Nextel Cup Series

PERSONAL Birthdate: March 12, 1978 Hometown: Bakersfield, Calif. Resides: Mooresville, N.C. Marital Status: Single Children: None Hobbies: Wakeboarding, snowboarding

HIGHLIGHTS 2004 polesitter at Brickyard 400 Posted career-first top five in 2004 at Watkins Glen Three-time ARCA series winner 1999 Dayton Indy Lights Series runner-up Second-youngest driver in USAC history to win a race

YEAR-BY-YEAR NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RECAP 2004 Finished 22nd in series points. …. Had his first career pole at Pocono in August and followed up the effort with a pole at Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400. … Posted his career-best finish with a fourth at Watkins Glen, his lone top-five effort of the season. … Led 88 laps. … Only driver in the Ganassi stable to win a pole in 2004. 2003 Finished 35th in points in his rookie season. … Struggled throughout his rookie season, finishing with 10 DNFs. … Led nine laps. … Had 11 top-15 qualifying efforts. … Ran 14 NASCAR Busch Series races and finished with four top 10s.

PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY Won career-first stock car race in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) event June 14, 2003 at Michigan. Later that season, won back-to-back ARCA races at Pocono July 25 and 26, 2003. … Finished 21st in his rookie season in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2002, scoring one top five, that coming at Talladega. … Announced in December 2002 that he would drive No. 41 Target Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, following his first season in the NASCAR Busch Series. … Also had two top 10s in 34 starts with his highest start, an outside pole, coming at Nashville. … In 2001, scored two top-10 finishes in four starts in CART after replacing Alex Zanardi, who was involved in a serious accident. … Finished ninth at Talladega in his lone ARCA start in 2001. … In 2000, finished third in the Indy Lights Series, scoring his first win at the Grand Prix of Houston. … Also made career-first CART start at California Speedway, finishing a career-best fourth. … Successfully completed rookie test for Indy 500 in 2000.… In 1999, finished second in Indy Lights Series and became only the fourth driver in series history to complete every lap. … Won three races in off-road stadium SuperLites in 1996. … Won 1995 Jim Russell USAC Triple Crown Championship at 17.

NOTEWORTHY Mears is the nephew of four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears. … He is the son of two-time Indy 500 starter and offroad legend Roger Mears. … Was the second youngest driver in USAC history to win a feature race (Mesa Marin, 1994) at 16. … Began racing BMX bicycles at age four.… Mears home was featured on an episode of “MTV Cribs.”