Mears At Infineon: Casey Mears has earned one top-10 finish in five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Infineon Raceway. In 2004, Mears started 29th and led seven laps en route to a seventh-place finish.
Road Course Record: Between Infineon and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Mears has 10 total road course starts in the Sprint Cup Series. Mears followed his top-10 Infineon finish with a top-five at the WGI road course in August 2004. He started 16th that day and led eight laps before finishing fourth.
Open-Wheel Training: Before moving to stock car racing, Mears raced in the Indy Lights Championship Series, which competed primarily on road courses. He also recorded wins at road courses in 2000, when he claimed the Champ Car World Series Grand Prix of Houston, and in 2006 when he became the first full-time Sprint Cup Series driver to win the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
No. 5 On Road Courses: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet team has made six total road course starts. In 2007, the No. 5 Chevy earned an eighth-place finish at Infineon Raceway and supported that with a seventh-place result at Watkins Glen. The team also earned a top-10 finish at Watkins Glen in 2006.
Hendrick At Infineon: Hendrick Motorsports has recorded a top-10 finish in 18 of the 19 Sprint Cup events that have been held at Infineon Raceway. Overall, Hendrick drivers have recorded five wins, 20 top-five finishes and 29 top-10s.
Track Tested: The No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet has been tested twice in the past six weeks on Virginia International Raceway’s north course, a 2.25-mile track. While the VIR track is different from the one in Sonoma, the team was able to gain information about the handling of the car.
New Chassis: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-505 for Sunday’s road course race at Infineon Raceway. Chassis 5-505 has never been raced, but was tested at VIR earlier this season.
Quotes
CASEY MEARS, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET (ON WHAT THE TEAM LEARNED DURING TWO TEST SESSIONS AT VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY.): “Infineon Raceway is a lot different than the track we tested at VIR. We can’t really test the car on speed because the tracks are so different, but we can test out the feel of the car on a road course. Infineon calls for a lot of forward bite because the track is so hot and slick, and I think we learned what will help that over the two tests.”
MEARS (ON HIS PERFORMANCE AT INFINEON.): “This is probably the most difficult track for me on the circuit. I used to say Martinsville was, but we finished in the top 10 there earlier this year, so I can’t say that anymore. I’ve had some decent finishes in Sonoma, but I’ve never had the speed that I wanted there. Running well (at Sonoma) is a lot about not making mistakes. It’s hard to pass there, too, so you have to time that stuff perfectly.”
MEARS (ON HOW HIS OPEN-WHEEL CAREER HAS HELPED HIS ROAD COURSE ABILITIES.): “It’s definitely helped. I basically grew up on road courses. The only difference is that I was racing on them in 1,800-pound cars, now I’m trying to steer a 3,600-pound car around the same track. (LAUGHS.) I’ve got to be a lot more patient in a stock car. These cars are extremely hard to get around a road course. To be honest, it just doesn’t work at all. Even when the cars are great, they don’t feel good. There’s no real similarities in the feel of the cars, but it’s definitely helped to have more experience on road course tracks.”
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM’S TEST SESSIONS AT VIR.): “The first time we tested at VIR back in May, we went just to figure out what we needed from the race car. I think we made big improvements during that session. The second time we went, just two weeks ago, it was more for Casey to get the feel of the car on the road course environment refreshed in his mind. The first time was about the car. The second was about the driver getting more laps.”
GUSTAFSON (ON HIS OPINION OF ROAD COURSE RACES.): “I really like road courses. They’re definitely a challenge. There are a lot of aspects that the team will deal with at Infineon and Watkins Glen that we never really have to think of elsewhere. For starters, we have to make the car can turn right. The speeds greatly vary per corner, and have to figure out how to balance those speeds out to get the most from the track in general, not just a turn at a time. Braking is at a premium. All of that together makes the setup of the car fun. I like challenges, so I look forward to these road course races.”
GUSTAFSON (ON PIT STRATEGY ON ROAD COURSE EVENTS.): “Pit strategy is a big part of success on road courses. If you make a bad pit call, you’ll fall way behind and that kind of deficit is really hard to overcome. In the same sense, if you make the right call, you’ll get great track position, and it’s hard for the guys behind you to pass you. So, track position, I guess you could say, is extremely important, and pit stops play a huge part of that on road courses.”
