Casey Mears is 23rd in the Nextel Cup Series standings. Credit: Autostock

Mears inching closer to first Cup victory

In final race running No. 41 Dodge, Mears will start sixth

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Casey Mears is speaking. Reed Sorenson is listening. Intently.

It wasn't long ago that Mears was in Sorenson's spot, hanging on every educational tidbit Sterling Marlin or Jamie McMurray could give him. He was the young buck trying to find enough speed to make the show.

	Credit: Autostock
	Lineup Ford 400 Pos. Driver Speed Time 1. C. Edwards 176.051 30.673 2. R. Newman 176.039 30.675 3. K. Kahne 175.896 30.700 4. K. Busch 175.558 30.759 5. M. Martin 175.273 30.809 Complete lineup, click here

These days, on 1.5-mile speedways, anyway, he's among those setting the bar.

Mears qualified sixth Saturday for Sunday's Nextel Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, continuing his recent run of excellence on intermediate racetracks.

"We have a pretty good car -- last night was probably one of the best cars I've had all year, in terms of practice," Mears said. "We're excited about that. Of course, things always change at race time."

Change is the story in Mears' life right now. His fortunes have changed dramatically of late, shifting from possible unemployment to a spot in Chip Ganassi's flagship Dodge Charger, the No. 42 Havoline machine. He'll have a new ride and a new team in 2006.

Life is good. And he's inching ever closer to that elusive first victory. Eighth at Kansas City. Sixth at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Fourth at Texas, in what may have been the best car on the track before a late caution foiled his march to the front.

He'll be driving the same car in Sunday's Ford 400.

"And the good thing about it is, we have a fast car on the long run, just like Texas," he said. "But we're also fast early-on."

Homestead has a way of jump-starting careers. See Greg Biffle, 2004.

"I'd love to win this race and get some momentum going into next season," Mears said. "I think everybody's really fired up about the new situation."

So what's changed?

CASEY MEARS •   Driver Page •   2005 Stats •   Driver vs. Driver •   Dodge Fast Track •   Superstore: Mears gear!

"I think at the beginning of the year, with the new Charger and some of the new stuff thrown at us, we were a little bit behind the 8 ball," Mears said. "And about halfway through the year we started catching up on it.

"We've had some pretty good cars after that, tweaked and tuned and made it better. We're at a point now where it only takes small adjustments to be where we need to be."

Casey Mears is right where he needs to be. Just a few weeks ago, he was uncertain he'd be employed. Then he gets a ride, albeit one without provisional status entering next season.

"It's cool the way it all worked out," Mears said. "The 42 car is going to be a lot of fun. I guess I didn't realize how much I wasn't that excited about running the 30 car until I got the 42 and realized how much happier I was.

"I was trying to put the most positive spin on it I could. I'm sure we'd have done a good job, and they were putting as big an effort towards it as they could. But we didn't have any points. It's a big relief going into Daytona with a number that has points."