Conversation: Casey Mears

The names Hendrick and Mears are synonymous with success inside the racing industry. So outside looking in, one might assume Casey Mears, nephew to racing legend Rick Mears and driver for Rick Hendrick, would become an instant sensation.

Well it's just not that simple. A ride with NASCAR's most dominant team doesn't guarantee you a spot in the top 10 or even top 20 in Mears' case. The 29-year-old driver of the No. 25 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports is uneasy sitting 35th in the point standings and knows it's going to take more than blood line to overcome his predicament.

Despite the growing pains of a new team this season and tumultuous turns on the track, Mears said he will find his way to Victory Lane just as his three teammates have early in this season.

That's if he can keep one of those teammates off his tail in Richmond this weekend ...

Hard-hit luck

Casey Mears continued to be plagued with bad luck. And just when things couldn't get worse for the No. 25 team after wrecking at Talladega.

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Q: You led your first lap on the season at Talladega, first career lap in the No. 25 Chevrolet. Unfortunately you got wrecked, by your own teammate no less (watch video). What happened?

Mears: It was just a miscommunication deal. We have a program within our organization where we are all in communication about when to pit. All of our engineers shoot messages back and forth but for some reason the 48 didn't get the message. And I also waved off, both the front and backstretch, out my left-side window signaling to Jimmie [Johnson] I was going to pit. I got on the brakes and [Johnson] ended up getting in the back of me.

Jimmie just never saw it. Between all of those things, it just didn't work out.

Jimmie is probably my best friend in the world, so I know he didn't do it on purpose.

Q: Are you able to laugh about it yet?

Mears: Yeah we joked about it on his radio show, we are great friends and nothing will ever get in the way of that. It was completely unintentional. We were laughing and saying he doesn't mess around. If he's going to wreck you he's going to wreck you. Jimmie doesn't do anything halfway. He did a good job.

Q: You're car looked great Sunday, in fact, on Lap 98 you took the lead while Johnson and Jeff Gordon lined up behind you to make it a 1-2-3 run for Hendrick Motorsports as the race crossed the 100-lap mark.

Mears: We did. I don't know. We had some really good teamwork going on there, running 1-2-3 and just working with each other. As for my team, we are progressing and bringing Darian Grubb on board as crew chief has been great. We've got fast cars and capable people and it's a big transition and it may take some time to get things worked out and we will.

Q: Jeff Burton was the victim of a chain-reaction wreck in Talladega. Afterwards he said, "I still believe, though until NASCAR starts penalizing for causing wrecks, it's never going to quit. The people who cause them never get in them and they'll go on without any penalty whatsoever." What do you think about that and should drivers be penalized?

Mears: I'm not blaming anything on the media, but you have to take in consideration that when comments are made directly after a race, lots of emotions are involved. The tone or approach is going to be a little or a lot different afterwards. I'm not saying [Burton] did not mean what he said, but obviously after accidents emotions are running high. We are all human and it's a part of racing. I don't know how NASCAR could police it any better that they already do. We are human and we all make mistakes.

Q: Was this a typical Talladega race in your opinion?

Mears: Other than my incident, I thought it was a tame Talladega. Everyone was pretty safe and smart for the most part. I was very surprised how patient everyone was being.

Q: Assessing the start of your season, many of the races, well, have been a wreck, no pun intended. Does the word "fluke" come to mind when describing your season thus far?

Mears: I've never seen a season go down like this before. Every time we turn around it seems like we are getting caught up in a wreck or run into some kind of issue. You could say fluke, wrong place at the wrong time or whatever, but like Rick Hendrick said, you can't continue to have bad luck forever. At some point you're going to have clean sailing.

We are a new team and things are starting to gel. The season didn't start the way we wanted and we had a lot of work to do at the beginning of the year to get things right and it got us into this hole.

I've learned enough now to be able to win races. I feel like I'm with the best team in NASCAR and in a great position, but we've had some bad luck this year and a lot of restructuring. The team is coming around. Internally, we all know and understand that we are not a 35th-place team.

Q: Well after Richmond, you'll be joy riding on Sunday in the third annual Ricky Hendrick Memorial Charity Ride, presented by the Hendrick Foundation for Children. The event, open to the public, begins at 7:30 a.m. at Knights Stadium in Fort Mill, S.C., and concludes at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Mears: Yeah, I'm really excited about that. Ricky Hendrick was a special guy to me and being a part of this charity ride is a great way to remember him and it's a great cause.

Q: We hear you have three motorcycles, which one will you ride?

Mears: A Heritage soft tail, it's black. This particular bike means a lot because my grandfather had one like it. Mine is like an early 1990s throwback old-school Harley. My dad had one as well so I decided to get one.

Q: There's a lot of talk about drivers getting personal trainers these days and working on their fitness. Some claim peak physical condition provides a competitive edge. Where do you weigh in on the subject?

Mears: We have a trainer at Hendrick Motorsports ... he's doing a great job. Unfortunately there's not a whole lot of time to workout.

Some guys never workout and are competitive. Racing is an athletic sport and it's physically demanding. If you work out and stay in shape you can be more comfortable in the car, but the biggest benefit I see is when you're in an accident. In my case, this weekend I was a little sore but if you're in shape I think you can endure a higher impact.

Q: This weekend in Talladega made for interesting headlines -- outspoken drivers, fans pelting cars with beer cans, controversial crashes. What do you make of it all?

Mears: I don't know. I just try to concern myself with my own issues. I heard about the fans. It's upsetting when I see the lack of respect for the sport. The fans need to know, hey we like Junior. too. He's a good guy, but the guys who do the best job out there win the race.

Jeff [Gordon] did an outstanding job this weekend, and it's upsetting when fans throw beer cans, especially full beer cans. That's dangerous.

Q: How do you unwind after a crazy weekend like Talladega?

Mears: I don't know, spend time with friends. [Sunday] night when I got home I got in the Jacuzzi because I was a little sore. I went to sleep early so I could get to the shop early and talk about what to fix.

Q: Outside of racing, what's new?

Mears: I'm building a new house, but other than that, racing is pretty consuming right now.