Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002 | 10:29 a.m.
When the green flag drops on the Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, there will be plenty of racing heritage -- as well as experience -- in the 43-car field.
In addition to Winston Cup regulars Ken Schrader, Jimmy Spencer, Mike Wallace, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Green, Kenny Wallace, Stacy Compton, Joe Nemechek and Michael Waltrip, this year's Busch Series is dotted with famous racing names such as Earnhardt, Mears, Hendrick and Foyt.
Kerry Earnhardt, the 32-year-old son of the late Dale Earnhardt, has a full-time ride with FitzBradshaw Racing this season after making 10 Busch Series starts over the past three years. FitzBradshaw Racing is co-owned by Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw and the No. 12 car will be sponsored by Supercuts and 10-10-220 this season.
Ricky Hendrick, the 21-year-old son of famed NASCAR car owner Rick Hendrick, has made 16 Busch Series starts the past three seasons and also is making his first full-time venture into the series.
Larry Foyt, the 25-year-old son of A.J. Foyt, is in his second full season in the Busch Series after finishing 22nd in points last year.
Casey Mears, 23, is the son of off-road racing star Roger Mears and the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears. Like Earnhardt, Mears is one of eight drivers competing for Busch Series Rookie of the Year honors.
Mears appeared to be headed for a career in open-wheel racing after competing in the Indy Lights series from 1996 to 2000. He made one start in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series in 2000 for Team Rahal and finished fourth at California Speedway. Mears drove in three Indy Racing League races last season before finishing the year filling in for the injured Alex Zanardi in CART.
During the off-season, however, Mears decided to make the jump from open-wheel racing to NASCAR. Driving in the Busch Series, Mears said, will give him the best opportunity of realizing his goal of making it to Winston Cup.
"My parents and family were very supportive of my decision to move from the CART series to NASCAR," said Mears, who drives the No. 66 Phillips 66 Dodge. "My parents only want what's best for me and right now the best scenario for me lies within the Busch Series.
"NASCAR is currently viewed as the highest and most popular form of motor sports in North America and that's where I want to be. Every driver wants to compete at the highest level possible and the Busch Series will help me to get there."
Mears, who finished 23rd in both the season opener at Daytona and last week in Rockingham, said his goals for this season are modest.
"We have to be realistic in our expectations this year," Mears said. "We're changing body styles from Chevrolet to Dodge and we'll also have a new engine package to go along with it, but I am part of a team that is committed to making things work.
"My two greatest challenges this season will be learning about the cars and the tracks. Once I understand how these cars want to be driven, I can apply that knowledge to the different tracks."
Mears said he would be a little more comfortable this week on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval because he spent two days here testing in January.
"During our test we didn't have our new Dodge engines in the cars we tested; we used a couple of our old Chevrolet engines," he said. "We may make a couple of changes to the car, but for the most part the car was well balanced. I'm looking forward to getting back to Vegas and being even stronger than when we tested.
"Vegas has long corners and you're able to carry a lot speed into the corners. The big adjustment for me was making sure that I carried my speed into the entry of the corners. Because the track is so flat if you make any abrupt movements or get into trouble you don't have the banking to slow you down, so you have to be smooth. Looking back, I'm still surprised at how hard you have to drive into the corners."
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