Casey Mears

Birthday: 03/12/1978
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA

YEAR-BY-YEAR CUP SERIES RECAP

2011 -- Finished 31st in series points after missing season-opening Daytona 500. ... Earned spot in top 35 in owners' points after season's second race, fell out twice but raced last 27 races locked into top 35. ... Best start, 11th at Indianapolis. ... Average start of 31.4. ... Best finish, 12th at Martinsville-2. ... Average finish of 28.8. ... Eight DNFs held laps completed percentage to 84.5.

2010 -- Finished 36th in series points. ... Ran 21 races for four owners. ... Joined Germain Racing, logging best start and finish while running 12 of last 13 races. Will continue in 2011. ... Best start, ninth, at Talladega-2; average start 27.1. ... Best finish, 21st, at Richmond-2; average finish 29.5. ... Completed 80.2 percent of laps attempted.

2009 -- Finished 21st in series points. ... Best finish a sixth place run at Michigan in August. ... Posted four top-10 finishes, his lowest total since his rookie season (0 in 2003).

2008 -- Finished 20th in series points. ... Best finish a fifth at Sonoma. ... Announced exit from Hendrick Motorsports after two years there, to move to Richard Childress Racing's No. 07 Chevrolet.

2007 -- Finished 15th in series points. ... Finished with career-high five top-fives and 10 top-10s. ... Also won first series race in May at Charlotte. ... Pole came in July at Chicagoland. ... Struggled during first half of season. ... Climbed from low ranking of 35th, in May, to finish inside the top 15.

2006 -- Finished 14th in series points. ... Earned two runner-up finishes, in the Daytona 500 and at Kansas. ... Opened the season with eight consecutive weeks in the Cup Series top 10 in points. ... The 2006 season was the final of Mears' three consecutive seasons driving for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. ... He was named the 2007 driver of Hendrick Motorsports' No. 25 car on June 14, 2006.

2005 -- Finished 22nd in series points. ... Finished in fourth place at both Texas events. ... Captured two top-five finishes and five top-10 finishes in the final 10 events. ... Led a total of 145 laps.

2004 -- Finished 22nd in series points. .... Had first career pole at Pocono in August and followed up the effort with a pole at Indianapolis. ... Posted career-best finish with a fourth at Watkins Glen, lone top-five effort of the season. ... Only Ganassi driver to win a pole in 2004.

2003 -- Finished 35th in points in his rookie season. ... Struggled throughout his rookie season with 10 DNFs. ... Led nine laps. ... Had 11 top-15 qualifying efforts. ... Ran 14 Busch Series races and finished with four top-10s.

PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY

Won career-first stock car race in the ARCA RE/MAX Series on June 14, 2003 at Michigan. Later in 2003 won back-to-back ARCA races at Pocono (July 25, 26). ... Ran 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2003, with four top-10s. ... Finished 21st in his rookie Nationwide Series season in 2002, with one top-five, at Talladega, and two top-10s in 34 starts. Best start, second, came at Nashville-2. ... Announced in December 2002 that he would drive Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 41 Target Dodge in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2003, following his first Nationwide Series season. In 2001, scored two top-10 finishes in four CART starts after replacing Alex Zanardi, who had a major accident in Germany. ... Finished ninth at Talladega in his lone ARCA RE/MAX Series start in 2001. ... In 2000 finished third in the Indy Lights Series, scoring his first win at the Grand Prix of Houston. ... Also made career-first CART start at Auto Club Speedway, finishing a career-best fourth. ... Successfully completed 2000 rookie test for Indy 500. ... In 1999, finished second in Indy Lights Series and became only the fourth driver in series history to complete every lap. ... Won three races in off-road stadium SuperLites in 1996. ... Won 1995 Jim Russell USAC Triple Crown championship at age 17.

NOTEWORTHY

Mears is the nephew of four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears and the son of two-time Indy 500 starter and off-road racing legend Roger Mears. ... Was the second-youngest driver in USAC history to win a feature race (Mesa Marin Speedway, 1994) at age 16. ... Began racing BMX bicycles at age four. ... Mears' home was featured on an episode of "MTV Cribs."