Casey Mears finished second at the Daytona 500. Credit: Autostock


Inside the Numbers
Casey Mears' past 10 Cup starts
Track Start Finish

Talladega 26 38
Kansas 34 8
Charlotte 9 6
Martinsville 16 22
Atlanta 38 21
Fort Worth 35 4
Phoenix 34 22
Homestead 6 5
Daytona 14 2
California 20 7
Average 23.2 13.5


In contract year, Mears in midst of best stretch
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
March 10, 2006
03:58 PM EST (20:58 GMT)

LAS VEGAS -- In the midst of the finest stretch of his brief Nextel Cup career, Casey Mears will soon begin talks with Chip Ganassi on a contract extension.

Mears, who turns 28 on Sunday, sits second in points heading into Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.

He is in the fourth and final year of his contract with Chip Ganassi Racing. Ganassi could have released Mears after the 2005 season, but they renewed his contract for one more year.

"Every year when there is an option on you, you don't know exactly what is going to happen the following year," said Mears. "That is pretty typical of any contract that is structured that way and there was a timeframe there where I wondered what was going to happen."

Before Mears knew his option was being picked up, he was having a lackluster 2005. After Ganassi renewed his contract last August, Mears closed the season with five top-10s, including near-wins at Texas and Homestead.

Mears has seven top-10s in the past 11 Nextel Cup races. By contrast, he only had nine in his first two seasons combined.

Mears has blossomed in recent months despite the uncertainty of the Dodge Charger, which didn't perform well at 1.5-mile and 2-mile tracks in 2005.

Despite what could be perceived as a slight handicap, Mears went on to lead the most laps in the '05 season finale at Homestead, and he started the 2006 with a near-win in the Daytona 500, finishing a career-best second.

Unlike many of the Dodge teams, Ganassi has never flirted with using an Intrepid as an alternative for the Charger. Mears says that his team's focus would suffer by adding an Intrepid to the equation.

Teams also have to do preliminary work on the Car of Tommorow, which makes its debut in 2007.

"If you bring the Intrepid in the mix, you're developing three race cars and that spreads your resources thin," he said. "In our minds, we know there is something missing, but we entertained it, but at the end of the day we decided to stick with the Charger."