Casey Mears, #41 Target Dodge, Food City 500 Advance
RACE INFORMATION: EVENT: Food City 500 (race 6 of 36) TRACK: Bristol Motor Speedway QUALIFYING: Friday, March 21, 3:00 p.m. EST RACE: Sunday, March 23, 1:00 p.m. EST BROADCAST: FOX television and PRN radio TARGET TEAM FACTS: * Chassis: Team Target is taking chassis # 112 to Bristol. This is the same car that finished second in the Food City 500 last season with driver Jimmy Spencer. * Mears is the only Raybestos Rookie to have started in all five races this season and not have a DNF. * Mears and McMurray are the only two Raybestos Rookies that have started all five races without using a provisional. Mears is currently second in Raybestos Rookie point standings (behind teammate Jamie McMurray). * Casey Mears and Jamie McMurray are the first teammate rookies to compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. * Mears became the first rookie to lead a lap and the only rookie to lead a lap in the Daytona 500. CASEY MEARS QUOTES: Thoughts on Bristol... "Out of all the short tracks Bristol is probably the fastest one. I like the speed a lot; I like places that are fast. Bristol is just high banked and wide open. It's one of those races where you have to survive first to win. It's going to be one of the first places I've gone to this season that we haven't tested at. Atlanta I didn't test at and then Bristol is going to be the next place that we race at that we haven't tested at. We'll just have to take what these guys learned last year and hopefully it will be good enough." Have you earned the respect of the veterans to treat you nice at Bristol? "I don't think that even if you're a veteran and have been around forever that you're going to get treated nice at Bristol. Nobody gets treated nice at Bristol. Everybody gets moved out of the way. I think it's going to take half the year or all of this year to earn the respect from the veterans. But I do know that we've made a lot of progress, just as far as talking to the guys. There are a lot of guys that feel more comfortable racing around me now." BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY STATS: Casey Mears, Busch Series DATE RACE LOCATION START FINISH STATUS 3/23/02 Channellock 250 Bristol Motor Speedway 27 23 Running 8/23/02 Food City 250 Bristol Motor Speedway 21 40 Engine TEAM TARGET CREW: Name Crew position Race shop duty Hometown Casey Mears Driver Driver Bakersfield, California Jimmy Elledge Crew Chief Crew Chief Redding, California Andy Graves Team Manager Team Manager Syracuse, New York Tony Glover Team Manager Team Manager Kingsport, Tennessee Al Shuford Team Trainer Team Trainer Shelby, North Carolina Darren Wolfe Front Tire Changer Front Mechanic Fletcher, North Carolina Marty Forcier Front Tire Carrier Paint Shop Superior, Wisconsin Randy Cox Rear Tire Changer Car Chief Trinity, North Carolina Heath Cherry Rear Tire Carrier Race Day Only Belmont, North Carolina Mark Jacobs Jack Man Race Day Only Ft. Walton Beach, Florida Les Huntley Gas Man Suspension Specialist Renwick, Iowa Todd Anderson Catch Can Man Chassis Setup Jewell, Iowa Doug Spees Windshield Tire Specialist Toledo, Ohio Andy Graves Spotter Team Manager Syracuse, New York Russ Bales Engine Specialist Engine Specialist Sandy Springs, Georgia Chris Coxon Engineer Engineer Cheboygan, Michigan Paul Clapprood Pit Support Front Mechanic Stafford Springs, Connecticut Trevor Lynse Pit Support Test Team Fergus Falls, Minneapolis Dave Shano Pit Support Truck Driver El Cajon, California Bill Henderson Pit Support Rear Mechanic Brookfield, Massachusetts Roger Parkinson Pit Support Shocks San Diego, California Melissa Zeno Scorer Race Day Only Lynchburg, Virginia