Mears to team with SpongeBob at Lowe's

Casey Mears will be wearing SquarePants when the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series converges on Lowe's Motor Speedway for the October 16 UAW-GM Quality 500.

Actually, Mears' race car will be wearing SquarePants. Or rather, a special SpongeBob SquarePants paint scheme. The Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 41 Target Dodge will be adorned with characters from the upcoming animated film, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Paramount Pictures and Nick Movies will release the film in theaters nationwide on November 19.

Mears joins Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson in promoting the film that same weekend. Johnson and Busch will pilot a pair of SpongeBob SquarePants-themed Lowe's Chevrolets in the SpongeBob Movie 300 NASCAR Busch Series race, sponsored by Nickelodeon. Johnson's No. 48 Monte Carlo will include a full image of SpongeBob across the hood, while Busch's No. 5 will spotlight the character Patrick Star.

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All three SpongeBob SquarePants cars have been replicated in die-cast by Action Performance and are available at the NASCAR.COM SuperStore.

"This fall, SpongeBob SquarePants will be a big hit on the silver screen and an important part of the NASCAR race weekend in Charlotte," said Fred W. Wagenhals, Action Performance's chairman, president and CEO. "Now, SpongeBob is teaming up with Casey Mears, a driver on the rise, for a turn on the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The No. 41 Target/The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Dodge should be quite an attraction on race day."

SUPERSTORE •   Buy special paint scheme die-casts!

The second semester of 2004 has seen sophomore Mears emerge as a driver to watch on the NASCAR Nextel Cup tour. Highlights include back-to-back poles at Pocono and in the prestigious Brickyard 400, as well as his first career top-five finish -- a fourth at Watkins Glen.