O’Reilly 300 - Casey Mears Notes

PREVIEW: CASEY MEARS (NO. 24 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET)
VENUE: TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE TRI-OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR BUSCH SERIES (RACE EIGHT OF 35)
EVENT: SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2007 (200 LAPS, 300 MILES)

TEXAS TOP-FIVE: Last April, Casey Mears turned a top-10 starting spot into a top-three finish in the NASCAR Busch Series event at Texas Motor Speedway. Mears' third-place run was one spot better than his future teammate, Kyle Busch, who finished fourth in the race.

TOP-FIVE TEAM: Mears has competed in three of the season's seven Busch Series races. He finished second in his season debut at California Speedway and came in fifth at Atlanta Motor Speedway last month, the No. 24 National Guard team's most recent race.

SPEEDWAY STRENGTH: In his 75 career Busch Series starts, Mears has earned the most success at intermediate tracks like Texas Motor Speedway. At tracks between one and two miles in length, he has a victory, three of his four career poles, and 12 of his 19 top-10 finishes. Mears has led a total of 212 speedway laps.

CAMP MABRY BRIGADE HONORED: The 36th Infantry "Lone Star Division" will be honored on the No. 24 National Guard Chevrolet this weekend. The Brigade is based out of Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. The Lone Star Division is comprised of nearly 12,000 soldiers, which is roughly two-thirds of the Texas National Guard.

TOP-FIVE CAR: Crew chief Chad Walter has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 416 for Saturday's Busch Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The car has been raced once, at Atlanta Motor Speedway last month, where Mears finished fifth.

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CHEVY THUNDER IN SUNDANCE SQUARE: Casey Mears will participate in Chevy Thunder Days from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday at Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. For more information, visit www.chevythunderdays.com.

MEET THE MEARS GANG: Mears will greet fans and sign autographs at 8:45 a.m. local time on Sunday at the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC souvenir hauler outside Texas Motor Speedway.

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CASEY MEARS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 24 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET: (ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RACING HIS NO. 24 NATIONAL GUARD BUSCH SERIES CHEVROLET AND HIS NO. 25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC NEXTEL CUP CHEVROLET.) "It's a pretty big difference between the cars, due to downforce levels and differences in horsepower. With the Busch car, you can carry the throttle much further into the corner and be a little more aggressive with the throttle when you get back to power because it has a little less power and more downforce. You can drive the Busch car more aggressively. The Cup car takes a little more finesse. I've learned that I can drive the Busch car a lot harder than I can the Cup car on Sundays."

MEARS: (WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM SATURDAY TO HELP YOUR CUP TEAM ON SUNDAYS?) "If the Busch car on Saturday isn't working well, you don't really learn a lot. But, if the No. 24 National Guard Chevrolet is running well, we can play with the groove a little bit and learn a lot about the tires. Tire information is probably the biggest lesson we can take from Saturdays and apply to Sunday's race. We can learn how they'll respond to change. That in itself is incredibly helpful."

MEARS: (HOW IS THE TRANSITION FROM THE BUSCH CAR TO THE NEW IMPALA SS?) "The Busch car and the normal Cup car are actually pretty different anyhow. You've got to consciously make sure that you know what car you're getting into when you're racing both on a race weekend. You have to drive the two cars so differently. Having done that for three races already this season, I don't think it's going to be too big of a deal to go between the two cars, but it will definitely be interesting to go from the Busch car to an Impala SS in the Cup Series this weekend."