Casey Mears

Casey Mears made 490 Cup Series starts across 14 full-time seasons, winning one race and carving out a career defined by durability and quiet competitiveness in one of the most demanding eras in the sport's history. The Bakersfield, California native came from racing royalty -- his father Roger Mears was a championship off-road racer, and uncle Rick Mears won four Indianapolis 500s. His lone Cup victory came at the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, one of the Crown Jewel events on the NASCAR calendar. Winning a 600-mile race requires endurance, strategy, and the ability to be fast when it matters most, and Mears delivered all three on that Memorial Day weekend. Mears drove for Hendrick Motorsports, Ganassi Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Germain Racing over the course of his career, adapting to different organizations, different crew chiefs, and different philosophies with a professionalism that kept him employed at the sport's highest level for nearly a decade and a half. While his career statistics may not command immediate attention, 490 Cup starts represent a sustained presence in the most competitive racing series in America, and his willingness to compete week after week against the best in the world speaks to a resilience that defines the professional stock car racer.

Written by Richard R. Glover, NASCAR Reference