Casey Mears, #41 Target Dodge, Coca-Cola 600 Advance
RACE INFORMATION: EVENT: Coca-Cola 600 (race 12 of 36) TRACK: Lowe's Motor Speedway QUALIFYING: Thursday, May 22, 7:00 p.m. EST RACE: Sunday, May 25, 5:30 p.m. EST BROADCAST: POX television and PRN radio TARGET TEAM FACTS: -1000 Miles: Casey Mears will run 1000 miles at Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend. He is competing in the ARCA race, Busch race, and Winston Cup race this weekend. -ARCA: Mears will run the No. 77 Target Dodge in the ARCA race. He competed in two ARCA races last season - Daytona and Talladega. -Busch: Mears will run the No. 19 Microsoft Dodge in the Busch Series race for Braun Racing. He will be teammates with Sterling's son Steadman Marlin who will be running the No. 30 Keystone Light car for Braun Racing. -Winston Cup: Team Target will race chassis #308 at the Coca-Cola 600. This is the same car that raced in The Winston Open. -Raybestos Rookie: In the first race of 2003, Mears became the first rookie to lead a lap and the only rookie to lead a lap in the Daytona 500. Mears is currently third in Raybestos rookie of the year standings. -Memorial Day 1100: Team owner Chip Ganassi will be traveling from the Indy 500 to the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25. He has two cars entered in the open-wheel race (Scott Dixon and Tomas Scheckter). CASEY MEARS LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY STATS: Busch Series DATE RACE LOCATION START FINISH STATUS 5/25/02 CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 Lowe's Motor Speedway 30 23 Running 10/12/02 Little Trees 300 Lowe's Motor Speedway 15 27 Running Winston Cup DATE RACE LOCATION START FINISH STATUS 5/17/03 The Winston Open Lowe's Motor Speedway 19 12 Running CASEY MEARS QUOTES: "I am racing with a lot of guys who have been running stock cars for a lot of years. Ganassi wanted to give me a little more seat time. He put an ARCA deal together with Target as the Sponsor. We are going to race the Busch race in the #19 Braun Racing car with Microsoft as the sponsor." "Very excited about all of this, a lot of good key people involved. It's a great way for me to get more experience, should be a lot of fun, but it is going to be very busy." "As of now we are going to run Charlotte and Dover in the Busch car. Anything beyond that, we are not sure of. Those two races are plenty for now, there is a lot on our plate. Everyone needs to get things settled in, especially on the Braun side. They have had a lot of changes as of recently. We are going to run those two races then everyone is going to buckle down and get some sponsorship for the remainder of the year. I am really excited about it. Running more Busch races is something I am really looking forward to." "The ARCA deal will help me out because we are not testing in places like Pocono and Michigan. We will be able to take the ARCA car there. It's just going to be a good thing all around for everybody." "All Wednesday in the ARCA car, all day Thursday in the Cup car, all day Friday in the Busch car, and then a mixture of all of them on Saturday. Very busy weekend and I like it that way, though. One weekend I did an Indy Lights race and an Indy car race all in one weekend. It keeps you busy and doesn't give you time to think about anything outside of racing and keeps your mind focused the whole time." "I really feel confident that we can do well. It has never been an issue on our side of things. I think the team and myself both know that we can do well. We ran inside the top 10 in Richmond, we ran inside the top-10 and top-15 in several races. We were 6th in Darlington for awhile. We have had our signs of brilliance where we ran good, but we just haven't finished it off that way. Whether it be me making a rookie mistake or getting caught up in something that wasn't our fault. Obviously we are not having a good year, and we are not happy with that, but we do know what we can run. We do know that we can run in the top-10 or top-15, but our goal now is to run inside the top-20. We have had so many opportunities to be up there and something goes wrong, but now instead of focusing on running in the front, we will take a top-20 and know that we are consistent. Our goals have changed a bit, but at the same time it's not from a lack of confidence. I am very confident that I can get the job done. The team is behind me one hundred percent and they know that I am behind them as well. We know we can do well, it's just a matter of getting the job done." "Everyone has been really good at Ganassi. I just had a meeting with Tony Glover and Andy Graves yesterday. They reassured me yesterday that they are in it for the long haul. They have made an investment here and they want to make sure things are good so we can buckle down and focus on next season. I can't worry about anything. I know that I am going out there doing the best that I can and I know that the team is doing their best too. The results are going to come. It's just a matter of putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together. It's funny at the races I am running well, those seem to be where I make my rookie mistakes, and the ones where we could of had a good finish we seem to get caught up in someone else's mess. We still have a lot of the year to go. I am not too worried about it. We are just going to do the best job we can and just go from there." "In the wind tunnel the numbers that we got were great and it should be a good car, but it hasn't really proven it to us yet. At the Open we ran okay. At the same time we feel like we can work on it and get it better. How we finish the 600 will dictate the rest of the year with the car." "Every track is different and has little corks that you have to learn. I like the Texas, the Charlotte's, and the Atlanta's. I really like Charlotte. I feel comfortable at Charlotte. We've yet to get the car working good there, but I like the track." "I will watch the Indy 500. That race to me is something I want to race so bad, it's like torcher to me to watch all of the guys racing, but I will definitely watch it. " 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