PREVIEW: CASEY MEARS (NO. 25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC MONTE CARLO SS)
VENUE: INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (2.5-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES (RACE 20 OF 36)
EVENT: SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2007 (160 LAPS, 400 MILES)

I'M NOT SPEEDING, I'M QUALIFYING: When the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series last raced two weeks ago, Casey Mears earned his third career pole position after turning a fast lap of 182.556 mph at Chicagoland Speedway. It was his first pole award with Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet team.

KEEP THOSE TOP-FIVES COMING: Mears turned his first-place starting spot into a fifth-place finish at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland oval in Joliet, Ill. The 29-year-old driver has earned four top-five finishes in the last eight Cup Series races.

CHASING THE CHASE: After the Chicagoland race weekend, Mears jumped two spots in the NEXTEL Cup point standings. He currently sits in 17th and is 230 points out of 12th, the final spot in this year's Chase for the Championship. Since winning the annual 600-mile race at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 27, Mears has gained 18 positions in the point standings.

INDY FLASHBACK: Before qualifying fastest at Chicagoland, Mears' last Cup Series pole award came in August 2004 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of this weekend's NEXTEL Cup race. He set a new track record in the process, turning a lap time of 48.311 seconds around the 2.5-mile oval at a speed of 186.293 mph. The record stands as the fastest lap ever turned by a stock car at Indy.

POLES IN PAIRS: Before snagging the pole award at Indy, Mears won his first career NEXTEL Cup Series pole just one week earlier at Pocono Raceway. With that in mind, the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet team will look to create some repeat history this weekend and turn their recent qualifying win at Chicagoland into a second pair of consecutive poles for Mears.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Mears is the latest member of his family to etch his name in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway record books. In 1979, the Bakersfield, Calif., native was only a year old when his uncle, Rick Mears, captured the first of his four career Indianapolis 500 victories. Additionally, Casey Mears' father, former off-road racing star Roger Mears, competed in two Indianapolis 500s and qualified eighth for the 1983 race.

BEST BRICKYARD FINISH: Casey Mears' best finish in the Brickyard 400 came in 2005 when he led 10 laps en route to a sixth-place finish.

CHASSIS 334 FOR MEARS: Crew chief Darian Grubb has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 334 for this weekend's NEXTEL Cup event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The car last raced in June at Pocono Raceway, where Mears qualified 12th and finished fourth. Chassis No. 334 also saw race action at Texas Motor Speedway in April and logged laps in test sessions at Kentucky Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway earlier this season.

IN GOOD COMPANY: Team owner Rick Hendrick has five victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including the first and most recent Brickyard 400 trophies awarded. Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon led 93 laps on his way to winning the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in 1994, which marked the first of four wins for Gordon at the storied speedway. And last season, Gordon's teammate, Jimmie Johnson, kissed the bricks for the time when he took the checkered flag after 160 laps in the 2006 Brickyard 400.

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CHEVY DAY AT THE BRICKYARD: Casey Mears will participate in Chevy Day at the Brickyard from 9-11 a.m. local time on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The fan-friendly event features NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver autograph and Q&A sessions, entertainment, Chevrolet vehicles on display and much more. All Chevy Day at the Brickyard activities are free and included with $10 gate admission. To participate in the autograph sessions, fans must have a wristband for a designated session. Wristband distribution begins at 8 a.m. in the Bombardier Learjet Pagoda Plaza. For more information, visit www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

TRACKSIDE LIVE: Mears will appear on SPEED's "Trackside Live" program at approximately 6:15 p.m. local time on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For more information, visit www.speedtv.com/programs/9/.

CHEERS FOR MEARS: Mears will greet fans and sign autographs at 9:30 a.m. local time on Sunday at the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC souvenir hauler at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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CASEY MEARS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC MONTE CARLO SS: (ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MEARS AT INDY.) "Obviously, Indianapolis is a very special place for me. My dad (Roger Mears) raced there and my uncle (Rick Mears) won four Indy 500s there. It's a track with a lot of history and heritage, especially in the open-wheel world, and with me racing in NASCAR, it (the Brickyard 400) has become my Indy 500 in some ways. I can't think of a place where a win would mean more to me."

MEARS: (ON HIS THOUGHTS ON RUNNING THE INDY 500 IN THE FUTURE.) "I would still love to run the (Indy) 500 some day. It's one of the greatest races in the world. But at the same time, I'm really enjoying where I'm at right now, and I'm very focused on my career in NASCAR. The longer I race in stock cars, the less I think about it. But I'll never say never -- if a great opportunity with a first-rate organization were to come along, I'd have a hard time saying no to racing the 500."

MEARS: (ON WINNING HIS THIRD CAREER POLE AT CHICAGOLAND TWO WEEKS AGO.) "Winning the pole award at Chicago felt great and showed how our team just keeps getting better. Our No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Chevrolets have been fast week in and week out, and the car we took to Chicago was also the car we won with at Lowe's (Motor Speedway). It's a really good one for us. Our goal now is to just keep our momentum going. We're a long shot to make the Chase, but it's possible. We'll definitely give it everything we've got."