Pocono: Casey Mears preview

Target Team Facts:

Championship Standings:

Casey Mears and the Target Team slipped one spot in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings to 17th with their 28th-place finish at Dover.

Chassis:

Lucky chassis #402 will be heading to the Pocono Mountains this weekend. This chassis collected its third seventh-place finish of the season at Charlotte two weeks ago. The other sevenths were at Las Vegas and Texas earlier this season.

Pocono:

Mears visited victory lane twice following the ARCA races at Pocono last season. The first scheduled ARCA race at Pocono was rained out, so they ran a double-header during the second big racing weekend. Mears won three ARCA races in total last season; with the first win coming in Michigan.

Like Sands Through the Hourglass...:

Mears will head to Los Angeles following the NEXTEL Cup event at Pocono to appear on the NBC Daytime drama "Days of Our Lives." Mears will be playing himself on the soap opera which is currently third in the Nielsen ratings. He made his acting debut as an extra on FOX's "Party of Five."

Testing:

The Target Team spent two days at Chicagoland Speedway testing for the July 11th NEXTEL Cup event. Mears earned his career-best start of fourth for the Cup race and captured the pole in the Busch Series race at Chicago last year.

Casey Mears Quotes:

On Pocono...

"After winning those two ARCA races last year I'm pretty confident heading back to Pocono,"said Mears. "I like tracks where you get to shift, it makes the 200-lap race more exciting and fun for a driver. Pocono is one of the most unique and tricky tracks on the circuit. Hopefully we can pull out a top finish and gain back some momentum."

"We are taking a good car this weekend. It's actually the Target Dodge I just tested with at Chicago this week. I want the car to work well in all three corners, but you know that it's just not possible at Pocono. The best case scenario for my driving style is to be as loose as I can stand it in turn 1 so that the car will work well for me in turn 3."