Catchfence

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

• This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet for Kansas Speedway …Mr. Jack’s Crew will unload chassis No. 286 from the Richard Childress Racing stable. Built brand new this year, this chassis made its on-track debut for the Atlanta Motor Speedway race last month, where it started 33rd and finished 25th.

• No Dust in Mears’ Wind at Kansas…Through his previous six starts at Kansas, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has two top-five, three top-10 and four-consecutive top-15 finishes at the 1.5-mile oval. He has completed 1,521 of 1,545 (98.4 percent) laps of competition with an average start of 21st and a 13.8 average finish. His best start of 10th occurred at Kansas last year while his best finish, second, was in October 2006. In this event last year, Mears led once for 29 laps en route to a 14th-place finish.

• Through the First 27 races … The seven-year Sprint Cup veteran has posted three top-10, eight top-15 and 13 top-20 finishes this season. Mears has accumulated an average start of 27.2 to go along with a respectable 20.4 finishing average while completing 7,823 of 8,036 (98 percent) laps contested. The 31-year old has led four laps in three different events and been running at the end of every race. Last week’s finish of 17th at Dover International Speedway moved Mears & Co. up to 19th in points, where they are 93 markers behind 18th and 33 ahead of 20th.

• Loop Data Download… The loop data statistics through the last four races at Kansas Speedway speak highly of Mears.

1. He has the eighth-best driver rating of 91.4

1. Ranked sixth-fastest driver late in a run with an average speed of 160.140 mph

1. Third most green-flag passes with 278

1. First for most passes in Turn 1 with 73 and third for 32 made in Turn 3

1. Fifth for most laps run in the top 15 with 682 of 1,545 possible

1. Average finish of seventh place

• RCR at Kansas… Richard Childress Racing has made a collective 23 starts since the first Kansas Speedway race in 2001. Since then, RCR-prepared cars have earned two top-five and seven top-10 finishes while completing 5,844 of 5,970 laps (97.9 percent) contested. The team averages a 23.8 start and 16.4 finish. The best start of sixth was earned by Clint Bowyer in 2006, who also achieved the team’s best finish of second in 2007. The drivers of Dave Blaney, Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon and Steve Park have combined to lead 112 laps.

• The Collective RCR … In 28 races this season, RCR’s four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries have notched nine top-five and 26 top-10 finishes and led 188 laps. The No. 29 team kicked off the 2009 season with a win in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. RCR-prepared cars have also completed 31,239 laps with four different drivers including Burton, Bowyer, Harvick and Mears.

• Come See Casey… The Jack Daniel’s Experience display area will be open throughout the weekend and is located outside the track’s frontstretch. On race day, Mears will appear at the Jack Daniel’s Experience at 9:45 a.m. Central Daylight Time for a Q&A and autographs with fans. From there, he will head to the Jack Daniel’s merchandise trailer, located in the track’s midway, from 10 a.m. to 10 30 a.m. to sign autographs and greet fans. A limited number of tickets are available prior to his arrival and issued on a first-come, first-serve basis.

• JDX Hours… The Jack Daniel’s Experience will be open Friday, October 2, from 10 a.m. CDT until Cup qualifying begins at 3:30 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to the start of the Nationwide Series race at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. until the start of the Sprint Cup race at 1 p.m.

• Mears Goes Dirt racing… On Saturday, October 3, Mears will take part in the Bootlegger’s Run Race of Champions, presented by Jack Daniel’s, at the 1/3-mile Eagle (Neb.) Raceway located just outside of Lincoln. Mears will race a dirt Late Model against Jimmy Spencer, Bobby Labonte and Michael Waltrip.

• Crew member not in Kansas anymore… Chris Tidwell is a shop and road mechanic on Mr. Jack’s Crew who hails from Emporia, Kan. He will have 10 people in the stands cheering for him and his team this weekend.

• Tune in for the Win… The Price Chopper 400 takes the green flag Sunday, October 4 at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time with pre-race coverage beginning at 1 p.m. on ABC TV for the 267-lap event. Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Ch. 128. Qualifying is slated for Friday, October 2 at 4:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN2 with radio coverage on MRN Radio and Sirius XM Radio Ch. 128.

• “Fuel My Passion”… Shell V-Power is holding the “Fuel My Passion” Contest and Sweepstakes for those who are passionate about their ride. Prizes include free Shell V-Power premium gasoline for a year and a chance to win an all-new 2010 Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® Lo motorcycle. The promotion runs through November 3, 2009. You can visit www.shell.us/fuelmypassion for more details

• 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:

A lot of comparisons are made between Kansas Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway; are they similar or very different?

“The size of the track is the same, but the way you drive each of them is different. The size (1.5 miles) is the same and the banking is about the same, too. The differences are the bumps on the tracks and the line you can drive around each of them is different. Kansas has always been a good race track for me; it always feels good when I go there.”

You have some pretty impressive statistics at Kansas with three two top-five, three top-10 and four top-15 finishes in your last four starts here. Last year, you led 29 laps before finishing 14th. What is it about the track you like?

“I don’t know why I took to it is so quickly. I know it’s a combination of me being comfortable racing at Kansas, and also having good cars to drive. I’m looking forward to going back, it’s a fun race track and the wide surface makes for some great racing. The tire Goodyear has brought to a lot of tracks lately has really made the racing grooves wider. The harder the tire, the more guys search out of the bottom groove to find more grip. With a softer tire, we’ll race more on the bottom because we know that’s where the rubber is going to get laid down quickly. So, it will be interesting to see how the racing is this time at Kansas with the harder tires we’ve been racing on lately.”

How has the progress been on the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet team this year for the 1.5-mile track programs?

“It is so easy to miss your mark with these new COT cars we have. The margin for error is so small on the 1.5-mile surfaces that you really struggle if you’re off. You feel like you’re way, way off sometimes, but a small track bar adjustment will put you right where you need to be with that one change. You change shocks and springs to make that one big improvement; and you still end up being slow. The good news is, we’re narrowing in on what changes it takes to make it better at the mile-and-a-half mile tracks. Hopefully, Kansas will be one of those places where we unload and run decent right from the start.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release