Stater Bros. 300 - Casey Mears Notes

PREVIEW: CASEY MEARS (NO. 24 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET)
VENUE: CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY (TWO-MILE D-SHAPED OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR BUSCH SERIES (RACE TWO OF 35)
EVENT: SATURDAY, FEB. 24, 2007 (150 LAPS, 300 MILES)

HOME TRACK: Casey Mears, driver of the No. 24 National Guard Chevrolet, grew up in Bakersfield, Calif., roughly two hours northwest of California Speedway. Mears moved to North Carolina in 2002 when his career shifted from open-wheel racing to NASCAR competition.

POLE SITTER: Mears earned his second career NASCAR Busch Series pole position at California Speedway in September 2004. He led 45 laps en route to a second-place finish. The runner-up effort was his career best before winning at Chicagoland Speedway last season.

'24' AT CALIFORNIA: Hendrick Motorsports last raced a No. 24 Chevrolet in Busch Series competition at California Speedway in April 2002. Driver Jack Sprague earned the pole position and finished fourth.

HOMETOWN HEROES: This weekend, the No. 24 National Guard Chevrolet will honor the 40th Infantry "Sunshine" Division based in Los Alamitos, Calif. The Sunshine Division was most recently deployed to in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The division's history also includes deployment in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.

CHASSIS 405: Crew chief Chad Walter has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 405 as the primary option for Saturday's Busch Series event at California. The car has never been raced, but was tested at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this month.

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AUTOGRAPH SESSION: Casey Mears will greet fans and sign autographs at the No. 25 souvenir trailer at California Speedway this Saturday at 8:45 a.m. local time.

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CASEY MEARS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 24 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET: (ON RACING NEAR HOME.) "When we race in California, I'm pretty lucky that a lot of my family and really good friends from back in Bakersfield make the trip. Knowing they're all there makes the weekend a little more fun for me. I try to keep my evenings open to spend time with them. I only have about two or three chances a year to see them, so we end up having dinners out in the coach lot and just spend some good time together. I always look forward to these weekends."

MEARS: (ON GETTING AWAY FROM DAYTONA AND RESTRICTOR PLATE RACING.) "Daytona is one of those race tracks where you just don't ever really know what's going to happen. It feels really good to get away from the crapshoot that is Daytona and get to a track where you have control over your own destiny so to speak. I like Daytona and Talladega, but I more so enjoy the tracks where you have to drive the car a lot more."