NASCAR: Casey Mears Saves Gas, Wins Coca-Cola 600

Nextel Cup series points leader Jeff Gordon started 32nd and a crash took him out of the race.

Photo courtesy: lowesmotorspeedway.com

CONCORD, N.C. - Casey Mears captured his first career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series win Sunday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, winning the Coca-Cola 600 from the 16th starting position.

Mears' victory marked the fourth time in five years that a Hendrick Motorsports entry has won the 600-mile classic.

Mears is the nephew of Rick Mears, a 4-time Indy 500 winner.

J.J. Yeley recorded his best career finish in second and Kyle Petty was third -- his first top-five in 10 years.

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

Coca-Cola 600 Race Quotes

Casey Mears (winner, No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports/Coast Guard Chevrolet, fifth driver to get his first-ever NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in the Coca-Cola 600): "We were a third- or fourth-place car at the time. Only way we could win was to gamble and that's what we did. It's unbelievable. I can't believe we're in victory lane. It's huge to happen right here at home. What a great call our crew chief made to keep us out!"

J.J. Yeley (runner-up, No. 18 Gibbs/Interstate Batteries Chevrolet): "We had a top-eight car all day long. Fuel pressure never faltered, even on the last lap. We [Gibbs] weren't the best cars there, but we weren't the worst, either. I do my best every time I go on the track. As far as being on the hot seat, I'll go back to driving sprint cars, if that's what it takes. We've had some good runs; we just haven't had the finishes to show for it."

Kyle Petty (third, No. 45 Petty Enterprises/Coke Zero Dodge Charger, first top-five in 10 years): "Billy [Wilburn, crew chief] made a heckuva call there near the end and that's what did for us. Our car was good. Our car was different when the sun was out. We kept working with it and didn't really get it right until I got the ‘lucky dog' there to get back on the lead lap. I couldn't be more excited for Casey Mears if he was Adam Petty. When you look at the top three or four tonight, it's all a total team effort. We all had top-car cars and everything worked our way. Six hundred miles is an awful long race."

Coca-Cola 600 Race Results:

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS

1. 16 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC American Heroes 190/5 400 Running

2. 12 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 175/5 400 Running

3. 36 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Coke Zero 165/0 400 Running

4. 34 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 160/0 400 Running

5. 26 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 160/5 400 Running

6. 14 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 155/5 400 Running

7. 7 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers Dark 151/5 400 Running

8. 4 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser Desert Camo 147/5 400 Running

9. 6 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet U.S. Marines / FedEx Freight 143/5 400 Running

10. 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Power of Pride 139/5 400 Running

11. 11 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army American Heroes 130/0 400 Running

12. 5 17 Matt Kenseth Ford R+L Carriers 132/5 400 Running

13. 9 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Chocolate Chex 124/0 399 Running

14. 37 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 121/0 399 Running

15. 39 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 123/5 399 Running

16. 31 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 115/0 399 Running

17. 10 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light Cold Activated Bottle 112/0 397 Running

18. 8 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 109/0 397 Running

19. 28 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 106/0 395 Running

20. 15 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Valvoline / Stanley Tools 103/0 394 Running

21. 27 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 100/0 394 Running

22. 35 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam Black 97/0 393 Running

23. 18 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 94/0 390 Running

24. 25 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T 91/0 385 Running

25. 24 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 360 OTC 93/5 382 Running

26. 33 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Haier 85/0 377 Running

27. 40 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Radioactive Energy Drink 82/0 376 Running

28. 20 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 79/0 369 Running

29. 41 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 76/0 367 Running

30. 17 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 78/5 357 Running

31. 29 84 A.J. Allmendinger * Toyota Red Bull 70/0 310 Running

32. 2 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 77/10 296 Out of Race

33. 30 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Pep Boys 64/0 293 Running

34. 43 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 61/0 289 Off Track

35. 19 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M's / Shrek the Third 58/0 265 Running

36. 3 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW / Fantasticar 55/0 261 Running

37. 13 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA 52/0 219 Out of Race

38. 22 21 Bill Elliott Ford U.S. Air Force 54/5 218 Out of Race

39. 1 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 51/5 172 Out of Race

40. 23 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 43/0 82 Out of Race

41. 32 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet U.S. Dept. of Defense / DuPont 40/0 62 Out of Race

42. 42 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy / Fisher House 37/0 52 Out of Race

43. 38 16 Greg Biffle Ford Dish Network 34/0 45 Out of Race

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