Casey Mears
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NASCAR Cup Series Notes
Race Information
● Event: Brickyard 400 (Round 22 of 36)
● Date/Time: Sunday, July 26 | 2 p.m. ET
● TV/Radio: TNT / IMS Radio Network / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90)
● Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana
● Layout: 2.5-mile rectangular oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles (Stages: 50-50-60)
Notes of Interest
● This weekend, NASCAR takes over the city recognized as the “Racing Capital of the World”, taking on the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, highlighted by Sunday’s Brickyard 400 – the Cup Series’ third crown jewel event of the season.
● The inaugural NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the Brickyard 400, held on August 6, 1994. The event marked the first NASCAR stock car race at the legendary track and attracted a record crowd of over 250,000 spectators. Jeff Gordon captured the checkered flag.
● The track’s dimensions have remained largely unchanged since its construction in 1909. IMS has two 0.625-mile straightaways, four geometrically identical 0.250-mile turns, connected by two 0.125-mile short straightaways, termed “short chutes”, between turns 1 and 2, and between turns 3 and 4. The turns have 9° banking, considered relatively flat by American standards.
● Long before Casey Mears made his first NASCAR Cup Series start in the 2003 Brickyard 400, his father, Roger, chased a spot in the Indianapolis 500 while his uncle, four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears, cemented his place among the track’s legends.
By the Numbers
● Sunday will mark Mears’ 14th Cup Series start at Indianapolis and the 496th of his career, moving him one step closer to his milestone 500th Cup Series start, which is scheduled for the Nov. 8 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
● During qualifying for the 2004 Brickyard 400, a crowd of 50,000 spectators saw the NASCAR Cup Series track record fall three times. First, Dale Earnhardt Jr, then Ward Burton, and finally, Casey Mears broke the record while capturing the Pole. Mears posted a lap of 186.293 mph, which broke the previous qualifying record of 184.343, set in 2003 by Kevin Harvick.
● NASCAR Cup Series teams will run a new right-side Goodyear Racing Eagle alongside a familiar left-side tire in this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The new right-side tire features an updated construction with a new tread compound, and will pair with the left-side tire that most recently ran at Chicagoland Speedway. Each team will receive 11 sets for the race (10 new race sets plus one set transferred from qualifying)
No. 62 The Gracie Foundation/APG Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Driver and Crew Chief
Driver: Casey Mears
Hometown: Bakersfield, California
Crew Chief: Darren Shaw
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina