Catchfence

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

• This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet for Indianapolis Motor Speedway …Mr. Jack’s Crew will unload chassis No. 282; which is making its debut as a brand new Richard Childress Racing-built car.

• Mears Gang Careers at Indy… In addition to his still record-setting 2004 Pole Award run of 186.293 mph (48.311 sec) and 2005 top-10 finish at the Brickyard, Casey Mears has completed an impressive 97.1% of laps (932 of 961) on the famed track and led a total of 12 circuits. His average starting position of 24.7 and finish of 24.2 was achieved with no DNFs in six previous starts. The name Mears is no stranger at Indy. Casey’s dad, Roger, ran the 1983 Indy 500 and his uncle, Rick, won four Indy 500 races and five poles in 12 IMS starts.

• Through the First 19 races … The seven-year Sprint Cup veteran and 2007 Coca-Cola 600 winner has posted two top-10 and seven top-20 finishes. He has accumulated a 28.2 starting average to go along with a respectable 21.5 average finishing position while completing 5,301 of 5,461 (97.1 percent) laps contested.

• Get to the Points … With seven races remaining before NASCAR set’s its 12-team playoff field, Mears & Co. sit 22nd in the championship point standings; 41 points behind 21st and 69 markers in arrears to the 20th position.

• Casey the Pro vs. GI Joe… On Friday, July 24 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the infield Coke Zero stage near the Pagoda, Mears will take on Indiana National Guardsman stationed in Iraq in a Rockband battle. Mears will be joined by family members of the troops stationed overseas as they take on their military counterpart via video hook-up from the USO in Iraq. Jack Daniel’s is holding a “Salute to the Troops” event at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 22 where 10,000 care packages will be put together by volunteers and sent to overseas USO locations.

• Come See Casey … Casey will be at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir rig located in the track’s midway at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, July 25 to sign autographs and greet fans . A limited number of tickets are available at the trailer prior to his appearance and are issued on a first-come, first-serve basis.

• RCR is a winner at Indy … In 15 previous NASCAR Sprint Cup races at IMS, RCR has posted two poles (Kevin Harvick 2003, Jeff Burton 2006) two wins (Earnhardt 1995, Harvick 2003), eight top-five and 18 top-10 finishes. RCR cars have also been running at the finish of every Allstate 400 at The Brickyard dating back to the inaugural race in 1994.

• RCR this Season … In 76 starts, RCR-prepared Sprint Cup Series entries have notched seven top-five and 17 top-10 finishes. The Welcome, N.C.,-based race team has completed 21,120 laps in 2009 with four different drivers including Clint Bowyer, Burton, Harvick and Mears. Meanwhile, RCR teams have logged almost 28,334 miles of competition this season and been on top of the leaderboard for 97 laps.

• Catch all the Action… The Allstate 400 at The Brickyard from Indianapolis Motor Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, July 26 at 2 p.m. (EDT). This is the first week ESPN begins their broadcasting of the Sprint Cup Series with pre-race coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m.. The IMS Radio Network and Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 128 will broadcast the race, as well. Qualifying is slated for Saturday morning at 10 a.m. on ESPN2 and IMS Radio Network, as well as Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 128.

• Mark Your Calendars … In honor of its 40th anniversary, RCR will host a Fan Day at the Welcome, N.C. complex on Thurs., Oct. 22 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Activities include driver and pit crew autograph sessions, self-guided tours of RCR’s Sprint Cup, Nationwide and engine shops, radio remotes, musical entertainment, pit crew competition, viewing of the DALE movie, question-and-answer session with team owner Richard Childress and much more. General admission to RCR’s Fan Day is just $5, which will benefit the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.

CASEY MEARS QUOTES:
With a last name like yours being so big at Indy, how do you describe the magnitude of racing on the famed track?
“I don’t think you can explain it to someone. I have been able to separate being a Mears from what I have to focus on in a Cup car the last few years. Obviously, my family’s history has been a big part of racing at Indy with my Uncle Rick winning the Indy 500 four times. When I sat on the pole in 2004 and had a clean cut down the backstretch, I could hear the fans cheering and it was very cool. I think the Indy fans understood what it meant to have a Mears on the pole at Indy.

“I think, because of my dad (Roger) racing there and what my uncle has accomplished there, I have a lot of support when I race at Indy. I owe that to my family, but it also makes me work harder there and want to win even more.”

Have you asked your Uncle Rick advice on the best way to get around Indy?
“Oh yeah, he’s been there almost every year. And, even though it’s a totally different type of racing than he did there, a lot of the same principals apply in regards to how you drive and approach that track. He’s been very helpful getting me up to speed there. I had to go out and learn it on my own and then go back to him, but he’s been very helpful.”

You drove different types of Indy cars, but never in the Indy 500. Does that disappoint you?
“Yeah, it would have been nice. I went there with a very unprepared team to race and we didn’t qualify. That was the longest three weeks of my life. We had no shot and it was the one place I wanted to run more than anywhere else and we weren’t even close to getting that chance. One day, I would like to run the Indy 500 somewhere down the road. But, my focus is on Cup racing right now.”

How difficult was it to run the Cup race last year with the tire problems?
“Because you couldn’t really race, there was just no racing taking place. The best you could do was make a bonsai move on a restart to try and pass some guys. It might have been good, but you took the chance of losing a tire or having those guys get by you again. You couldn’t use strategy, you couldn’t pass and it was just a frustrating race. I know NASCAR and Goodyear have been working hard to give us a better combination for this year.”

What was your mindset like for that race with such short runs?
“I ran real hard for a couple of runs and it fell off in six laps – or three laps – and it was so horrible you wanted to pit for tires. Then I started taking it easy for the start of a run and I’d make it 10 laps, but you couldn’t do that and pass. About halfway through the race, I just decided to not be one of those guys who had tire problems. But, we qualified horrible and ended up finishing horrible because we couldn’t pass. It was a choice between running hard and wrecking; or finishing the race.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release