• This Week’s Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet at Auto Club Speedway … Casey Mears will pilot Chassis No. 266 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend’s Auto Club 500. This is a brand new Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet Impala SS that will be put through its first paces this weekend.
• California Kid … Mears, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., grew up 165 miles northwest of Auto Club Speedway. He graduated from Stockdale High School where he played football with New York Giants’ backup quarterback David Carr.
• Back Where it Started … Mears began his career racing BMX and ATVs in his native Bakersfield when he was four-years-old. He transitioned to go-karts in 1991 and moved up to the SuperLites Off-Road Series a year later. He went on to claim championship honors in the Jim Russell Triple Crown Series in 1995 before making his Indy Lites debut at the Cleveland Grand Prix a year later for his family-owned and operated team. Mears made his CART debut at Auto Club Speedway on Oct. 29, 2000 for Team Rahal where he started 15th, led 10 laps, and finished fourth. He made his first NASCAR Nationwide Series start at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2001 and debuted in the Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 16, 2003. Since then, Mears has earned a victory in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series and also boasts three checkered flags in the ARCA ranks. In 217 starts on NASCAR’s senior circuit, Mears has notched one win, three poles, 12 top-five and 42 top-10 finishes.
• A Look Back at Last Week … Mears started 25th and finished 15th in last weekend’s Daytona 500. The solid effort was Mears’ fifth top-15 finish in 13 Sprint Cup starts at the “World Center of Racing” and positioned him 16th in points heading into the Auto Club 500.
• Casey Mears Day … Bakersfield Mayor Harvey L. Hall will proclaim Wed., Feb. 18, Casey Mears Day in Bakersfield. Hall will recognize the 30-year-old driver for his lifelong dedication to racing, the tenacity and perseverance it takes to succeed on a national level, his commitment to advancing Jack Daniel’s responsibility statement – Pace Yourself. Drink Responsibly. – and for the loyalty he has demonstrated to the Bakersfield community.
• Meet the Driver … On behalf of Jack Daniel’s, Mears will appear at Randolph’s Lounge on Feb. 18 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. to sign autographs and greet fans. Jack Daniel’s Master Taster Jeff Norman will also be on hand to present Randolph’s Lounge with a hand selected barrel of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel. Randolph’s Lounge is located three blocks north of Rosedale Highway, between Coffee and Fruitvale, at 7737 Meany Avenue in Bakersfield. Tickets are available at the venue or by calling (661) 615-1490.
• Four To Go … RCR has earned a Sprint Cup Series victory at 18 of the 22 tracks on the 2009 schedule. The only tracks on the current schedule where RCR hasn’t earned wins are Auto Club Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Additionally, RCR has Sprint Cup Series wins at 21 tracks overall, including North Wilkesboro (N.C.), Riverside (Calif.) and Rockingham (N.C.) which are no longer on the schedule.
• RCR in SoCal … In 47 overall starts at Auto Club Speedway, RCR cars have earned one pole (Mike Skinner – April 2000) five top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. Clint Bowyer’s third-place run in September 2006 is RCR’s best effort at the moderately-banked D-shaped race track.
• Coming Home … Clint “Ratto” Almquist, mechanic and catch can man for the Jack Daniel’s Chevy, is a native of the Golden State. Almquist, 29, grew up in Blythe, Calif., approximately 175 miles east of Fontana. Gas Man Mike Morrison is also a California native and grew up almost 600 miles north of Fontana in not-so-nearby Redding.
• Catching up with Casey … Mears will be available inside Auto Club Speedway’s press conference room (G2), in the Sprint Cup Series garage area, on Fri., Feb. 20 at 10:30 a.m. to meet with and field questions from the gathered media.
• Casey Mears Live … Mears will sign autographs at the Jack Daniel’s souvenir trailer located in Auto Club Speedway’s display area, outside the front straightaway, on Sun., Feb. 22 at 11:30 a.m. Autographs will be available on a first come, first served basis and will be limited in number due to time constraints.     
• Get the Total Experience … Mears will appear at the Jack Daniel’s Experience Sun., Feb. 22 at Noon. The Jack Daniel’s Experience (JDX) will be positioned in the display area, outside the front stretch, on speedway property. The JDX is a 42-foot tractor- trailer filled with artifacts, state-of-the art video monitors, sound system and graphics to give race fans a taste of Lynchburg (pop. 361), Tenn. and the Distillery. The JDX will be open Fri., Feb. 20 from 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Sat., Feb. 21 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Up to Speed … The Auto Club 500 from Auto Club Speedway will be televised live on FOX Sun., Feb, 22 beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The Motor Racing and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio will also provide live lap-by-lap coverage. Qualifying for Round 2 of the 36-race Sprint Cup Series championship will be televised live on SPEED Fri., Feb. 20 at 6:30 p.m. EST.

 

CASEY MEARS QUOTES

Is the race at California the Mears Gang’s version of a family reunion?

“It seems like California, Las Vegas and Phoenix are the places where I get to catch up with some family and a lot of my friends. That makes it one of the places where you want to win the most because it’s in front of a lot of friends and family. Hopefully, we can go back to California and be ready to go. It seems like RCR made a lot of improvements on their intermediate track program towards the end of last year and, obviously, had some success. I’m looking forward to taking advantage of that when we get out there.”

 

Last year, the race started on Sunday and ended on Monday. Does that present any special set of challenges for a driver and the team?

“I think anytime you have a deal like that, it takes the wind out of your sails. You’re ready to go racing and then there’s a pause. You kind of feel weird the next day. It just feels different. There aren’t as many people in the stands and it feels like you’re just finishing something, not starting a race. In that situation being strong mentally, as a team, is huge. You have to understand that although that the day before was the day, you have to gear back up and be ready to race again on Monday. Sometimes that’s the best time to capitalize.”

 

Since California is the first two-mile race track of the year, do you feel like this weekend is the first real opportunity to see where the Jack Daniel’s team is going to stack up against everyone else?

“It used to be the California/Las Vegas test every year. You’d go out to those tests and know if you were pretty good or if you still had a lot of work to do. Definitely, come California and Las Vegas, we’ll have a pretty good idea of what we need to work on and where we stack up.”