Casey Mears

Casey Mears
Mears in 2015
Born	(1978-03-12) March 12, 1978 Bakersfield, California, U.S.
Achievements	2007 Coca-Cola 600 Winner 2006 24 Hours of Daytona overall co-winner
NASCAR Cup Series career
452 races run over 13 years
Car no., team	No. 13 (Germain Racing)
2015 position	23rd
Best finish	14th (2006)
First race	2003 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race	2017 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead)
First win	2007 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 51 3
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
93 races run over 9 years
Best finish	20th (2007)
First race	2001 GNC Live Well 300 (Homestead)
Last race	2010 Bashas' Supermarkets 200 (Phoenix)
First win	2006 USG Durock 300 (Chicago)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 32 4
IndyCar Series career
3 races run over 1 year
Best finish	31st (2001)
First race	2001 Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 (Phoenix)
Last race	2001 Atlanta 500 Classic (Atlanta)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0
Champ Car career
5 races run over 2 years
Best finish	23rd (2000)
First race	2000 Marlboro 500 (California)
Last race	2001 Marlboro 500 (California)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0
Statistics current as of November 22, 2015.

Casey James Mears (born March 12, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A competitor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, he currently drives the No. 13 Chevrolet SS for Germain Racing. A former winner of the Coca-Cola 600, Mears is the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears and the son of IndyCar and off-road veteran Roger Mears.

Open wheel racing

After racing in go-karts for a season in 1991, Mears began competing in the SuperLites Off-Road Series in 1992 where he posted several top-three finishes. He moved to sprint cars in 1994 and finished third in the Jim Russell USAC Triple Crown Championship, with a win at Mesa Marin Raceway. The next season, he won the championship in the USAC series.

In 1996, Mears made his Dayton Indy Lights debut at the Cleveland Grand Prix and finished eighth. The following year, he competed full-time in the Indy Lights championship and in 1999 finished second, losing by 14 points. He was also just the fourth driver in Indy Lights series history to complete every lap in a single season. Mears continued to compete in the Indy Lights in 2000 and won his first race at the Grand Prix of Houston meeting in October.

After testing Indy Cars for multiple teams in 2000, Mears was offered a chance to drive a third entry for Team Rahal at California Speedway in October. After qualifying 15th and leading 10 laps, he posted a career-best fourth finish in his CART Series debut. He ran three IRL events at the start of the 2001 season, and attempted to qualify for the 2001 Indianapolis 500, but ultimately did not make it. He ended the season by filling in for injured Champ Car driver Alex Zanardi, posting one top-10 finish in four starts.

Mears had five CART starts, with one top-5 finish, and three IRL starts, with no top-5 finishes.

NASCAR

Mears made his NASCAR debut in the Busch Series in 2001 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving the 66 car for Cicci-Welliver Racing. He started 21st and finished 28th. When the team was sold to Wayne Jesel the next season, Mears drove for them full-time, finishing 21st in points with two top-ten finishes. To the surprise of many, he was selected by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the #41 Target Dodge in 2003. In his rookie season, he finished 35th after failing to finish in the top-ten in any race. Throughout 2003, Mears drove a number of ARCA races for Ganassi, winning three times, once at Michigan, and sweeping both Pocono races. He drove the #41 Cup car for two additional seasons, and won two poles in 2004.

Mears came close to quite a lot of victories during this period. He led late in the 2004 Sirius at the Glen but got passed with 12 laps to go and finished 4th. At Homestead in 2005, Mears controlled the final 100 laps of the Ford 400, but after a yellow flag (with 19 laps to go) erased his 28-second lead, Mears had to make a pit stop thus forfeiting the lead and with it, the win.

During the 2005 season, it was announced Mears would move to a separate car for Ganassi with Home123 sponsorship, with the #41 to be piloted by Reed Sorenson. The Home123 sponsorship fell through and he instead moved to the #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge for Ganassi, replacing the departing Jamie McMurray.

Mears started off 2006 with a then-best career finish of second, holding off Ryan Newman as Mears' future teammate Jimmie Johnson won the 2006 Daytona 500.

Mears' 2007 Cup car

File:Casey Mears 2008 Kelloggs Chevy Impala.jpg

Mears' 2008 Cup car

On June 6, 2006, Mears announced that he was leaving Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the season to join Hendrick Motorsports for the 2007 season, to replace the departing Brian Vickers. On July 8, he finally won his first NASCAR race, a Busch Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, coasting to the finish after running out of fuel.

For the 2007 season, Mears assumed driving duties for the #25 Hendrick Chevrolet, with co-primary sponsorship from the National Guard of the United States and GMAC. On May 27, he won the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte for his first career Nextel Cup victory. Once again, Mears secured the win with a fuel gamble, taking the lead with five laps remaining when most of the other lead lap cars stopped for fuel. Mears stretched his fuel to the finish, running out moments after his first checkered flag.

In 2008 Mears moved to the Alan Gustafson-led No. 5 Kellogg's/Carquest Chevrolet Impala formerly driven by Kyle Busch. After going winless, Mears was released by Hendrick and replaced by veteran Mark Martin.

On August 23, 2008, Mears was announced as the driver of Richard Childress Racing's No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet Impala SS. The previous driver of the car, Clint Bowyer, would drive the team's new No. 33 General Mills Chevrolet Impala SS. In his first season at RCR, Mears notched 2 top ten finishes. After Mears struggled during the first seven races of the year, Richard Childress switched the crew chiefs for Harvick and Mears' cars, hoping for a better performance from the two drivers. The switch seemed to work for both parties.

On October 21, 2009, it was announced Mears would be getting his 3rd crew chief of the season starting at Talladega. Todd Berrier would be moving to the #31 team in place of Scott Miller. Doug Randolph took over as the crew chief on the #07. This move was made primarily because the future of the 07 was uncertain and Childress wanted to keep Berrier in the family. After the switch, Mears struggled with his new crew chief and had a best finish of 19th at Homestead. Mears was released by Richard Childress Racing following the 2009 season.

It was announced on January 20, 2010 that Mears would drive the #90 Key Motorsports Chevrolet. Mears failed to qualify for the 2010 Daytona 500, ending a starting streak of 252 consecutive races; this was Mears' first DNQ of his career. Mears also failed to qualify for Fontana, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. After qualifying for Martinsville was rained out and the team did not qualify, Mears was released by the team. Following his release from Key Motorsports, Joe Gibbs announced that Mears would be on standby status while JGR driver, Denny Hamlin, recovered from ACL surgery; however, Hamlin did not require a replacement and therefore Mears did not drive in either of the two races. Beginning on April 27, 2010, Mears briefly became the driver for Tommy Baldwin's #36 team. On May 13, Mears was announced as the temporary replacement driver for the #83 Red Bull Racing Team at Dover, replacing a sick Brian Vickers.

During the June race at Michigan International Speedway, while racing near the back of the field, Mears wrecked his Red Bull Racing teammate, Scott Speed. Speed went on to finish 28th and Mears finished 36th. Following the race, Speed was critical of the incident, and Mears was soon replaced by Reed Sorenson. Mears returned to TBR beginning with the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 27, 2010, where he finished 29th, only 2 laps down.

Mears' 2013 Cup car

Mears stepped into his fourth car of the season at Atlanta in September, driving the #13 GEICO Toyota for Germain Racing. It was also announced in August 2010 that Mears would continue to drive this car for the remainder of the 2010 season and all of the 2011 season. Mears attempted to qualify for his initial Sprint Cup appearance with the team at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the September 5 Emory Healthcare 500.

The 2011 season started off with his 2nd DNQ at the Daytona 500. Due to 2 engines failing him during Speedweeks, Mears was unable to secure a position on the starting grid. Germain Racing secured sponsorship from GEICO and Hard Rock Vodka for a combined 29 races. Mears finished 31st in driver points.

GEICO announced on January 6, 2012 that they signed a two-year deal with Mears and Germain. Germain also announced that the team was switching to Ford from Toyota for the 2012 season, gaining technical support from Roush Fenway Racing and engines from Roush-Yates. On August 24, Mears won the pole for the Irwin Tools Night Race due to the Friday qualifying session being rained out. Mears finished 30th in the final point standings.

On February 21, 2013, GEICO announced that they were sponsoring Mears and Germain full-time for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Valvoline Next-Gen also sponsored Mears for two races. In the 2013 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Mears recorded the team's best finish at an oval track, 9th. Mears finished 24th in points, his best since driving for RCR in 2009.

For 2014, Germain Racing partnered with Richard Childress Racing to field Chevrolets. Mears began the season on a high note with a tenth-place finish at the Daytona 500. At Richmond, Mears ran in the top ten for part of the race, but got into a fist-fight with Marcos Ambrose who was furious over a late racing incident. Two days later, Mears was fined $15,000 and put on probation for one month. During the 2014 season, Mears recorded fourteen top-20 finishes, including three top-10s and a top-5. He finished 26th in points.

For 2015, Mears returned to Germain for what was to be the final year of both his and GEICO's contracts with the team. Mears finished sixth at Daytona and fifteenth at Atlanta to open the season.

On July 14, 2015, it was announced that Mears had signed a contract extension with Germain and GEICO for 2016. On November 12, 2015, GEICO announced that it had extended its partnership with Mears and Germain Racing through the 2018 season. Team owner Bob Germain confirmed that Mears had extended his contract with the team through 2018 as well.

Grand-Am

In 2005, Mears teamed with Scott Dixon and Darren Manning in the Chip Ganassi Lexus Riley. They finished in 6th place. The following season he teamed up with Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon on January 29, 2006 to win the 44th annual Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. They set a race record for the Daytona Prototype category, running 723 laps in 24 hours to score the win.

Mears became the first ever full-time NASCAR driver to win the Rolex 24 overall.

In 2009 Mears shared the #2 Gentleman Jack Pontiac-Crawford with Andy Wallace, Rob Finley and Danica Patrick. They suffered electrical and handling issues during the race and finished eighth.

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Indy Lights

Indy Lights results
Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
1996	Team Mears	MIA	LBH	NAZ	MIS	MIL	DET	POR	CLE 8	TOR	TRO	VAN	LS			24th	5
1997	Team Mears	MIA 9	LBH 17	NAZ 13	SAV 13	STL 13	MIL 10	DET 15	POR 11	TOR 20	TRO 17	VAN 16	LS 19	FON 15		23rd	9
1998	Team Mears	MIA 10	LBH 13	NAZ 3	STL 7	MIL 16	DET 19	POR	CLE 10	TOR	MIS 11	TRO	VAN	LS 21	FON 8	17th	33
1999	Dorricott Racing	MIA 5	LBH 5	NAZ 3	MIL 2	POR 4	CLE 8	TOR 8	MIS 2	DET 9	CHI 3	LS 5	FON 13			2nd	116
2000	Dorricott Racing	LBH 5	MIL 5	DET 3	POR 7	MIS 2	CHI 10	MDO 5	VAN 8	LS 2	STL 2	HOU 1	FON 4			3rd	141

CART

Champ Car results
Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points
2000	Team Rahal	Reynard 2Ki	Ford XF	MIA	LBH	RIO	MOT	NZR	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LS	STL	HOU	SRF	FON 4		23rd	12
2001	Mo Nunn Racing	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	MTY	LBH	TXS	NZR	MOT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAU	ROC	HOU 17	LS 11	SRF Ret	FON 8	28th	7

Indy Racing League

Indy Racing League results
Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Rank	Points
2000	Hemelgarn Racing	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile	WDW	PHX	LVS	INDY DNQ	TXS	PPI	ATL	KTY	TX2					NC	–
2001	Galles Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	PHX 20	HMS 11	ATL 23	INDY DNQ	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	STL	CHI	TX2	31st	36

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Points
2003	Chip Ganassi Racing	41	Dodge	DAY 27	CAR 30	LVS 15	ATL 23	DAR 34	BRI 32	TEX 27	TAL 40	MAR 36	CAL 34	RCH 28	CLT 35	DOV 40	POC 21	MCH 20	SON 26	DAY 25	CHI 34	NHA 16	POC 35	IND 29	GLN 32	MCH 41	BRI 21	DAR 35	RCH 41	NHA 17	DOV 36	TAL 37	KAN 24	CLT 42	MAR 17	ATL 28	PHO 42	CAR 33	HOM 27	35th	2638
2004				DAY 14	CAR 21	LVS 7	ATL 34	DAR 15	BRI 36	TEX 7	MAR 37	TAL 8	CAL 8	RCH 32	CLT 7	DOV 28	POC 10	MCH 31	SON 7	DAY 11	CHI 15	NHA 26	POC 18	IND 26	GLN 4	MCH 20	BRI 30	CAL 29	RCH 35	NHA 29	DOV 24	TAL 8	KAN 31	CLT 20	MAR 29	ATL 13	PHO 34	DAR 26	HOM 26	22nd	3690
2005				DAY 26	CAL 22	LVS 7	ATL 19	BRI 43	MAR 17	TEX 4	PHO 39	TAL 14	DAR 39	RCH 28	CLT 34	DOV 24	POC 18	MCH 21	SON 20	DAY 43	CHI 9	NHA 33	POC 21	IND 6	GLN 23	MCH 14	BRI 34	CAL 32	RCH 23	NHA 23	DOV 10	TAL 38	KAN 8	CLT 6	MAR 22	ATL 21	TEX 4	PHO 22	HOM 5	22nd	3637
2006		42		DAY 2	CAL 7	LVS 9	ATL 21	BRI 25	MAR 27	TEX 14	PHO 20	TAL 20	RCH 17	DAR 17	CLT 23	DOV 21	POC 43	MCH 7	SON 20	DAY 7	CHI 25	NHA 21	POC 23	IND 23	GLN 35	MCH 16	BRI 17	CAL 14	RCH 11	NHA 21	DOV 22	KAN 2	TAL 30	CLT 12	MAR 6	ATL 28	TEX 7	PHO 26	HOM 32	14th	3914
2007	Hendrick Motorsports	25	Chevy	DAY 20	CAL 31	LVS 40	ATL 28	BRI 10	MAR 42	TEX 23	PHO 37	TAL 39	RCH 18	DAR 35	CLT 1	DOV 13	POC 4	MCH 4	SON 27	NHA 23	DAY 19	CHI 5	IND 35	POC 10	GLN 15	MCH 11	BRI 22	CAL 15	RCH 17	NHA 8	DOV 6	KAN 4	TAL 6	CLT 21	MAR 20	ATL 12	TEX 31	PHO 13	HOM 16	15th	3949
2008		5		DAY 35	CAL 42	LVS 13	ATL 17	BRI 42	MAR 7	TEX 22	PHO 11	TAL 7	RCH 36	DAR 35	CLT 29	DOV 17	POC 26	MCH 30	SON 5	NHA 7	DAY 34	CHI 33	IND 26	POC 22	GLN 19	MCH 18	BRI 41	CAL 26	RCH 11	NHA 37	DOV 15	KAN 14	TAL 14	CLT 29	MAR 6	ATL 12	TEX 14	PHO 36	HOM 8	20th	3527
2009	Richard Childress Racing	07	Chevy	DAY 15	CAL 24	LVS 30	ATL 16	BRI 24	MAR 21	TEX 21	PHO 20	TAL 16	RCH 9	DAR 36	CLT 33	DOV 9	POC 14	MCH 24	SON 23	NHA 11	DAY 34	CHI 28	IND 19	POC 25	GLN 15	MCH 6	BRI 13	ATL 25	RCH 30	NHA 13	DOV 17	KAN 15	CAL 11	CLT 7	MAR 18	TAL 25	TEX 21	PHO 27	HOM 19	21st	3759
2010	Keyed-Up Motorsports	90	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAL DNQ	LVS DNQ	ATL DNQ	BRI 30	MAR DNQ	PHO	TEX	TAL																												36th	1573
	Tommy Baldwin Racing	36	Chevy										RCH 26	DAR DNQ						NHA 29	DAY	CHI 40	IND DNQ	POC 36	GLN	MCH DNQ
	Red Bull Racing Team	83	Toyota												DOV 22	CLT 29	POC 23	MCH 36	SON
	Germain Racing	13	Toyota																								BRI 39	ATL 26	RCH 21	NHA 38	DOV 29	KAN 24	CAL 25	CLT DNQ	MAR 40	TAL 24	TEX 26	PHO 24	HOM 33
2011				DAY DNQ	PHO 18	LVS 25	BRI 37	CAL 29	MAR 36	TEX 26	TAL 22	RCH 28	DAR 30	DOV 23	CLT 23	KAN 37	POC 30	MCH 38	SON 34	DAY 32	KEN 25	NHA 38	IND 29	POC 36	GLN 20	MCH 37	BRI 23	ATL 28	RCH 17	CHI 29	NHA 42	DOV 35	KAN 42	CLT 32	TAL 17	MAR 12	TEX 25	PHO 26	HOM 26	31st	541
2012			Ford	DAY 25	PHO 39	LVS 27	BRI 25	CAL 23	MAR 25	TEX 25	KAN 26	RCH 21	TAL 18	DAR 22	CLT 22	DOV 41	POC 35	MCH 20	SON 15	KEN 18	DAY 18	NHA 36	IND 34	POC 35	GLN 16	MCH 37	BRI 21	ATL 33	RCH 29	CHI 36	NHA 36	DOV 31	TAL 26	CLT 29	KAN 37	MAR 25	TEX 21	PHO 22	HOM 29	29th	612
2013				DAY 29	PHO 14	LVS 29	BRI 15	CAL 15	MAR 16	TEX 31	KAN 34	RCH 30	TAL 24	DAR 37	CLT 23	DOV 16	POC 22	MCH 21	SON 16	KEN 18	DAY 9	NHA 36	IND 27	POC 24	GLN 12	MCH 25	BRI 33	ATL 22	RCH 26	CHI 30	NHA 25	DOV 24	KAN 21	CLT 31	TAL 27	MAR 21	TEX 33	PHO 27	HOM 28	24th	719
2014			Chevy	DAY 10	PHO 14	LVS 28	BRI 27	CAL 15	MAR 24	TEX 28	DAR 18	RCH 19	TAL 14	KAN 26	CLT 24	DOV 25	POC 23	MCH 24	SON 13	KEN 20	DAY 4	NHA 38	IND 33	POC 12	GLN 15	MCH 17	BRI 26	ATL 22	RCH 31	CHI 26	NHA 22	DOV 27	KAN 28	CLT 31	TAL 10	MAR 37	TEX 18	PHO 35	HOM 20	26th	782
2015				DAY 6	ATL 15	LVS 25	PHO 20	CAL 23	MAR 15	TEX 27	BRI 36	RCH 30	TAL 28	KAN 19	CLT 24	DOV 27	POC 16	MCH 13	SON 38	DAY 11	KEN 23	NHA 16	IND 20	POC 28	GLN 18	MCH 42	BRI 23	DAR 29	RCH 21	CHI 20	NHA 18	DOV 24	CLT 18	KAN 23	TAL 31	MAR 17	TEX 26	PHO 22	HOM 42	23rd	754

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2003	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	29	27
2004			25	14
2005			29	26
2006			14	2
2007	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	17	20
2008			9	35
2009	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	25	15
2010	Keyed-Up Motorsports	Chevrolet	DNQ
2011	Germain Racing	Toyota	DNQ
2012		Ford	36	25
2013			17	29
2014		Chevrolet	28	10
2015			41	6

Nationwide Series

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

24 Hours of Daytona

(key)

24 Hours of Daytona results
Year	Class	No	Team	Car	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
2005	DP	03	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Lexus Riley DP	Scott Dixon Darren Manning	694	6	6
2006	DP	02	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Lexus Riley DP	Scott Dixon Dan Wheldon	734	1	1
2009	DP	2	Childress-Howard Motorsports	Pontiac Crawford DP08	Andy Wallace Rob Finlay Danica Patrick	702	8	8

External links

• Official website
• Casey Mears driver statistics at Racing-Reference