Columnist Ron Kantowski: Indy 500 in rearview Mears

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003 | 9:56 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Anybody who changes their own oil rather than let the Pep Boys do it may do a double take when they peruse this year's NASCAR driver lineup.

On it they'll find an Andretti (John, Mario's nephew) a Foyt (Larry, A.J.'s son), a Fittipaldi (Christian, Emerson's nephew) and a Mears (Casey, Rick's nephew).

Between them, their famous relatives have accounted for 11 Indianapolis 500 victories. Their surnames are synonymous with the high-tech world of open-wheel auto racing.

Yet this next generation of racing bluebloods has rebuked the wine and cheese of the Indy-car circuit(s) for the meat and potatoes of NASCAR.

So what's the big deal, you might ask (especially if you do let Manny, Moe and Jack check your dipstick). It's still auto racing.

But if you grew up around the Indy 500, as I did, this development is like a Kennedy campaigning as a Republican. While I will always insist that real race cars don't have doors, the fact is that NASCAR has blown the doors right off Indy-style racing, at least in terms of popularity with Joe Six-Pack. Or in the case of NASCAR fans, Joe 12-Pack or Joe Pony Keg.

That guys named Andretti, Foyt, Fittipaldi and Mears have hopped the fence to cavort in NASCAR's greener grass only proves it some more.

As much as it pains me to admit it, because I believe that Indianapolis Motor Speedway chief Tony George's decision to hold a stock car race at the hallowed Brickyard a year before forming his own Indy-car league only hastened NASCAR's ascension to the throne it now occupies, the best racing going these days is in the Indy Racing League. Only nobody knows it.

Well, maybe a guy like Casey Mears knows it. In fact, when he was put on the spot during a break in testing this week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and asked if he could win only one race, which would it be, at least he answered honestly: "The Indianapolis 500," he said.

"That's because I grew up around it," said the 24-year-old Mears, who will compete for Winston Cup rookie of the year honors in the No. 41 Target Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing. "If you asked a guy like Dale Junior (NASCAR has become so big that last names aren't needed to identify the drivers) there's no way he's going to say the Indy 500, he's going to say the Daytona 500."

But make no mistake about it: Racing against Dale Junior is exactly where Mears wants to be, even if it means he won't get a chance to immediately follow in Uncle Rick's tire tracks.

"Indy is the one race I still want to win some day," said Mears, who given his car owner's success there, may eventually get the chance. "But I have no desire to go back to open-wheel racing (full-time). This is where I want to be. The fans and (interest) at these (NASCAR) events are 10-fold of what it is over there."

The irony is that Mears was developing into a pretty fair Indy-car driver when his career literally went South. He finished fourth in his CART debut, a 500-miler at California Speedway, and was likewise competitive upon taking over for Alex Zanardi after the popular Italian suffered devastating injuries in a crash in Germany.

But when he couldn't land a full-time ride in either of the Indy-car series, Mears began to look at stock cars.

Say what you will about NASCAR. But I have yet to see anybody named Petty or Allison or Jarrett or Earnhardt standing in the unemployment line with his helmet in hand.