PREVIEW: CASEY MEARS (NO. 25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC MONTE CARLO SS)
VENUE: HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES (RACE 36 OF 36)
EVENT: SUNDAY, NOV. 18, 2007 (267 LAPS, 400 MILES)

MEARS AT HOMESTEAD: Casey Mears will make his fifth NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. Mears posted a career-best fifth-place finish at the track after leading 75 laps in 2005.

MEMORABLE YEAR: For Mears, Sunday's race will mark the end of a memorable first season with Hendrick Motorsports. In May, Mears earned his first NEXTEL Cup victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway, celebrating an emotional milestone in his racing career.

GOODBYE TO THE '25': The No. 25 Chevrolet will make its final start for Hendrick Motorsports Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports first entered the No. 25 Chevy in the 1986 Daytona 500 with Tim Richmond behind the wheel. The No. 25 has had 11 different drivers, including car owner Rick Hendrick, in 656 starts. Six drivers have visited victory lane with the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, with Casey Mears adding win No. 17 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May.

HENDRICK POWERHOUSE: Hendrick Motorsports has accumulated 18 NEXTEL Cup wins in 35 races this season. All four of the organization's drivers have visited victory lane, with Mears posting win No. 9 for the team at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May. Jimmie Johnson leads the team with 10 wins, while Jeff Gordon has six and Kyle Busch one.

OFF-SEASON PLANS: Mears will keep a busy schedule during the off-season as he gears up for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series campaign. For Thanksgiving, he will fly to the West Coast to drive his off-road car with friends and family in the desert sand dunes. Mears is also considering a trip to Mexico with his parents, Roger and Carol Mears, and will be in North Carolina for the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC team and Hendrick Motorsports Christmas parties in December.

GRUBB'S CHOICE: Crew chief Darian Grubb has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 384 for Sunday's race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mears most recently drove Chassis 384 at Atlanta Motor Speedway last month.

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AUTOGRAPHS AVAILABLE: Casey Mears will greet fans and sign autographs at 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday at the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC souvenir hauler outside Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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CASEY MEARS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC CHEVROLET: (ON HIS BIGGEST LEARNING CURVES OF THE 2007 SEASON.) "We decided to build some new cars at the beginning of the year to get to where the 24, 48 and 5 teams were. Once we did that, it seemed like the continuity of just learning each other was the biggest thing. Just learning personalities and finding out who does what. That's the good thing that I've gotten out of the way now. I can walk down to the shop and I know who is in what departments and what they do. Now we can just focus on speed. The relationships will obviously grow, and working with the 5 team next year I'll have a lot of learning to do about what those guys do. But I got the big stuff out of the way, and hopefully we'll jell pretty good next year."

MEARS: (ON WHAT HAS STOOD OUT TO HIM IN 2007.) "Our win at Charlotte is the biggest thing that stands out. Also just the whole team and the way they function and work. It's been really impressive just seeing how Rick (Hendrick) treats his people and what type of team we have. We have a lot of good people and a lot of the guys are great friends. I think that everything we've done this year will help build momentum for next season. Obviously there will be a lot of changes going into next year, but with the people we have on the 5 program, it's going to be a good deal."

MEARS: (HAS THE 2007 SEASON GONE FAST OR SLOW FOR YOU?) "The first part of it went by really slow because we were just struggling and having so much trouble. Then once it started going well, it's gone by too fast. But when it starts getting toward the end of the year, everyone is ready for a break. I'm ready to take a deep breath and get ready for next year."

MEARS: (ON HIS PLANS FOR THE OFF-SEASON.) "I'm leaving the off-season open right now. I'm going to the Dumont dunes to play around in the sand dunes again. I'm thinking about running down to Baja with my family for Christmas. I might spend New Year's in Mexico -- I'm not sure yet. We've got some Christmas parties with Hendrick Motorsports, too, so I want to be around for those. I'm just starting to build a new house so I'm going to be about waist-deep in that come December time, too."

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DARIAN GRUBB, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC CHEVROLET: (SUMMARIZING THE NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC TEAM'S SEASON.) "Our season didn't start out that great with all the bad luck we had and all the bad situations we got ourselves into while trying to learn our new roles and new teammates. We made a lot of progress in a very short time and built a strong, competitive group that we're proud to say will be the basis for Dale (Earnhardt) Jr.'s effort next year. We fell back to 35th in points and rallied back into contention for the Chase by the end of the regular season, but didn't quite make it. Our guys haven't given up and are still fighting for 13th all the way to the wire. We're proud of the small successes we've had and being able to make this Casey's most successful season ever in Cup. We've all matured as a group and we're all excited about the new challenges that next season will bring."

GRUBB: (ON THE TEAM'S BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS AND OBSTACLES OF THE 2007 SEASON.) "The biggest achievements of our season would have to be getting Casey his first win at Lowe's Motor Speedway and turning our season around from 35th in points to contender for the Chase and then the 13th spot. The biggest obstacle would be falling so far behind at the start of the season and having to claw our way back up."

GRUBB: (ON PREPARING FOR HIS NEW ENGINEERING ROLE AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS IN 2008.) "Preparing for my transition into the engineering role for next year shouldn't be much different than what I'm doing now. I'll be working closer with all the departments within Hendrick Motorsports to help the flow of information between all of our teams and all of our various groups. I'll start concentrating less on one car's performance and do all I can do to help all four of our cars perform to the best of their ability. I'll be working very closely with Alan (Gustafson) and Tony (Eury) Jr. to help them in any way possible and help keep the information flowing to and from the 24 and 48 teams as well."