Road courses like home for Mears

SONOMA, Calif. (June 18, 2008) -- Casey Mears, driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet, will be in his element during the 219-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event this Sunday at Infineon Raceway. “I basically grew up on road courses,” Mears said. Racing was his family’s passion. His dad, Roger, is an off-road racing legend, and his uncle, Rick, is a four-time Indianapolis 500 champion. It didn’t take long for Mears to start his own career in the sport. One year after claiming the Jim Russell USAC Triple Crown Championship in 1995, the young Mears made his debut in the Indy Lights Championship Series. Four years later, he won his first road course race -- the Champ Car World Series Grand Prix of Houston. Mears made his Sprint Cup Series debut in 2003 and has drawn upon his road racing experience when it comes to competing at tracks like the one in Sonoma . He admits, though, it can be tricky to get used to driving a stock car on road courses. “I was racing on them in 1,800-pound cars,” Mears said. “Now I'm trying to steer a 3,600-pound car around the same track. I've got to be a lot more patient in a stock car. These cars are extremely hard to get around a road course.” In 10 total road course starts in the Sprint Cup Series, Mears has earned one top-five finish and two top-10s. He recorded one of those top-10s at Sonoma in 2004. In 2006, Mears made NASCAR history when he co-drove the winning entry for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, becoming the first full-time Cup driver to do so.