PREVIEW: CASEY MEARS (NO. 25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC IMPALA SS)
VENUE: DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (ONE-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES (RACE 28 OF 36)
EVENT: SUNDAY, SEPT. 23, 2007 (400 LAPS, 400 MILES)

CHASE OUTSIDE THE CHASE: Casey Mears and the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet team may have missed the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Chase for Championship field, but they are still racing with a specific goal in mind: Win the Chase outside the Chase. Mears, who has gained a series-best 20 positions in the standings since winning at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May, currently sits 15th overall and is 229 points out of 13th with nine races to go.

TOP-10 TRACKER: Mears earned his seventh top-10 result of the season last weekend when he finished eighth after logging 300 laps at New Hampshire International Speedway. The 29-year-old driver's career-best for top-10s in one season is nine, a total he achieved in both 2004 and 2005.

MEARS AT THE MONSTER MILE: On Sunday, Mears will make his 10th career NEXTEL Cup Series start at Dover (Del.) International Speedway as the Chevrolet Impala SS races in competition for the second time at "The Monster Mile" this season. The Bakersfield, Calif., native finished 13th in the Cup Series race in June at Dover, but his best result at the track came in 2005 when he recorded a 10th-place finish after 400 miles.

BUILDING ON THE BUSCH SERIES: Mears isn't scheduled to compete in this weekend's NASCAR Busch Series event at Dover, but when he pulled double-duty at the track in June, the Hendrick Motorsports driver turned a ninth-place qualifying effort into a fourth-place finish in the companion race there.

DOVER CAR SELECTION: Crew chief Darian Grubb has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 427 for this weekend's NEXTEL Cup event at Dover. The car saw race action earlier this season at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, where Mears qualified 11th and ran in the top 10 for most of the day before losing an engine with only 30 laps to go.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: The No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet made its first and only visit to Dover's Victory Lane when Ken Schrader led 89 laps en route to winning the 500-mile Cup Series race at the one-mile oval on June 3, 1991.

SPORTCHEVROLET.COM: Sport Chevrolet of Silver Spring, Md., will be featured on the decklid of Mears' No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet at Dover. As a co-primary sponsor on the No. 25 Chevrolet, GMAC recognizes outstanding GM dealerships throughout the NASCAR season. The Detroit-based company operates in approximately 40 countries in the areas of automotive finance, real estate finance, insurance and other commercial businesses.

OUR NATION'S BRAVEST: On Thursday afternoon, Mears and members of the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC team visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to meet with military service men and women who are receiving treatment there. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center serves more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military.

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MEET THE MEARS GANG: Casey Mears will greet fans and sign autographs at 9:15 a.m. local time on Sunday at the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC souvenir hauler outside Dover International Speedway.

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CASEY MEARS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC IMPALA SS: (ON VISITING WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER THIS WEEK.) "It's not easy to visit soldiers who have been through so much, but it's something I really wanted to do. It's a great honor to represent the National Guard every weekend, and the men and women who serve put a lot of things in perspective for the rest of us."

MEARS: (ON RETURNING TO DOVER.) "Dover is very fast and definitely its own animal. It's a place where experience counts, without a doubt. But we've done some more testing with the Impala SS and feel like we have improved, so hopefully we'll be right where we need to be at Dover this time around."

MEARS: (ON WARMING UP TO THE IMPALA SS.) "The new car has presented challenges for everyone, but I think we are all getting more used to it. The Impala SS is here to stay, and we'll keep working on it. Plus, I think NASCAR has probably learned some things about the COT this year and will look at making some changes in the off-season. It's a work in progress for everyone."