NASCAR Cup
Indianapolis: Casey Mears preview
Casey Mears and No. 41 Target Dodge Target Team Facts: * Indy: Casey Mears shattered the track qualifying record last year with a lap speed of 186.293 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway en route to his second-career pole.
Edited: Aug 5, 2005, 3:27 AM
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Casey Mears and No. 41 Target Dodge
Target Team Facts:
* Indy: Casey Mears shattered the track qualifying record last year with a lap speed of 186.293 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway en route to his second-career pole. He will be making his third start at the famed Speedway in the Target Dodge where his Uncle Rick captured four Indianapolis 500 victories. Mears' best finish at the track is 26th, which he accomplished last year after a flat tire forced him down pit road.
* Chassis: Crew chief Jimmy Elledge and the Target team are looking forward to Indianapolis this weekend with chassis #206. Mears drove this chassis to a ninth-place finish at Chicagoland in July. He also piloted this chassis at Michigan, and despite falling a lap down due to pit stop problems, ran with the top three cars most of the day. The team tested chassis #206 at Indianapolis following the race at Chicagoland.
* Chip Ganassi: Ganassi's NEXTEL Cup teams have 10 starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located just 15 miles from the Target Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar shop. In 10 starts at IMS, his Cup teams have amassed one pole (Mears), two top-fives, three top-10 finishes and led 50 laps.
* Indy Native: Mechanic and rear-tire changer on the No. 41 Target Dodge Jason Sheets hails from Indianapolis. Sheets, who joined the Target team in 2004, and his wife Michelle have one child, a daughter named Natalie.
* Standings: Mears and the Target team jumped two spots in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship standings to 25th after a 21st-place finish at Pocono two weeks ago.
Casey Mears Quote:
On Indy... "Indy will always be an important race to me," said Mears. "I grew up watching my uncle and my dad race at Indy. It's a place that not only means a lot to me, but a lot to Chip. The great thing about Indy is that is doesn't matter what type of car you drive, whether it's an open-wheel car or a stock car, it's still Indianapolis. The Brickyard 400 is one of the biggest races we run all year. There isn't a driver on the circuit that wouldn't want a win at Indy.
"Winning the pole last year has been the highlight of my NASCAR career, I just wish we had a better finish. The guys adjusted on the car all day last year and got it handling much better, but we got stuck in traffic and had the tire go down. We had a great test a few weeks ago, so I am extremely excited to go back. I think the package that we put together is better than what we had last year."
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