2014 Driver Spotlight on Casey Mears: Week 3
By Richard Tix
In the past 4 seasons (2010-2013) Casey Mears has had one total top 10 finish. That is 128 races and only once did he put his car in the top 10. That top 10 came last year at Daytona (Coke Zero 400), which was a 9th place finish.
To start the 2014 season Casey came into the year with high hopes. His Germain Racing Team was switching over and now has RCR backing them. Which seemed like a great thing as Speedweeks in Daytona progressed. The RCR cars were fast all week and Rookie Austin Dillon even took the Pole for the 500.
Here is what Casey had to say to start the season, "Everybody is always excited about a season, but we are especially excited at Germain Racing, for sure. We’ve got a lot of things going on with the partnership with RCR. So far all the testing has gone really well. We tested with a lot of speed here in Daytona and went to Nashville, and that worked out really well, too. It’s a big step for our organization. Last year was our first full season and now having a full relationship with RCR from the technical side to being able to review data, cars parts and pieces, it’s a real big step in the right direction for our program."
All this build up was for good reason as Mears finished in the top 10 for the second straight time at Daytona (10th). The bigger story on Mears however, is that he took that great run at Daytona and turned it into another good run at Phoenix.
This past weekend Mears finished 14th and kept himself in the top 12 in points (I know winning is what matters, but top 12 for a small team is a huge step). He didn't have an amazing day (Only ran 21 laps in the top 15 with a driver average rating of 71.2) but it was a step in the right direction for this team.
It's early in the 2014 season, but so far the Germain Racing team and Casey Mears have been a feel good story. Who knows, maybe the confidence gained from this fast start means the team could pull off a win at some point (Think Daytona or Talledaga)?
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