Casey Mears, a veteran of 489 NASCAR Cup Collection races and winner of the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, is making an sudden return to the highest stage of the game.
Mears, 47, will pilot the Storage 66 entry (previously MBM Motorsports) at Martinsville Speedway on March 30. The No. 66 Ford Mustang may have HitchGO as the first sponsor, carrying a black scheme with orange and white lettering.
The nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, Casey was a mainstay within the Cup Collection between 2003 and 2016 as a (principally) full-time driver. He later made a one-off begin within the 2019 Daytona 500, crashing out and ending final. In his profession, Mears’ solely earned one victory, but it surely got here at one in all NASCAR’s crown jewel occasions as he received the game’s longest race on a gasoline gamble. His racing profession additionally consists of an total victory on the 2006 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, driving alongside Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Chasing 500
When he takes the inexperienced flag at Martinsville, it is going to be his 490th NASCAR Cup begin, placing him simply ten away from a historic milestone. Just a few dozen drivers have ever reached 500 Cup races and solely the next energetic drivers can say they’ve achieved it: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Michael McDowell.
Mears has been doing a little racing the previous couple of years, notably competing within the Baja 1000, and returns to NASCAR together with his eyes set on reaching 500 profession begins, which probably means we’ll see him some extra this 12 months (regardless of no different races confirmed right now).
“I’m glad to be again in a race automotive and sit up for returning to Martinsville, one in all my favourite tracks,” mentioned Mears in a launch from the staff. “I respect Carl [Long, owner] working with me to make it occur; he’s a well-respected, nice man who’s labored onerous to expertise longevity within the sport. I’m excited to have HitchGO, Mosby’s Towing and Transport, and Coble Enterprises on board as we chip away at 500 NASCAR Cup Collection begins.”
The staff has tried one race up to now this, lacking the Daytona 500 after Chandler Smith crashed out of the Duel qualifying races.
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