Carquest Auto Parts 300 - Casey Mears Notes

PREVIEW: CASEY MEARS (NO. 24 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET)
VENUE: LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE QUAD-OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR BUSCH SERIES (RACE 13 OF 35)
EVENT: SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 (200 LAPS, 300 MILES)

STREAKING: The National Guard team and driver Casey Mears have now posted top-10 finishes in seven of their eight NASCAR Busch Series starts this season. This bests Mears' previous single-season top-10 record by two. Mears' four top-five finishes this year tie his personal record, which was set last season.

ON THE POLE: Mears earned the pole position in the October 2004 Busch Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. In 2006, he qualified inside the top-10 for both events and also posted a career-best fourth-place finish at the 1.5-mile track last May.

MR. CONSISTENCY: Having competed in eight of the 12 Busch Series races this season, Mears has posted an equal average start and finish of 9.9.

MEARS SUPPORTS THE TROOPS: This weekend, the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team from Clinton, S.C., will be honored on the No. 24 National Guard Chevrolet. The 30th HBCT, nicknamed "Old Hickory," was deployed to the Gulf Coast region in support of both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005.

CHASSIS 405: Crew chief Chad Walter has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 405, which finished second at California Speedway in February, for Saturday's Busch Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Mears also raced the car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before a Lap 11 accident ended the team's day.

* * * * * * * * * *

MEARS AT SPEED STREET: Casey Mears will sign autographs on behalf of Chevrolet from 2-4 p.m. local time on Friday at the 13th Annual Food Lion Speed Street event in uptown Charlotte.

AT-TRACK AUTOGRAPHS: Mears will greet fans and sign autographs at 1:30 p.m. local time on Sunday at the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC souvenir hauler outside Lowe's Motor Speedway.

* * * * * * * * * *

CASEY MEARS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 24 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET: (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 TO HIS FAMILY.) "The Indianapolis 500 has always been a very big deal to my family. Watching my uncle (Rick Mears) win at Indy four times was just incredible. My favorite memory is probably seeing him win for the final time in 1991. I was actually at home watching the race on TV. When he passed Michael (Andretti) for his final win there, that was just awesome. I'll never forget that."

MEARS: (ON HIS INDY 500 PREDICTIONS.) "OK, so I know I'm not really being gutsy or anything, but Team Penske and the Ganassi teams have just been too strong at Indy to bet against them. Andretti-Green may be strong, too, but I'm sticking with Sam (Hornish Jr.) and Helio (Castroneves) or one of the Ganassi guys."

MEARS: (ON THE PRESTIGE OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500.) "Well, of course, to me personally and my family, this race is a huge deal. I grew up watching the Indy 500. I think over the past few years, the importance of this race and what it means has somewhat been diluted due to the split between IRL and CART, which is sad, but it's still a great race to watch and definitely a great race to see in person. I plan on watching it on Sunday, the little I'll be able to between hospitality appearances. I still hope that one day I'll get the opportunity to race in the Indy 500 and possibly win another one for the Mears family."