Casey Mears, Driver Of The No. 24 National Guard Chevrolet: (On Working With His Future Sprint Cup Crew Chief, Alan Gustafson, For The First Time. ) “This is an opportunity for us to get up to speed and get into a race scenario so that we have something to chew on over the off-season. I may say, ‘I need you to do this for me, ’ and he might say, ‘I need you to tell me this better. ’ It’s just a matter of learning communication. So when we’re working on a scale of one to 10 and I say the car is an eight, he’s not thinking it’s a six. That’s the type of stuff we have to weed out early so that we can hit the ground running next year. “
MEARS: (On Spending Time With Gustafson. ) “We’ve actually spent a good amount of time on flights together recently. We’ve had some quality time just talking. I really like him. I think he’s a quality guy and has a great attitude about the sport. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together next year. It’s definitely going to be different and we’ve got some things to learn. At the same time, with the experience that team has and how well they’ve done over the last few years, obviously he’s a smart guy. If we can just work on getting our communication right, we’ll be ready to go. “
MEARS: (On Working With Gustafston For The First Time During A Race. ) “We noticed in our test at Atlanta that things went well and we communicated well, but there’s all the time in the world during a test. I think he understood what I wanted out of a car. All of that went really well there, but I think that until you get into a race scenario you’re not going to find out what you need. You’re not going to be able to work with the pit crew as well and find out what those guys need either. “
MEARS: (On His Expectations For The 2008 Season. ) “We expect to win races, win poles and get into the Chase. That’s the whole goal. If you’re in the Chase, then you have an opportunity to win the championship. The capabilities are definitely there with the team. We just need to go out and have a good first part of the season and not get down as bad as we did this year. “
MEARS: (ON CUP DRIVERS DOMINATING THE NASCAR BUSCH SERIES. ) “The Busch Series is still an area that people really look at for new talent. But it’s so saturated with Cup drivers right now that the guys that would be getting noticed are not. That makes it difficult. Going into the 2008 season, with the way the rules are, I don’t think it’s going to be as big of a help to run the Nationwide car at some of these races, especially at 1.5-mile tracks where we’re running the Impala SS (Car of Tomorrow). It’s definitely going to be an issue going back and forth (between Cup and Busch). It’s not going to be the same. I think a lot less Cup drivers will run the Nationwide races next year. ”
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