Catchfence

2009 NSCS Casey Mears - (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR)

• This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Casey Mears will pilot Chassis No. 242 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend’s Coke Zero 400. This will be the on-track debut for this Jack Daniel’s Chevy Impala SS .

• Daytona by the Numbers … In 13 previous Sprint Cup Series starts on Daytona’s legendary high banks, Mears best finish was second in the 2006 Daytona 500. Over those same 13 starts, the 31-year old, seventh-year Sprint Cup Series veteran has notched one top-five and a pair of top-10 finishes at the “World Center of Racing.” He has a 22.3 average start, a 21.4 average finish, completed 2,085 of 2,228 laps (93.6 percent) and earned more than $3 million in purse money.

• Daytona Rewind … In his first outing for RCR, Mears drafted his way to a 15th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. After starting 25th, the Bakersfield, Calif. used savvy driving to narrowly escape two separate multi-car incidents to capture his fourth top-15 finish on the Daytona high banks.

• RCR Rocks Daytona … Dating back to 1986, RCR owns 24 total victories at DIS, including Dale Earnhardt’s emotional win in 1998, kicking off NASCAR’s 50th anniversary, and Kevin Harvick’s dramatic win in the 2007 season-opening Daytona 500. Additionally, RCR won 10 straight (1990-1999) qualifying races with Earnhardt. All told, RCR has won six Bud Shootouts, including Harvick’s win earlier this season, 13 qualifying races, two Coke Zero 400s and two Daytona 500s. Dale Earnhardt Jr. also won the February 2002 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona driving a car fielded by RCR and Harvick won the 2007 Nationwide Series opener at DIS in the No. 21 Chevrolet. In 111 points-paying Sprint Cup Series races at the historic 2.5-mile Daytona Beach race course, RCR has four wins, 10 poles, 27 top-five and 48 top-10 finishes. RCR-prepared race cars have also led 1,440 laps and earned just over $18 million in purse money. Richard Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s premier division earned two of those top 10s between February 1976 and July 1980.

• Over the First 17 … Over the season’s first 17 races, the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 winner has posted two top-10 and seven top-20 finishes. He has accumulated a 28.2 average starting finish to go along with a respectable 20.2 average finishing position and has completed 4,892 of 5,034 (97.18 percent) laps contested thus far.

• Get to the Points … With nine races remaining before NASCAR set’s its 12-team playoff field, Mears & Co. sit 20th in the championship point standings, 302 markers in arrears to the 12th and final spot for making the Chase for the Sprint Cup. In 2007, Kurt Busch was able to overcome a 236-point deficit and charged his way from 15th to 10th in points by the time the checkered flag flew at Richmond.

• The Collective RCR … In 17 races this season, RCR-prepared Sprint Cup Series entries have notched seven top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. The No. 29 team kicked off the 2009 season with a win in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. RCR-prepared cars have also completed 19,474 laps with four different drivers including Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Harvick and Mears. Meanwhile, RCR teams have been atop the leaderboard for 95 laps and all four teams have earned just shy of $10.5 million combined purse money in 2009.

• Casey Mears Live … Mears is signing autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer located in the DIS display area outside Turn 4 on Saturday, July 4 at 4:30 p.m. (ET) Autographs will be available on a limited basis due to time constraints.

• Catch the Action … The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway can be seen live Saturday, July 4 beginning at 6:30 p.m. (ET) on TNT and heard live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 18tth, of 36, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events will air live on SPEED Friday, July 3 beginning at 4 p.m. and on MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

CASEY MEARS QUOTES:

How slick is the track at Daytona during the July race compared to the Daytona 500 in February?

“It’s a lot slicker. Obviously, running at night helps with bringing some grip back but being that it’s hot when the race starts, it’s definitely a lot slicker. It seems like we’ve been sliding around more than we have in years past, so the grip that you get towards the end of the race is very much welcomed.”

You finished 15th in your first race for RCR. How do you feel about RCR’s restrictor-plate program?

“I think it’s good. The No. 29 team finished second and because of the success they had, I think we’ll all have good runs. RCR has good equipment and we’ll all be bringing good cars to Daytona, so I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”

How hard is it to find teammates on the race track during this type of racing?

“You really can’t do it. At the end of a race, when it comes time to pushing a competitor or teammate, you push a teammate. But, throughout the race, it’s very hard to hook up and go from the back to the front. These days, you need all the downforce you can get going through the corners so, after about 10 laps, you’re looking for clean air going through the corner, like you would at any other track. It’s different at Talladega because it’s easier to hook up with a teammate and go. At Daytona, you need clean air.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release