Tag Archives: Casey Mears

With so many drivers' success or failure dependent on luck, the Bristol Motor Speedway is bound to offer you more questions than answers heading into the weekend. Will Kyle Busch continue his winning ways? Can Carl Edwards win the night race at Bristol again? Is Tony Stewart finally going to break the winless streak? Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. avoid another pit road issue? Will Jamie McMurray continue his run of strong finishes? Only this week’s Picks ‘N’ Pans will tell you which guys you should keep on your roster and which ones should be riding the bench after spending half the night with crumpled sheet metal in the garage.

The Watkins Glen race had several road-course ringers in the field but, as usual, a Sprint Cup regular won the race. Is there really any advantage for replacing a team’s full-time driver with a road-course specialist?

I said I wanted to start with a two-car team, and being an upstart, I might not get all the top talent I’d like to have. So what to look for in a second driver? Well, part of success in today’s NASCAR is marketability. That’s right, the ability to look good on TV and push a product to its intended demographic has become increasingly important. I’ll admit, I’ve never quite gotten it--after all, shouldn’t driving ability be paramount? But it’s not always that easy. Here’s my list of five guys in Cup who have those intangibles needed to woo and impress sponsors and fans alike--even if they don’t always get the spotlight.

In this latest edition of Beyond the Cockpit, our Amy Henderson sat down with Casey Mears to talk about the driver's past, present, and future -- with a lot of stops in between. The 30-year-old talks about his beginnings in racing, his family's influence, his friendship with Jimmie Johnson, and the strangest question a fan has ever asked him. It's one-on-one time with one of NASCAR's brightest stars, the nicest guy in the garage according to drivers and fans -- and the latest generation of the legendary Mears Gang.

Hopefully, you enjoyed your off weekend and your fantasy team got well rested -- because man, will they wind up needing that break. This weekend’s Brickyard 400 kicks off a grueling 17-race stretch to championship weekend at Homestead, and it's time to get everything geared up and ready to go for the fantasy home stretch. Unless you went way out on a limb with your picks at Chicago, you likely didn’t see your team get blown away in the Windy City. But with the prestige of winning at the Brickyard up for grabs this weekend, every team is going to be bringing their "A" game this Sunday. As you prepare your team for a race of historic proportions, keep in mind the delicate balance between picking a driver who is hot at a particular track and which drivers were running well before the break... but not three months before. Confused a bit yet? We'll sort it all out for you; just take a deep breath and get ready for the long week ahead by reading the latest edition of Fantasy Picks 'N' Pans.

As teams approach one of the most prestigious races in the Sprint Cup Series and fans and drivers are refreshed following a rare off weekend, it's a perfect opportunity to recognize some of the streakiest drivers heading into this year's Brickyard 400. Of course, one man has been in a league of his own all season - but another driver has surprised in mirroring Kyle Busch's points total over the past nine races. Who is that famous wheelman giving Busch a run for his money? And who's season is suddenly running on life support after a strong early start? See who are some of the worst drivers in the series as of late, and who has an opportunity to kiss the bricks on Sunday by checking out this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup.

1. Belt Tightening - It is a safe bet that not all the economic dominoes have fallen for the NASCAR community quite yet, as financially slumping General Motors attempts to identify cost-cutting measures while seeking to generate $15 billion in savings through 2009. This past week, the automaker has informed both Bristol Motor Speedway and New Hampshire International Speedway that they will not renew promotional agreements with them for 2009 and beyond, and rumors persist further cuts will be forthcoming within their motorsports program. Oh, well… before you get all upset, remember it isn’t just NASCAR “fat cats” feeling the GM pinch.

The Sprint Cup Series heads to the Windy City this weekend for another intermediate racetrack. For the first time, the race will be held under that lights at Chicagoland Speedway, leaving many fantasy gamers a little nervous. With recently announced driver changes and NASCAR penalties, who knows what also might be playing with the psyche of combatants this weekend. Read on to see which drivers our experts feel are driving on a full tank of gas with half a pack of cigarettes wearing sunglasses in this week’s Picks ‘N’ Pans.

Juan Pablo Montoya received a two-lap penalty during the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire for rough driving after intentionally spinning Kyle Busch under caution. Montoya said it was because Busch ran into him several times before that incident. Was the penalty fair, or was Montoya in the right?

Tony Stewart had arguably the best car all day -- leading a race high 132 laps -- but fell to 13th place, while a number of hot streaks came to an end -- including Carl Edwards' string of seven consecutive races with a top-10 finish. But one streak that will continue on to Daytona this weekend is Jeff Burton's impressive 17-race, top 15 performance. Burton is among those in this week's "HOT" column; read below to see who else joins him in this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup after New Hampshire.