Rookie Mears has solid practice

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 | 9:46 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Second-year driver Casey Mears made a big impression during Tuesday afternoon's practice for the Daytona 500.

Mears, who struggled through his rookie season with Chip Ganassi Racing, posted the second-fastest time of the session with a lap at 191.477 mph in the No. 41 Target Dodge. Jeff Gordon's 191.510 topped the speed chart in the second of two practice sessions.

"It's always nice to be at the top of the sheet but it really doesn't mean much," Mears said. "We were pretty far back and caught a draft and drafted up to the pack."

Mears, who finished 35th in points last season and failed to finish 10 of the 36 Cup races he started, will start fifth in Thursday's first 125-mile qualifying race.

"I want to win the (qualifying) race," he said. "We don't want to tear up anything because we've got a great piece for the Daytona 500. At the same time, we want to win it. We'll be running hard."

John Andretti posted the fastest lap of the day, in the day's first session, at 191.742 mph in the No. 1 DEI Chevrolet while Dave Blaney was second fastest at 191.738 in the No. 23 Whelen Dodge.

Rookie Brendan Gaughan of Las Vegas was sixth fastest in the first session (191.379) and 15th quickest in the second (190.082) among 45 drivers. Fellow Las Vegas native Kurt Busch was 33rd in the first practice (189.024) and 30th in the second (189.028).

JOINING FORCES: Nextel Cup drivers from Richard Childress Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and Cal Wells' PPI Motorsports will team for a five-race NASCAR Busch Series salute to America's employers of National Guardsmen and Reservists.

RCR drivers Kevin Harvick and Kerry Earnhardt, JGR's Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte and PPI driver Ricky Craven will take turns piloting the No. 29 Chevrolet to help raise awareness of The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

The car will compete in the Busch Series races at Texas Motor Speedway (Labonte) April 3, California Speedway (Stewart) May 1, Chicagoland Speedway (Craven) July 10, Dover International Speedway (Earnhardt) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Harvick) Nov. 20.

MOVING UP: Bang Racing, which will field two Toyota Tundra trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season, will run a limited Nextel Cup schedule in the second half of this season and move into NASCAR's premier series fulltime in 2005, team owner Alex Meshkin announced Tuesday.

Bang Racing has an agreement with eBay, the Internet auction site, to co-sponsor the team's entry in the Nextel Cup Series and serve as an associate sponsor in the NCTS.

Mike Skinner and Travis Kvapil will drive for Bang Racing this season in the Truck Series.

UNIQUE SPONSOR: Tina Gordon, one of two female drivers competing fulltime in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, announced that her No. 13 Chevrolet truck would be sponsored this season by Vassarette brand lingerie.

For the uninitiated, Vassarette bills itself as "a leader in providing sexy, fun (and) fashionable intimate apparel" through national discount stores such as Kmart, WalMart and Target.