Fontana: Casey Mears preview

TARGET TEAM FACTS:

* Chassis: Team Target will race chassis #114 at Fontana this weekend. This is the same car that finished 15th at Las Vegas Speedway earlier this season.

* Mears tested with teammate Jamie McMurray at Infineon Raceway on April 22 and 23.

* California natives: Casey Mears (Bakersfield), Jimmy Elledge (Redding), Dave Shano (El Cajon), Roger Parkinson (El Cajon).

* Mears is currently third in Raybestos Rookie point standings, behind McMurray and Biffle.

* Mears and Jamie McMurray are the first teammate rookies to compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.

* Mears became the first rookie to lead a lap and the only rookie to lead a lap in the Daytona 500.

CASEY MEARS QUOTES:

"Racing in California is a lot bigger than what people think. Especially for people back East who live in Charlotte and know how big racing is there. I wouldn't say it's as big as it is in the Charlotte area but there is a real strong racing base here. It might not be as big as it is back East but there are a lot of diehard race fans and racers out here. It's hard to say just how big it is but there is a lot of racing influence in California."

"As far as my racing background at California Speedway, I started racing in 1997 in the Indy Lights car. I raced the Indy Lights car there from 1997 to 2000. In 2000, I also raced the Champ Car race for Bobby Rahal. And in 2001, I raced a Champ Car there for Morris Nunn. So I've raced two Champ Car races there and four Indy Lights races."

"I'm really looking forward to testing Sonoma, it's been a while since I've run a road course. It just feels good to be back in California for the first time in about a year. As far as expectations go, I have high expectations. Just being one of the guys that has a lot of open-wheel background, I'm hoping that I can apply that here."

"I went home to Bakersfield, California for Easter weekend. We had a lot of barbeques and saw a lot of family and friends that I haven't seen in a long time."

-cgr-