Dover: Casey Mears preview

Casey Mears and No. 41 Target Dodge

Target Team Facts:

* Then and Now: Mears continues to make vast improvements from his 2003 rookie season. He is 23 spots ahead in points compared to where he was last season.

* Championship Standings: Casey Mears and the Target Team gained two spots in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings with their seventh-place effort at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Mears now sits 16th, 187 points out of the top 10 and 487 out of first.

* Chassis: Crew chief Jimmy Elledge and the Target Team are bringing chassis #308 to Dover this weekend. Mears drove chassis #308 to a 15-place finish at Darlington earlier this season.

* Dover: Mears lost the battles against "The Monster Mile" in 2003, but is ready to combat the monster again. In two starts at the concrete track, his best finish is 38th. He clipped the wall on lap one of the spring race last year and had two right side tires blow out in the fall race.

Casey Mears Quotes:

On MBNA America 400... "I'm looking forward to this weekend," said Mears. "Although we haven't had good finishes at Dover in the Target Dodge in the past, I think we will do well. I made a rookie mistake last year, but we felt we still had a good car and a good set-up. Dover's tough, but it's also a fun track.

"Every where we have been this season, we have run better than we did last year. This race team continues to get stronger and stronger and I couldn't be more proud. Everyone wants to know what the big difference is, and I don't have a great answer. All I can say is that we took what we learned last year and have worked hard applying it to this season. If I had to pinpoint two things, I would say it is more experience and better communication. "

-cgr-