NASCAR: Casey Mears Transcript from Dodge Teleconference

Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Dodge Motorsports Teleconference
Las Vegas Recap, Atlanta advance
         

 

CASEY MEARS (No. 41 Target Dodge Charger)

 

NOTE: Mears celebrated his 27th birthday last Saturday and kept the
party going Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a seventh-place
finish in his Dodge Charger owned by Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates.
Mears has 75 career starts in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racing with 10 top-10
finishes. He jumped 13 spots to 15th in the series standings after the
first three events and is only 46 points out of the coveted top 10.

 

OPENING COMMENTS "We have a new Nicorette Fresh Mint Gum car coming out
this weekend. It's the newest flavor gum they have. There's a lot of
stuff going on with that, too. They're doing a promotion called the
Winner's Circle Program. There's a transporter outside the racetrack
that's going to help promote the brand and help educate folks on how to
quit smoking and how the product works.

 

"We had a really good day (at Las Vegas). We got in a crash at Daytona
and at California we had a little bit of paper on the grille, so luck
hasn't been on our side. Fortunately at Vegas we had a really good car.
Happy Hour was kind of disappointing and we were a little worried going
into the race, but we made some changes that really helped the car out.
We were fast right out of the gate and ran good all day long. We had
trouble with pit stops a little bit and that got us back there a little
ways, but the guys gathered it back up the second half of the race and
we had good pit stops and got a top 10 finish. We really needed that
after the last two races. It was a good gain in the points. We're
definitely in position now to start making some good gains."

 

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GROWING UP IN THE MEARS RACING FAMILY?
"Obviously a lot of good times. My dad and my uncle both raced. I was
fortunate to grow up in a racing family and get to be there first-hand
for everything they did and all their successes and also some struggles
they went through. I think growing up in a family like that it gives you
first-hand experience of how the business works. One of the biggest
things I remember is cheering my dad on in some of the Mickey Thompson
off-road races and watching Rick win that last Indy 500 where he passed
Michael on the outside. I learned a lot of things growing up in a racing
family like that."

 

DISCUSS THE DRIVEABILITY OF THE CHARGER "I think not so much for the new
Dodge but for all the cars in general with the new spoiler package, the
cars are just really, really free. Even though you work on the balance
and for the most part you can get a car tight, even though the car is
tight and not turning well the thing that I've noticed is the back end
of the cars is still unstable. It's a little bit more difficult to get a
balance and it's definitely on a finer edge than in the past. I think
that kinda goes for everybody. For us, for some reason, we've adapted to
it. We had a real good car at California. We just got down a lap early
and couldn't get it back. The same thing at Vegas. It's definitely more
on edge than in the past, but for some reason we've adapted to it well.
I think we thought we lacked a little bit of front downforce in the
past. The new nose brought a little bit more downforce. With the
combination of the amount of rear spoiler they took off, it went a
little bit too far to the front now. I think we've made some chassis
adjustments that have worked out well. Jimmy Elledge has worked real
hard at doing anything he can to secure the rear of the car. He's done
some good things that have really helped me out. The new Dodge is
definitely a good car. I'm real happy with what it's given us in the
front. I've always wanted the car to turn better. Now we're at that
point. That (trash on the grille) was a problem at California, but I
noticed that several different cars had that problem. We had that
problem last year with the old nose. That's something that just happens
at California. Hopefully it doesn't bite us too much more this year.
We're trying to think of ways to cure that at the moment, but all-in-all
as far as performance goes it's been great."

 

COMMENT ON PIT CREW "We made some changes for sure. We went with a
different jackman. We have a whole new front package - tire carrier and
changer. We've been working real hard to get that part of it right.
Unfortunately this weekend we had some problems. The first couple of pit
stops were bad and we got in the back. We had to come back in for
lugnuts. The guys rallied back and really gave me some good pit stops
there at the end and kept me in contention for a good finish."

 

COMMENT ON TIRES "I did a little bit of tire testing at Vegas. We got a
left-side tire that's better, that helps the spoiler package. We were
really, really loose on the first set of tires they brought out, but
they improved them. The fall off is there. I think that's something that
NASCAR wanted to see. They wanted to see the tire fall off pretty good
throughout the run and try to create a little bit better racing. A guy
might be good at the beginning of the run but when his tires fall off
you've got guys coming back through the field. I think it's created some
good competition. From the comments after the race from the fans at
Vegas people were excited and real happy with the race. It created a
little more excitement I think."

 

WHAT TYPE OF INFRACTION WOULD IT TAKE FOR NASCAR TO TAKE A VICTORY AWAY
FROM A DRIVER? "I don't know. That's kind of NASCAR's deal and it's hard
to say. You take something that may not be that bad and they give you a
pretty harsh punishment. Then sometimes you think things that would be
really bad and it ends up being light. I think they mix that up. I think
the reason they mix it up is they try to get in your head that you never
know what to expect as far as a penalty goes. It might be really bad or
it might be not as bad as you think. As long as you don't know, you're
thinking the worse and it keeps you from doing those things. It's really
hard to say. If I could predict that then I'd start writing the NASCAR
rule book. There's a clause in the contract that says it's up to their
discretion, so you just never know for sure."

 

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR RACES? "The main thing is we have notes from last
year. That's the biggest thing we refer back to. We've got a three-car
team, so we've got three times the information. Not only do we refer to
our notes, but we refer to Sterling's and Jamie's. We also take a look
at the notes we had from races earlier that season because along with
the rule changes we have to adapt. You look at where we were last year
and then look at what we had to do to make the car feel better according
to the new rules this year. We'll go into Atlanta and see we where we
were last year and look at the things we changed at California and Vegas
to adapt to the new rules package and apply that to Atlanta."

 

CAN YOU USE ARCA TO HELP PREPARE FOR CUP? "I think more than setup wise,
it's just getting a driver experience. I think they felt (ARCA) was good
for me and Reed (Sorenson) to get some seat time. At the time I needed
it bad. I hadn't driven a lot of stock cars. We were just trying to get
seat time. Fortunately I had a good car and had an opportunity to win
the race. Most of that is just driver development. The tire is totally
different. The spoiler package is also totally different. You can take
ideas, but you can't take the same setup and put it on the cars because
it wouldn't react the same. At Pocono, we did do that. We took the setup
we had in our (ARCA) car and put it in the Cup car and had a good base
to start from. We had to make a lot of changes throughout the weekend to
make it right, but it gave us a good idea of where to start. At
Michigan, we had totally different setups in the car."

 

HOW DIFFERENT OF A DRIVER ARE YOU THIS YEAR? "Night and day, not so much
toward the end of the year last year. From the first year and the first
part of last year, totally different. I feel so much more confident in
our program and myself. All the way around things have gotten better and
it just came with time and experience. Anything you start out doing, you
get a couple of years down the road and look back and think you didn't
know anything. As long as we continue to keep learning and keep growing
on that path the way we've been doing, I don't see any end to it. I
think we're going to be strong in the future. Right now we're a top 10
contender week in and week out as long as we have luck on our side."

 

WHAT IS YOUR STRONG SUIT NOW THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE AT THE BEGINNING OF
LAST YEAR? "Probably patience. I thought I had patience at that point,
but I've learned what that word means now and when to be aggressive and
maybe when to let a guy by if he's catching me. Even three-quarters of
the way through the race if a guy is running you down hard, let him by.
It saves both you and him the trouble and saves you time on the track.
At the end of these races you're going to have a caution or a last run
to the green and that gives you an opportunity to come in and make a
change and be aggressive from then on out. You've got to be aggressive.
You don't want to give spots up, but at the same time you don't want to
hold up yourself on the track and race the guy forever. Two or three
guys behind you might catch you, so there's a time and place to be smart
and aggressive or patient. It's just time in the car. Everybody gives
tips and pointers. You just need seat time. It's trial and error. When
is the right time for you? Everybody is different. It's just something
you've got to learn for yourself."

 

COMMENT ON JIMMIE JOHNSON "Off the track he's one of my best friends.
He's a good guy with a good personality. He's done well in the sport. He
came out of the gate strong. We've got along forever. We ran off-road
together, and he's always been a good guy. On the track, the same way.
He's professional. He does a great job. I've never had any problem with
him on the track at all. I don't know too many people who have. Right
now that whole team is one. He's been doing well outside the track as
well. They've got the total package now, that's for sure. As far as my
dealings with him, he's still the same Jimmie I've known forever. With
success it gives you opportunities to do new things and explore. You
travel a little bit more, stay in better hotels, have better vacations,
but at the same time still grounded."

 

WHEN DID YOU DECIDE RACING IS WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO? "I'd say
probably from the time I was 12 years old. I know that sounds kinda
early, but I started racing when I was three or four - bicycles and
go-karts and four-wheelers. It was all for fun. That's something my dad
and uncle did for a living, but it was fun for me. By the time I got to
12 or 13, I started racing in the Mickey Thompson off-road series. I was
on TV. People were asking for autographs. You started comprehending the
fact you could do this for a living. I was making a little money at it.
I was having fun and I thought if I could do it for a living I was going
to pursue it and see if I could make it happen. Ever since I decided I
wanted to go in that direction, my family has been behind me 110
percent. Fortunately I've gotten to this point now."

 

DID YOU FAMILY PUSH YOU INTO RACING? "I'd say if anything they kind of
distracted me from racing. My mom and my dad had a lot of highs and
lows. I knew it wasn't easy. It's a fickle business and you've got to
put the numbers on the board to keep your job, but you've got to do your
job well or the next guy is going to take it. I wanted to pursue it and
as soon as they knew I wanted to they got behind me and we made it
happen."

 

DID YOU ALWAYS SEE YOURSELF IN AN INDY CAR? "Yeah, I always so myself in
an IndyCar. The first time I probably saw myself as a stock car driver
was probably halfway or toward the end of my Busch season. I didn't
expect to be in the Busch car. It kind of just happened, and I didn't
know anything about it. I got in the car and it was pretty unexpected,
but I couldn't be happier. I would love to run the Indy 500 some day,
but I wouldn't change where I'm at."

 

COMMENT ON A LOW ROOF NOT BEING AN ADVANTAGE "I think it just depends on
your package. It depends on different aero packages on what wind tunnels
you go to and maybe how you've built your car. It would depend on the
quarterpanel heights."

 

COMMENT ON RYAN NEWMAN'S DRIVING STYLE "I think that it's well known
that Ryan is just hard to get around. Some people are like that toward
the end of the race. Ryan tends to be that way all the time, but that's
not a bad thing. It definitely can get frustrating if you're in the
middle of the race and you think it would benefit both of you if he'd
just let you by, but I think at the end of the race, in both of those
situations when Jeff was catching him and I was catching him, he was
racing for position. He was doing the best job to keep the guys behind
him. He was doing all the right things. He was running where I needed to
be. He was trying to keep me behind him. It was a compliment to him and
at the same time you're frustrated trying to get by. It's racing. We're
not playing a kids game out there. We're all running just about 200 mph
on the edge doing the best job we can to win races. At the end of the
race, there are going to be several times you're not going to be happy
with the way another guy drives because we're all fighting for the same
piece of real estate on the track and it's serious. We're not just out
there playing around. You're going to have conflicts and you're going to
have guys upset with other guys. You might have guys that are upset with
the same guys more than once, but that's just the nature of our sport."