Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Casey Mears Still Wants 500 NASCAR Cup Starts | Lights Out With John Roberts

Transcript

Casey Mears Still Wants 500 NASCAR Cup Starts | Lights Out With John Roberts · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:05
  Time to go lights out with driver Casey Mears.
• 0:08
  Casey, you're coming back, man. How did this whole deal come
• 0:10
  together? Well, you know, honestly about a
• 0:13
  couple years ago I was out when Jimmy was coming back from the
• 0:16
  IndyCar stuff. He tested out at Phoenix.
• 0:19
  And, you know, I was out there just kind of watching and
• 0:22
  supporting him. And there is a reporter and I
• 0:25
  can't remember exactly who it was.
• 0:27
  Somebody was doing a story on him.
• 0:28
  They, they wanted to ask me a few questions.
• 0:30
  And they started off by going to Casey Mears.
• 0:32
  You've been, you know, doing this for quite a long time.
• 0:35
  You got 489 starts and blah, blah, blah, and then went on to
• 0:39
  ask the questions. I answered them and I walked off
• 0:41
  and I went, OK, wow. I didn't realize I was that
• 0:44
  close to 500 starts. And so, you know, from that, I
• 0:49
  started just making a few calls. You know, I'd always go to
• 0:52
  Phoenix every year and, and a handful of races.
• 0:55
  So I was always telling people that I'd love to, you know, get
• 0:58
  back and try to fulfill that goal of of making it to 500
• 1:01
  starts. And, you know, it was it was
• 1:04
  like chatter really. And eventually about, gosh, I
• 1:08
  want to say a little over a month ago now, I was talking to
• 1:10
  Carl Long and shoot, we ended on the phone for about an hour and
• 1:14
  and he goes, man, would you really be interested in running
• 1:16
  my car? And, and I said, yeah, so I'd
• 1:18
  love to come back and, you know, get a shot to, to, to chase that
• 1:22
  500 goal and, and, and he goes, man, well, I really think I
• 1:25
  could sell you, you know, and I said, OK, well, shoot, he, he
• 1:28
  didn't call me back with within a week and says, hey, I think I
• 1:30
  got a deal for Martinsville if you want to come.
• 1:32
  So here we are. And I couldn't be more excited
• 1:35
  about it. It's, it's, you know, been out
• 1:38
  of the car for a little while now, but I've been staying busy
• 1:40
  with, with other series and other forms of racing and, you
• 1:44
  know, really excited about getting back in a Cup car again.
• 1:47
  And especially Martinsville. I I really have grown to love
• 1:50
  that place over the last few years that I drove.
• 1:53
  So Casey, this is that. That's the goal, right?
• 1:55
  To reach 500. This just isn't A1 off thing,
• 1:57
  right? You want to get to 500 starts.
• 2:00
  Yeah. And it is, I mean, right now it
• 2:02
  is just a one off, but you know, this has been a great platform
• 2:05
  to, to really, you know, put out there in the in the air that
• 2:09
  it's something that I would like to achieve.
• 2:10
  And, and, you know, fortunately, there's been, you know, other
• 2:13
  people that are, are possibly interested in sponsoring future
• 2:16
  races now, just from the chatter that we've had over the last
• 2:19
  couple weeks. And, you know, hopefully over
• 2:21
  time I can put that together. It doesn't have to be this year.
• 2:24
  You know, I could, I could try to, you know, put in a few this
• 2:26
  year if I can, and then, you know, set something up to finish
• 2:29
  off next season. But as of right now, it's a one
• 2:32
  off race. But I'd love to.
• 2:34
  The whole goal is to to get the all 11 races to to reach 500.
• 2:39
  It's hard to get something like NASCAR competition out of your
• 2:43
  blood, isn't it? The excitement, the the fans
• 2:47
  being at the racetrack, I mean, just just for people like us
• 2:49
  that are standing around, it's amazing.
• 2:52
  But for a driver, it must be really hard, Casey, to get that
• 2:54
  out of your blood. You know, it is I, you know, I
• 2:59
  over the last couple years and just spending time with my
• 3:00
  family and, and, and raising the kids and, and getting that
• 3:03
  quality time that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise if I was
• 3:05
  running full time. I, you know, I really
• 3:07
  appreciated, you know, the time that I've gotten over the last
• 3:09
  few years. But I, I'd be lying if I didn't
• 3:11
  say every time I went to the racetrack and, and caught up
• 3:14
  with everybody and saw guys that I raced against still racing
• 3:16
  and, and, you know, seeing those new cars, just wondering what it
• 3:20
  feels like and, and wanting to get in and try it out.
• 3:23
  You, you, you never really lose it for sure.
• 3:25
  You know, that desire and that passion.
• 3:26
  I mean, you know, very few drivers or, or professional
• 3:29
  athletes in general really get to call their own shot and
• 3:33
  retire when they want to. You know, I was one of those
• 3:36
  guys that, you know, the, I woke up one day and the, the musical
• 3:39
  chairs and there just wasn't a seat to sit in and, and, and I
• 3:42
  didn't want to be one of those guys that was, you know, running
• 3:44
  around in the back just to get a paycheck or do that kind of
• 3:47
  thing. And, and this whole 500 goal
• 3:50
  gave me a whole new mindset as to, you know, an objective, an
• 3:54
  objective that I want to reach, a goal that I want to reach.
• 3:57
  And it really changed my mind as as to, you know, want to put a
• 4:01
  full effort into coming back. So Casey, you didn't just drive
• 4:05
  the cars, you won at many different levels.
• 4:08
  I remember very clearly the Coke 600 victory with the family
• 4:13
  around for you when you compete, it's got to be one thing at the
• 4:17
  Cup level. But when you win like that, that
• 4:20
  that's just got to again, ingrain you so much in these in
• 4:24
  these series and and just in the whole idea of competition at
• 4:28
  NASCAR's top level. For sure, you know, having
• 4:31
  experienced that, it makes you want to experience a lot more,
• 4:34
  you know, after it happens. And, and, you know, I think that
• 4:37
  I've been very fortunate, you know, that, that at every level
• 4:40
  that I've ran, I've had an opportunity to win races, except
• 4:43
  for the IndyCar level. I only, I only dabbled in a
• 4:45
  handful of races and that, but you know, every series that I've
• 4:48
  been in, other than that, I, I was able to win at that level.
• 4:52
  And, and, you know, it was a very, it was very fulfilling to,
• 4:55
  to get that win at, at Charlotte.
• 4:57
  It was a big weekend for a number of reasons.
• 5:01
  You know, obviously being Memorial Day weekend and the
• 5:02
  sponsor of the time, being National Guard Memorial weekend,
• 5:06
  day weekend has always been a, a huge weekend for my family with,
• 5:10
  you know, my, my uncle's success at the Indy 500.
• 5:13
  And you know, it was a, it was a special day for sure.
• 5:16
  And to be home at Charlotte where, you know, family was
• 5:18
  there, all your friends were there, it was a it was a special
• 5:21
  win for sure. Yeah, I remember that Victory
• 5:24
  Lane very clearly. So Casey, when you grow up with
• 5:27
  a name like Mears and with your uncle and also your father,
• 5:30
  everybody that was involved in racing when you were growing up,
• 5:33
  was there any idea for you to do anything else but race cars?
• 5:37
  Did you ever want to do anything else?
• 5:40
  You know, there was a time I, I used to love art, you know, I
• 5:42
  used to love drawing and stuff as a, as a, as a young kid.
• 5:45
  And, and, you know, I think when I was in middle school and, and
• 5:48
  even going into high school, I was considering architecture,
• 5:52
  you know, being involved in something like that.
• 5:54
  But it was pretty clear early on that that, you know, I was going
• 5:58
  to go racing, you know, as a really young kid, I was just
• 6:01
  following my dad around going to races and, you know, he let me
• 6:04
  race 3 Wheelers and four Wheelers.
• 6:05
  I did some go Kart racing and, you know, started getting into
• 6:08
  off road. And by the time I was 12 or 13
• 6:10
  years old, I was already racing in the Mickey Thompson off road
• 6:13
  series, which, you know, at that point it was televised by ESPN.
• 6:17
  We were doing autograph sessions.
• 6:19
  We were winning a little bit of prize money.
• 6:21
  And that that was the time when I, it really hit me, you know,
• 6:24
  that that wow, this is something that I could do.
• 6:26
  That's a blast. I love to do it and I can make a
• 6:29
  living out of this. And, you know, at that point I
• 6:31
  started talking to my dad and my mom about, hey, this is
• 6:33
  something I'd really like to pursue.
• 6:35
  And they were all in on, you know, giving me the tools that I
• 6:38
  needed and the and the advice that I needed to, you know,
• 6:42
  reach out to the right people and, and, you know, get in the
• 6:45
  right places to show what I could do.
• 6:48
  You know what I'll say, I'll say it irks me because for lack of a
• 6:52
  better term, that that people these days, and we have some
• 6:56
  spirited conversations about this on the radio these days,
• 6:58
  Casey, that it it doesn't, you know, it might help to have a
• 7:03
  certain last name. It might help to have a bunch of
• 7:06
  money behind you or look a certain way.
• 7:09
  But but those things don't drive a race car and they're no
• 7:12
  guarantee that you still have to work at it.
• 7:15
  You still have to have the talent because if everybody
• 7:18
  could do it, there wouldn't be just 38 guys doing it every
• 7:20
  weekend. Yeah, 100%.
• 7:24
  You know, I mean, I'd be lying if I didn't say that, you know,
• 7:26
  a couple doors opened that, that, you know, for me that
• 7:29
  might have opened a little easier for, for other guys, you
• 7:32
  know, just already having relationships in, in the sport.
• 7:35
  You know, I could, early on, I could, I could go to a guy like
• 7:38
  Rick Hendrick or a guy like Richard Childress and, and ask
• 7:41
  for 5 minutes of his time. And, and they'd usually give it
• 7:43
  to me, you know, just because of, of, of my history and my
• 7:46
  family's history in the sport. Even back in the IndyCar days,
• 7:49
  you know, guys like Bobby Ray Hall and, and Derek Walker and
• 7:53
  guys that I spoke with about doing things, it was, it was
• 7:56
  the, the, the door would at least open for a conversation.
• 7:59
  But it really doesn't do much past that.
• 8:02
  You know, once you have those opening conversations and, and,
• 8:05
  and you maybe get an opportunity to test the car at the end of
• 8:07
  the day, they're going to be looking at what kind of numbers
• 8:09
  you put on the board. And nobody wants somebody in
• 8:12
  their car that's not going to perform.
• 8:14
  So, you know, I had to work really, really hard at, at
• 8:16
  performing the best I possibly could.
• 8:18
  Obviously there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes
• 8:21
  to, you know, keep sponsors happy and, and you know that
• 8:25
  and, and also, you know what, what people don't realize behind
• 8:28
  the scenes, the, the team structure, the, the chemistry,
• 8:32
  you know, behind the scenes with the crew chief, the team, the,
• 8:35
  the owner, the, the sponsor, that whole combination.
• 8:38
  There's a lot that goes into keeping everybody happy, you
• 8:41
  know, and, and, and making sure everybody's performing at their
• 8:43
  best and making sure that I'm giving everybody the information
• 8:46
  they need to do their job the best.
• 8:47
  So there's a lot that went into it and I think that, you know,
• 8:51
  that that's why I was able to stick around for 15 years in the
• 8:54
  sport and, you know, do for so long.
• 8:57
  And that is pretty incredible, Casey, to get to to 489 in and
• 9:02
  of itself. I know that's the goal that
• 9:04
  you're after is getting that 500, but 489 is pretty
• 9:07
  impressive. I remember very clearly, Casey,
• 9:10
  I ran into you at Dover one time in the garage and we were
• 9:14
  talking about some other stuff. And you told me that there were
• 9:16
  sometimes in your career that you probably could have walked
• 9:19
  away, but you decided to stay around the sport, talk to people
• 9:24
  and stay relevant. And I always remember that
• 9:26
  advice that you gave me that day about sticking with it.
• 9:30
  And if you hadn't have been around, you might not have had
• 9:32
  the opportunities you had to to get to 489. 100%, you know, I
• 9:38
  mean, I, I was with Hendrick Motorsports and you know, just
• 9:42
  started the second, my second year with Hendrick Motorsports.
• 9:45
  We really came on that was it took a while.
• 9:48
  You know, no matter what you know, team that you're with, no
• 9:52
  matter the depth, no matter the, the budget, you know, the
• 9:55
  chemistry and everything has to kind of come together.
• 9:57
  And you know that last year that I was with A5 car, we we
• 10:04
  struggled the first part of the season.
• 10:05
  NASCAR made made some real changes.
• 10:07
  We really struggled as a whole. And about mid season we really
• 10:10
  started hitting our stride. And that was the year that Jimmy
• 10:13
  and Jeff were fighting tooth and nail for the championship going
• 10:16
  back and forth. And if and if I would have made
• 10:19
  the Chase the the points that we would have accumulated, we would
• 10:22
  have finished third in the championship that year.
• 10:24
  So it was, you know, it was exciting.
• 10:27
  But but having said that, you know, things were already
• 10:30
  changing. They they decided to go with
• 10:31
  Mark Martin, which Mark did a great job.
• 10:33
  Obviously I went to RCR with the Jack Daniels deal and you know,
• 10:38
  we got to, I want to say it was November or December and we got
• 10:43
  word from Jack Daniels that they weren't coming the next season.
• 10:45
  And that was, it was so late, there was no time to get, you
• 10:49
  know, anything proper put in place for for sponsorship.
• 10:52
  And, you know, I floated around that year, started started off
• 10:55
  in Daytona with a really almost embarrassing program.
• 10:58
  And then, you know, filled in a little bit for Brian Vickers and
• 11:01
  then it was standby for Denny Hamlin.
• 11:03
  And then towards the tail end of that season, I ended up getting
• 11:06
  opportunity to get in, you know, the GEICO car with Jermaine
• 11:10
  Racing. And, you know, I was able to
• 11:12
  stick around for another five years and and really, you know,
• 11:15
  help build that program. So if I wouldn't have been at
• 11:17
  the track, if I wouldn't have been doing those feelings, if I
• 11:19
  wouldn't have been making the phone calls, it's so easy to,
• 11:23
  you know, just get passed by. So also Casey, though after that
• 11:27
  was all said and done, you got stuck with me doing TV for a
• 11:31
  little while. That certainly was I enjoyed the
• 11:34
  heck out of it. I hope you did.
• 11:35
  And I know at at times we probably annoyed the producers a
• 11:39
  little bit much. We we took it seriously, but we
• 11:41
  had a little fun too, I think. Yeah, I, I got to say, I really
• 11:45
  enjoyed that. You know, being on, being on Fox
• 11:47
  with you guys was, was a blast and we really had a good time
• 11:51
  and we took it very seriously. Obviously we all showed up
• 11:53
  early, we took our notes, We we wanted to provide great info for
• 11:57
  the viewer. But at the same time, it was
• 11:59
  just a great group of people and, and it's hard not to have a
• 12:02
  good time when you, when you're, you know, on TV with your
• 12:05
  friends. So really, really enjoyed that
• 12:07
  time And I miss it, to be honest.
• 12:09
  You know, I, I did it for a couple years with you guys and,
• 12:12
  and, you know, moving back to Arizona kind of took me out of
• 12:14
  the fold to be in the, in the, you know, on TV and do that kind
• 12:19
  of thing. But I really enjoyed it and you
• 12:22
  know, how to, how to blast you guys and learned a lot from you
• 12:24
  guys. I mean, you guys that do that
• 12:25
  stuff all the time. I mean, it's it's very, very
• 12:29
  underestimated how you guys make it look so easy.
• 12:33
  You know, when at an adverse time or the producer comes in
• 12:36
  and goes, oh, sorry, we don't have that, you know, fill some
• 12:38
  time and make it work. And to see you guys that you
• 12:41
  know, do it week in and week out, you know how you make it,
• 12:44
  you know, a good show without having any issues is is really
• 12:47
  impressive. I learned a lot.
• 12:49
  Yeah. And then the real thing was to
• 12:50
  make the make the producers and the bosses think it's really
• 12:53
  hard. It's harder than it is.
• 12:54
  Make the viewer think it's easier than it is.
• 12:57
  So, Casey, when you get back behind the wheel of this race
• 13:01
  car, a lot of people have been talking recently about NASCAR's
• 13:04
  approval process. You went away from NASCAR
• 13:08
  racing. But when when NASCAR looks at
• 13:10
  who is going to be able to have one of the coveted spots on any
• 13:14
  given Sunday or Saturday night, they look pretty closely at what
• 13:18
  somebody has is done. And although you've been away
• 13:20
  from the NASCAR racing for a bit, you've still been behind
• 13:23
  the wheel of some race cars, haven't you?
• 13:25
  Yeah, You know, and I think having, you know, 15 full
• 13:27
  seasons of of Cup and all the races that I ran, all the
• 13:30
  testing that I did, all the stuff that I did in the past,
• 13:32
  you know, obviously they take that in consideration.
• 13:35
  But at the same time, you know, I was doing the SST races with
• 13:39
  Robbie Gordon. You know what, you really had a
• 13:41
  good time at going to the Baja 1000 or in the Nora 1000.
• 13:45
  I did some horse races. I also did a super Copa races,
• 13:51
  which is kind of like a a NASCAR style car down in Mexico with
• 13:55
  some good friends, Michelle Jordain and and a bunch of the
• 13:58
  old IndyCar guys went and did that was did ATA two race at in
• 14:04
  Connecticut at Lime Rock with a bunch of guys, Ryan Newman,
• 14:07
  Biffle. So, and then I also belong to a
• 14:10
  club, a club track out here in Arizona called Apex Motor Club
• 14:14
  and some really good friends down the road that have a couple
• 14:16
  cars and we go out and, and, and bang those things around.
• 14:19
  So I've been staying current in the seat.
• 14:22
  I haven't just been sitting on the couch.
• 14:23
  And I think that factored into, you know, them allowing me to,
• 14:26
  to run this race. And then from what I understand,
• 14:29
  if I can get through Martinsville and, and get that
• 14:31
  under my belt, then then I could potentially be approved to, you
• 14:34
  know, run the superspeedways. And, you know, I, I get, I get
• 14:37
  it's frustrating and you know, to, to know that you've had so
• 14:40
  much time in the sport to, to think that maybe you couldn't
• 14:44
  run a Daytona or a Talladega. But at the same time, I mean,
• 14:47
  those are places that, you know, you're not, you're making
• 14:51
  choices at those places that really put others, people, other
• 14:55
  people's lives at risk, you know, at times too, or can
• 14:58
  right? So I, I see their standpoint on
• 15:00
  that. And and, you know, I also kind
• 15:03
  of see that it's not necessary a locked in scenario, you know,
• 15:07
  because I think NASCAR could go, hey, this is our approval
• 15:10
  process. But then you might get a
• 15:12
  different guy that has a different experience level or
• 15:15
  come from a different series, or you might eventually get another
• 15:18
  big car change where now that guy never drove that kind of
• 15:22
  car, you know, and they got a they got a kind of it's got to
• 15:25
  be a little bit of a ebb and flow.
• 15:28
  You know, I mean, it's if you put rules in place to what makes
• 15:31
  you approved and then things slightly change over the years,
• 15:35
  that approval process that they put in a couple years ago might
• 15:38
  not necessarily apply properly. So it's not an easy thing for
• 15:43
  them by any means. But you know, fortunately, you
• 15:48
  know, recently it it's everybody's kind of been in the
• 15:50
  same boat. Well, Casey, there's a lot of
• 15:53
  people present company included here that are really excited to
• 15:56
  see you back behind the wheel. I hope you go out there and do
• 15:59
  really well, man. And it was great to catch up
• 16:01
  with you. It's been far too long.
• 16:03
  Let's make sure it's not as long in between times.
• 16:06
  We talk next time. But thank you for your time,
• 16:07
  Casey. I appreciate it.
• 16:08
  And go get him. Yeah, I I agree, John, thank you
• 16:11
  very much. You know, great talking to you
• 16:13
  again. Good seeing you and can't wait
• 16:15
  to get to Martinsville and have some fun.