Charlotte: Casey Mears preview

Target Team Facts:

* Racing for Sarah: Casey Mears will be wearing a very special helmet this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600. The helmet was designed by Sarah Novak, the 8-year-old sister of a patient at Target House in Memphis, Tenn. In fact, Mears' IRL counterparts Scott Dixon, Darren Manning and Ryan Briscoe will also be wearing helmets they chose out of designs by the children of Target House this weekend in the Indianapolis 500. The winning designs were unveiled by each driver at Target House on Monday before an emotionally charged and excited group of children, along with their families and members of the media.

* Standings: Mears and the Target team held onto their 25th-place standing in the NEXTEL Cup championship chase after finishing 28th in Richmond last weekend. Mears now sits 307 points out of the top 10, and 525 points behind the leader.

* Charlotte: Mears finished sixth in the NEXTEL Open last weekend at LMS. He qualified third, his best start at the track, for the fall event in 2004 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and his best finish at the 1.5-mile track is seventh in last year's Coca-Cola 600.

* Chassis: Crew chief Jimmy Elledge and the Target Team will be taking chassis #206 to Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend. This chassis is making its 2005 race debut. The Target Team tested this car at Charlotte the first week of May in preparation for the 600-mile event.

Casey Mears Quote:

On His Special Helmet... "The special helmets designed by the children of Target House are extremely special to me. A lot of people are aware of Target House and what they do for St. Jude Children's Hospital. Every year we've done a special paint scheme for one of my helmets. This year the kids did a bunch of designs in advance, and we each chose the helmet we liked the best. I chose a helmet that was designed by a special young lady by the name of Sarah Novak. Sarah's older brother is a patient at St. Jude and I hope this brings awareness to the fact that these situations affect the entire family. This will definitely add to the race this weekend because it really pushes you that much harder when you're driving for these children, and a special initiative like this. It's an awesome place. If you haven't been to a place like Target House it's pretty amazing just to see what they do to provide for those kids and their families. I'm just proud to be a part of that."

-cgr-

Starts

Wins

Top 5

Top 10

Poles

Winnings

4

0

0

1

0

$331,480

2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Results

Date

Race

Start

Finish

Laps

Winnings

Points

02/20/05

Daytona

29

26

199/203

$273,321

26th

02/27/05

California

16

22

249/250

$104,633

27th

03/13/05

Las Vegas

15

7

267/267

$139,083

15th

03/20/05

Atlanta

15

19

324/325

$94,648

17th

04/03/05

Bristol

31

43

20/500

$89,293

26th

04/10/05

Martinsville

24

17

499/500

$95,688

23rd

04/17/05

Texas

32

4

334/334

$215,908

17th

04/23/05

Phoenix

32

39

243/312

$67,500

26th

05/01/05

Talladega

26

14

193/194

$116,093

20th

05/07/05

Darlington

16

39

285/370

$73,350

25th

05/14/05

Richmond

16

28

398/400

$85,358

25th

Starts

Wins

Top 5

Top 10

Poles

Winnings

11

0

1

2

0

$1,389,020

Target Crew:

Name

Crew position

Race shop duty

Jimmy Elledge

Crew Chief

Crew Chief

Redding, Calif.

Andy Graves

Team Manager

Team Manager

Syracuse, N.Y.

Tony Glover

Team Manager

Team Manager

Kingsport, Tenn.

Stephen Lane

Car Chief

Car Chief

Winston-Salem, N.C.

Bobby Burrell

Front Tire Changer

Mechanic

Huntersville, N.C.

Marty Forcier

Front Tire Carrier

Body Shop

Superior, Mich.

Jason Sheets

Rear Tire Changer

Mechanic

Indianapolis, Ind.

Alex Yonchok

Rear Tire Carrier

Mechanic

Syracuse, N.Y.

Shaun Peet

Jack Man

Race Day Only

Nanaimo, British Columbia

Les Huntley

Gas Man

Suspension Specialist

Renwick, Iowa

Eric Hoyle

Catch Can Man

Rear Mechanic

Asheville, N.C.

Doug Spees

Tire Specialist

Tire Specialist

Toledo, Ohio

Jesse Sanders

Pit Support

Mechanic

Coupeville, Wash.

Tab Boyd

Spotter

Fabrication

Pensacola, Fla.

Tim Jones

Engine Specialist

Engine Specialist

Clemmons, N.C.

Tim Smith

Engineer

Engineer

Cope, S.C.

Roger Parkinson

Pit Support

Shocks

San Diego, Calif.

Rod Bussard

Transport Driver

Transport Driver

Everett, Penn.

###

Heather Kincel

Media Relations

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates

Office: 704-662-9642 x 1153

Cell: 704-756-6168

hkincel@ganassi.com