POLE SITTER: Casey Mears earned his third career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole position at Chicagoland Speedway last year. Mears rounded the 1.5-mile tri-oval at an average speed of 182.556 mph for a lap time of 29.580 seconds.
MEARS IN CHI-TOWN: In five career Sprint Cup Series starts at Chicagoland Speedway, Mears has earned one top-five finish and two top-10s. Mears led five laps last year before finishing fifth—his career-best result at the track. Mears was the highest Hendrick Motorsports finisher that day.
FIRST WIN: At Chicagoland Speedway in 2006, Mears earned his first career NASCAR victory in the July 8 Nationwide Series event. Mears started seventh and led 47 laps before taking the checkered flag. He competed in only nine Nationwide events that year, earning four top-five finishes and five top-10s.
NO. 5 AT CHICAGOLAND: Under the leadership of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet earned a third-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in 2006. It was the best-ever Chicagoland finish for the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team.
CHASSIS 500: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-500 for Saturday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway. Mears drove the milestone chassis at both Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway this season.
CHEVY HEAVY: Six of the seven 400-mile races held at Chicagoland Speedway have been won by a Chevrolet driver. Two of those victories were recorded by current Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2005) and Jeff Gordon (2006).
HENDRICK IN THE WINDY CITY: In seven events at Chicagoland Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has recorded one win, 11 top-five finishes and 14 top-10s. Hendrick has placed at least one driver in the top five and at least two in the top 10 in all but one event at the 1.5-mile tri-oval.
QUOTES
CASEY MEARS, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET (ON IF HE CONSIDERS CHICAGOLAND HIS MOST SUCCESSFUL RACETRACK.): “It’s hard to say that it’s been my most successful because I won a Sprint Cup race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. So it’s hard to say anything tops that, but I will say that I’ve been consistently successful at Chicagoland. Something with this track just suited my driving style from the very beginning. I like 1.5-mile tracks the best in general, but it just seemed like every time we raced at Chicagoland it just worked. Then last year I came in and got the pole and went on to finish fifth so that was a great weekend for us, too. Hopefully it continues.”
MEARS (ON EARNING HIS FIRST NASCAR VICTORY AT CHICAGOLAND.): “That was a great, great day. I was only running part time (in the Nationwide Series) with the team that year and everything was just really relaxed and casual. We were all just having fun. And we started rattling off some top-five finishes. But we definitely topped it off with the win that day.”
MEARS (ON THE NO. 5 TEAM’S LATEST SET OF TOP-10 FINISHES.): “We knew from the beginning of the season that this team was capable of top-five finishes and wins. We’ve been testing a lot—more than I’ve ever tested—lately. I think the overall communication of the team has improved, too. We’ve learned a lot about each other, and of course are still learning a lot about the Impala. These finishes are long overdue, and I expect many more of them before the season’s over.”
MEARS (ON HIS OUTLOOK FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE 2008 SEASON.): “I know that a lot has gone on lately with the team and myself. But we’ve all made it very clear that our focus is on this season and our goals haven’t changed. We still want to win races. We’ve consistently moved up in points, and that’s something that we want to see continue, too. I’m committed to this team for the rest of this season, and they’re committed to me. We want to get the CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet in Victory Lane for sure.”
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET (ON HIS OUTLOOK FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE 2008 SEASON.): “I’m real optimistic that this CARQUEST/Kellogg’s team can win races and run really well. We’ve struggled at the 1.5-mile tracks, and we’re working really hard on those with testing. All the other formats—road courses, short tracks, restrictor-plate tracks—we’ve been decent at and run pretty well. We’re putting the pieces together on the Impala every week and learning how to get a better handle on it. I really anticipate us making some positive things happen.”
GUSTAFSON (ON HIS OPINION OF NASCAR’S TESTING POLICY.): “I think the direction to allow teams to choose their own venues is a positive. The way we do it now really hurts everybody, especially rookie drivers that may have never been to some of these unique tracks like Pocono and Infineon. Allowing the teams to choose allows them to decide where they really feel they need the most work. The format we run now, it’s actually tough to test accurately because of how many cars are out there. It feels more like a ‘happy hour’ (final practice session) than a test. I like the direction NASCAR is looking at, but they need to set a certain amount of days, by car number, that the teams can test throughout the season. Kind of reminiscent of the early 2000s.”
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