I have been racing my whole life. Growing up in a racing family, I knew at a early age that I wanted to race for a living. I went through several different series to get to the Spring Cup, and I'm looking forward to answering your questions!

Proof: https://twitter.com/CJMearsGang/status/523609380529655808

Comments: 434 • Responses: 35  • Date: 

Elleck161 karma

Hello from /r/NASCAR! Do you plan to use Reddit frequently like Josh Wise (aka /u/Dogedriver) does? We would love to see you in our discussions about the sport over on our subreddit!

Also, what'd you think of qualifying today?

CaseyMears13121 karma

This is my first time on Reddit. Seems like a great site, but still feeling my way through.

It went okay for us. Any time NASCAR changes the rules, it makes things interesting.

da0086 karma

Hey Casey,

Greetings from Sweden.

As someone who has grown up with watching Formula 1, and just "recently" got into watching Nascar (Due to the whole Dogecoin, Josh wise thing).

I was part of the group who only see Nascar as "I'm going to turn left", but as of May this year I've tried to watch it more, and it makes for some geniuenly good and fun racing.

some props for /r/dogecoin, /r/nascar and /u/dogedriver for sort of bringing me into the whole idea of watching Nascar.

But what I am wondering,

How would you describe Nascar, and what would you say, to try and bring some more viewers. What makes Nascar interesting to watch, in your opinion?

CaseyMears1364 karma

Good to see fans of the sport from overseas! I think the racing speaks for itself. It's a good combination of a lot of the disciplines I've done over the years. It has the beatin' and bangin' from off-road and the 200mph+ speeds I ran in Indy car.

CaseyMears1386 karma

Thanks guys, sorry to be so brief. We'll do another one down the line. Looking forward to doing this again sometime.

Lakers241656 karma

Hey Casey! Big fan especially during your time with Hendrick. Would you like to see your daughter race in the Sprint Cup?

CaseyMears1379 karma

Maybe one of these days, as long as it's something she really wanted to do!

mssr_wodensday54 karma

Do you collect swords?

CaseyMears1395 karma

Believe it or not, I do have one sword but I don't collect them.

munky900251 karma

Is your stock car insured with geico?

CaseyMears13145 karma

Sorta-kinda, because at the end of the day, GEICO always pays its bills on time.

braillerjenn36 karma

Do you have a partner for tomorrow's race already worked out or will that be a decision made on the fly?

CaseyMears1341 karma

I'll probably work with RCR guys as much as I can. Otherwise, at the end of the day, you have to make the decisions throughout the race that benefit your team the most.

ImJustARandomDude26 karma

What has been your biggest oh sh*t moment in racing?

CaseyMears1374 karma

A couple years ago, had a big run to win this race and ended up in one of the biggest pileups in Talladega history.

Keep-reefer-illegal25 karma

What is your opinion of the dogecar and 98 Josh Wise?

CaseyMears1346 karma

I still don't have a clue what to think about it. Still don't know exactly what it is. What's a "Doge"?

But it's cool how they got all those votes to get Josh in the all-star race!

ben564723 karma

I am a huge fan of you, Casey. Thanks for being an inspiration to me, first of all. My question is: What kind of advice do you have for fans that are going through hard times/bullying?

CaseyMears1344 karma

Really appreciate your kind words. Always remember who you are and bullies in life, if taken the right way, can make you a stronger person.

ZappaOMatic17 karma

Hey there! Here's a question I like to ask people: If you could create your own racing series, what would it be like?

CaseyMears1336 karma

Probably something off-road. Off-road was my roots and where I came from.

Woolly180616 karma

Hey, do you think NASCAR should implement a rolling start for knockout qualifying at super speedways, and DQ anyone who stops or does not meet minimum speed? Today was a bit of a mess.

CaseyMears1329 karma

At the end of the day, I let NASCAR make the rules and I do my best to be on the right side of them.

JavelinAMX16 karma

Hey Casey, do you think there's any sort of discipline you could find yourself down the line, like USCR or maybe even Le Mans?

CaseyMears1327 karma

I would definitely like to dabble more in the GrandAm series and have an opportunity to race at Le Mans.

RegulatedDestroyer15 karma

Hey casey can we count on you to help our beloved crowd funded #98 Doge Car in the draft tomorrow?

CaseyMears1344 karma

Yes, if he's pushing me across the start/finish line I'll help him all day.

tacobelyea14 karma

Hey Casey, thanks for dropping by! What are your favorite / least favorite tracks to race at?

CaseyMears1348 karma

Least: Wherever my car doesn't handle. Found out a long time ago that some of the tracks I hated the most have become my favorites because my car works well there.

Favorite: One of my favorite tracks is Martinsville, but with the PR side of Talladega staring me down I love Talladega as well.

RES61811 karma

A few years ago, you were in position to get a top 5 in this race. What are you planning to do to be able to do that again this year (besides stay out of the Big One)?

CaseyMears1322 karma

I have my ideas and theories of how to approach this race, but I'm not disclosing my secrets to anyone else. Haha.

colegnd10 karma

Hello Casey! What do you think of the qualifying procedure at the restrictior plate tracks?

CaseyMears1312 karma

It's definitely more exciting than single-car qualifying and, as seen today, it can really mix things up!

GD79019 karma

Hi Casey! Big fan, two questions.

  1. How do you feel about the Talladega Qualifying Format?

  2. You are allowed to change the NSCS schedule, what do you change?

CaseyMears1328 karma

I'd probably add a couple more road courses. We only run 2 road courses a year, so it'd be fun to run more of those throughout the year.

czechgirl119 karma

If you could switch places with anyone in the world for a day, who would it be and why?

CaseyMears1330 karma

Can I say Warren Buffet?

Elleck7 karma

One more thing! You won the first race I ever attended! You had a lot of fans at that time outside the track yelling and just generally being ecstatic about your win. (One stuck his head at our window and screamed "WOOOO CASEY MEARS") Do you feel like your fan base is as large as it was then? And if not, do you enjoy it being smaller?

CaseyMears138 karma

I have a lot of loyal fans that have been great supporters for a lot of years, and appreciate every one of them.

Thegen685 karma

Hello Casey! What is the most difficult track to race on in the current Sprint cup schedule? And what is the scariest moment in your racing career?

CaseyMears1310 karma

Double-parter! One of the more difficult tracks to race on is Darlington because of the high speeds next to the fence and the narrow groove. It's also one of the most fun to drive.

I had a bad crash in an Indy car in Atlanta in 2001. Looking back on it, it was one of the scariest crashes I've been in.

M0D3RNW4RR10R5 karma

Hey Casey, you were in NASCAR Drivers 360 series. I never got to view those, and saw a few episodes on Youtube. Do you happen to know if there is anyone that sells those in DVDs or anywhere to view that? I would love to see the whole series.

Also, how was it filming that series? It was cool watching you race the Vipers with your dad.

CaseyMears139 karma

That was a lot of fun, but have no clue how to get those videos.

nporter055 karma

What are your thoughts on debris cautions? Does NASCAR throw them at times for entertainment purposes?

CaseyMears1312 karma

Really good question for NASCAR, but don't have much of an opinion on that one.

Lakers24164 karma

Hey Casey! If you could go back and race in any race of all time, which one would it be? (In Spint Cup)

CaseyMears138 karma

Wow. Ya know, I'd love to race back in the 70's when my dad ran a hand-full of NASCAR races on the west coast. My brother got to race against my dad and I've always thought that would be a really fun experience.

RySarf524 karma

Hey Casey, big fan of yours dating back to when I first started following the sport. You're Germain team has really made some impressive steps these last few seasons! Do you think cracking the Chase grid is a reasonable goal for next season? You guys are awfully good at those plate tracks...

CaseyMears136 karma

Thanks for being a fan! Yes, because of the format. As long as we keep our heads down and focus on growing in the right direction, we'll have an opportunity to win races and be in a position to make the Chase.

nascargo194 karma

Hey Casey, you've done some pretty nice things in that #13 car!

  1. What is your favorite paint scheme you have ran?
  2. How much of a surprise was it when Ambrose gave you the black eye?
  3. If you had 5 minutes with the NASCAR rule book, what would you change?

CaseyMears133 karma

Can't say I was really surprised, but I was obviously caught off-guard.

WinstonCup4264 karma

Hello, Casey. Big NASCAR fan here. What's the best-looking car you've ever raced?

CaseyMears1320 karma

I'd say in 1999-2000, the champ cars/Indy cars at the time were probably the coolest cars I've ever gotten to race.

MarcusMan63 karma

Casey! Thanks for the Doing the AMA.

A topic of conversation that has popped up once or twice in rr/NASCAR is that you and your team over the past 3 seasons (including this one) have consistently dropped your average finish by a few spots each season. I can't quite recall the numbers, but regardless that is awesome considering the equipment and funding you all are working with. Is there anything specific you can point towards that has allowed this to happen?

Also, congrats on your deal for 2015! Looking forward to the number getting even smaller next year!!!!!

CaseyMears135 karma

Thanks for following our progress!! Additional support from GEICO and the restructing/growth of our team has made the improvement a truly group effort. Also, our relationship with RCR has been a great step in the right direction.

RegulatedDestroyer3 karma

Casey how do you feel about the HP reduction next year?

CaseyMears135 karma

I think everybody's on board with the changes that NASCAR is making for next season. As a racecar driver, I always want to go faster and have more horsepower, but there's always a bigger picture for the longevity of our sport that we have to keep in mind.

em_chicken3 karma

As a long time fan, it's great to see you with such a good team. If you could do one crew job (or CC Bootie's job), which would you do?

CaseyMears134 karma

Thank you for your support of Germain Racing. The most thrilling side of the sport outside of driving the car would probably be going over the wall and changing tires.

Mushroomhead172 karma

[deleted]

CaseyMears137 karma

I think our paint scheme looks great, but it's always fun to change things up. We're running a special paint scheme in Phoenix that I really like to support our military.

TheGriff3212 karma

Hi Casey! Big fan of yours and am very excited to see you race tomorrow. A couple questions: was the GEICO commercial the first one you had filmed and was it difficult? How many takes did you have to perform?

Bonus question: could your wife beat Doug in a basketball game?

CaseyMears132 karma

First: Yes, my wife would was his behind in basketball.

I really enjoyed filming the GEICO commercials and I'm definitely not a one-take guy.

nporter051 karma

What are your thoughts on this year's new qualifying format? Should NASCAR bring back the top 35 to prevent full time teams from going home (17, 51 today)?

CaseyMears138 karma

Better question for the 17.

Betterwithfetter1 karma

If racing hadn't worked out, what would your career have been?

CaseyMears134 karma

My goals in life have changed. It's always been hard to look past racing, so I'll deal with that decision if the time ever comes.