin Harvick made contact with the No. 3 car of Austin Dillon, causing a chain reaction that saw the No. 44 car of Brian Scott slam into the rear of Mears’ GEICO Military Chevrolet SS, sending him hard into the grass.  The contact with the infield grass caused the destruction of the frontend of Mears No. 13 machine and forced him to the garage where he would remain for the balance of the evening.  When rain ultimately halted the racing action 293 laps into the scheduled 334, Mears was credited with a 39th place finish.

“The GEICO Military Chevy was pretty fast all weekend, but we got really tight there at the beginning of the race, which set us back quite a bit,” Mears said.  “We were able to get it freed up and were fast from time to time.  I thought we were going to be able to get a solid finish, but when the 4 (Harvick) and 3 (A. Dillon) got together, everyone checked up and I got drilled by the 44 car (Scott).  It was a tough way to end the weekend, but it was great to run the GEICO Military paint scheme and also have Duracell Military on our decklid and pay tribute to our service members as we head into Veteran’s Day weekend at Phoenix.”

Mears and Germain Racing will now head west to Phoenix, Arizona, for race number 34 of 36 of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Casey Mears and the No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet SS will hit the track at Phoenix International Raceway for the weekend’s opening practice session on Friday, November 11th, at 1:30 PM (ET).  Qualifying will follow at 6:45 PM (ET).

The Can-Am 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is on Sunday, November 13th, and it will be televised live on NBC beginning at 2:30 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 how you could 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

TIRE FAILURE NO MATCH FOR PERSISTENT MEARS; BATTLES TO 21ST AT MARTINSVILLE

Player Management International Media Release

RIDGEWAY, Va. (October 30, 2016) – After Casey Mears fell victim to a crash at Talladega Superspeedway a week ago, the Germain Racing team was optimistic heading to Martinsville Speedway. Statistically, over the last few seasons, the shortest track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule has been one of Mears and Germain Racing’s best tracks; and the team looked to capitalize on their past success at the .526-mile paperclip-shaped track. After knocking on the door of the top-10, Mears suffered a flat right front tire, forcing the GEICO Chevrolet to pit road under green. Despite the tire failure and a broken sway bar as a result of the blown tire, Mears battled to cross the finish the line in the 21st position.

Under sunny skies and the warmest temperatures in years for the fall event at the Virginia short track, Mears took off from the 26th starting position and quickly embarked on his journey through the field. Within the opening 30 laps, he entered the top-20 and by lap 48, the veteran driver arrived in the top-15. Even though the GEICO Chevrolet was “loose on entry,” Mears continued his march forward and passed Tony Stewart to take over the 14th position on lap 55. During the middle portion of the 500-lap event, the No. 13 continued to consistently run inside the top-20 while long green flag runs ensued.

Unfortunately, misfortune would strike on lap 308, as the right front tire on the GEICO Chevrolet would fail, causing Mears to pit under green flag conditions. In addition, when the tire failed, the sway bar broke, causing the splitter to hit the ground abruptly on each subsequent lap. The fifth and final caution slowed the pace on lap 358, allowing Mears to return to pit road. The Germain pit crew provided him with fresh tires, fuel and a packer adjustment to help alleviate the issues, since the sway bar could not be fixed without going behind the wall for repairs.

Despite the final 113 laps being uncharacteristically caution-free and Mears continuing his drive with a broken sway bar, the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet crossed the finish line in the 21st position.

“Our GEICO Chevrolet was a little off early in runs, but once we got going, the car definitely got better,” said Mears. “It’s unfortunate we had that tire go down and broke the sway bar as a result, because we were running strong all day up until that point. We kept pushing through the issues though and were able to come home with a solid finish considering what we were up against. We will head to Texas and try to finish the year out strong.”

With three races remaining in the 2016 season, the Sprint Cup Series now heads to the Lone Star State for racing in Fort Worth, Texas. Mears and the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS will hit the track at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, November 4th for opening practice at12:30PM ET. Qualifying will follow at 6:45PM ET.

The AAA Texas 500 will take place on Sunday, November 6th, with NBC carrying live television coverage beginning at 2PM ET. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio channel 90 will also have the live radio broadcast.

Please visit www.GEICO.com to learn how you could 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

MEARS COLLECTED IN CRASH AFTER RUNNING UP FRONT AT TALLADEGA

Player Management International Media Release

Talladega, AL (October 23, 2016) – Casey Mears is one of the most talented restrictor-plate racers in the sport of NASCAR, as evidenced by his prior results at both Daytona and Talladega.  As the GEICO driver entered Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the season’s fourth and final plate race, his strategy was to get to the front and have an opportunity to race for the win in the closing laps.  All was well until lap 115 saw Mears fall victim to crashing racecars, which ultimately landed him in the garage after an early exit from the 188-lap event.

When the weekend’s opening practice got underway on Friday, Mears settled in quickly, placing his GEICO Chevy 12th on the scoring tower by the close of the session.  A fully confident Germain Racing chose to pass on their participation in final practice and instead set their sights on qualifying, along with Sunday’s race.

On Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series field was greeted by blue skies, bright sunshine and grandstands packed with fans.  Mears started the Hellmann’s 500 from the 28th position, but immediately began making his way through the field.  He promptly navigated the No. 13 GEICO Chevy into the top-10 and set his sights on the leader.  Mears kept his GEICO machine out of trouble and exercised patience as the race passed the halfway point.  He remained in contention and his spotter, Ron Lewis, offered frequent updates as the laps wound down.

Unfortunately, on lap 115, Greg Biffle tangled with the No. 83 car of Jeffery Earnhardt, sending him hard into Mears’ GEICO Chevy before causing all three cars to make heavy contact with the inside wall.  Mears absorbed the brunt of the crash, but other than a foot that got caught under the clutch and a broken heart, he walked away unscathed.  Mears ended up as collateral damage and would be relegated to an undeserved 39th place finish.

“Talladega can either make you very happy or very mad and today we came out on the backside of that,” Mears said.  “The GEICO Chevy was fast and I was able to drive to the front, so I really felt like as long as we stayed clean that we would have a chance to win this thing.  We’ve been in that position before both here and at Daytona and felt like we would’ve had the same opportunity today.  I was just riding along and the next thing I knew, I was hitting the inside wall and being sent to the garage.  I feel bad for everyone on this Germain team because we work so hard on our plate program and this was not the outcome we expected.”

Short-track racing is next up on the menu for Germain Racing.  Beating and banging will be plentiful when the No. 13 team makes its way to the ½-mile paperclip-shaped oval in Martinsville, VA, next weekend.

Casey Mears and the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS will hit the track at Martinsville Speedway for the weekend’s opening practice session on Friday, October 28th, at 11:00 AM (ET).  Qualifying will follow at 4:40 PM (ET).

The Goody’s Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is on Sunday, October 30tht, and it will be televised live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 1:00 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 how you could 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