Casey Mears interview

NASCAR race winner Casey Mears attended the 2017 Red Bull Global Rallycross season finale in Los Angeles, and there we caught up to discuss his thoughts on the series, and his plans for 2018.

Casey Mears Interview

Dominik Wilde: I take it LA was your first GRC event? What did you think of it?

Casey Mears: I thought it was awesome. I thought they did a really good job with the event. The fact that they give media rides before the weekend I thought was a really clever idea – I got to ride with Scott Speed and got to feel what the cars were like and they accelerate unbelievably. I like the short-course-style racing, it reminds me of a lot of the old short-course races we used to do in the off-road stuff – quick, short events, action-packed, real short races so I enjoyed checking that out for the first time.


Dominik Wilde: The cars are quite different to the NASCAR cars and open-wheelers you've driven in the past, what impressed you/stood out the most about them?

Casey Mears: I would say just the acceleration. Seeing how fast they accelerated from the start was really impressive. Obviously being four-wheel-drive is different to anything that I’ve really been a part of before, whether it be Indy cars or NASCAR, they’re all rear-wheel driven cars so the four-wheel drive adds a different aspect and I really feel like it’s a good combination of everything really. It has some technology that the Indy cars would have, tight-quarters racing that we would have maybe at Martinsville, and at the same time you’re on dirt, pavement, all of those different elements so it kind of makes it a little bit of everything.


Dominik Wilde: How did you first hear about GRC?

Casey Mears: I think one of the first times I saw a GRC race was when they were really first starting to try and get going in the States, they did some races that were in conjunction with the NASCAR events – I think one was at Loudon, New Hampshire. I believe they did another one at either Texas or Charlotte – but that was the first time I’d really heard about what was going on regarding the series.


Dominik Wilde: Are you considering a move to the series? I heard whispers that it was a possibility... Alternatively, is a full-time NASCAR drive or a full-time Stadium Super Trucks ride on the table for next year?

Casey Mears: Right now I’m talking to a few NASCAR programmes to do maybe limited stuff. I don’t have anything that would be a full-time ride in a NASCAR series. Definitely I’ve been speaking with Robby Gordon in the Stadium Super Truck programme, I think that’s a really cool up-and-coming-series as well, and I’d definitely like to be involved with the GRC, It looks like a lot of fun. I think there’s enough difference between all those that it could leave room for doing a bit of both so we’ll see how it works out.


Dominik Wilde: How does competing part-time as you have this year effect you as a driver? Do you have to work harder away from the track to stay sharp or does it not make a difference?

Casey Mears: I have done some things differently. I went and got a shifter kart so I’ve been spending some time in that throughout the season. When I knew I was going to be out of the car for more than three or four weeks I got out to the go-kart track and pounded around in that which was fun and definitely keeps you up to speed. But honestly as soon as I got in the car almost every time I feel I’d done it yesterday. I think after doing it for 15 years it doesn’t go away that quickly so it’s been am interesting year as far as running part-time, having more weekends off, not being in the Cup series is definitely different, but I think the driving is a lot like a bicycle – it really doesn’t go away. Obviously if you can do it more often I feel like you can stay sharper, but every time I got in the car I felt like I’d just gotten out.


Dominik Wilde: Of course, you won't be the first NASCAR driver to either move, test, or even consider GRC, why do you think so many stock car drivers are interested in the category?

Casey Mears: I think first and foremost it’s just fun. You watch it, being in the dirt, the pavement, and sliding around, and the tight racing, it just looks like a lot of fun. I think the shorter, quicker races are enticing after doing so many years of really long races – that really short, quick ‘burst of energy’- style race is fun. You’ve got to go and you’ve got to go right now so I think that’s why some people are considering GRC.


Dominik Wilde: What does the NASCAR garage as a whole think of rallycross?

Casey Mears: It’s hard to say on the NASCAR side. You’re so immersed with that world there isn’t a whole lot of conversation of GRC over there but I did have some conversations with a handful of drivers that are aware of the series and think it’s interesting and think it would be fun to drive. Everybody thinks it looks cool; that’s kind of the first thing they say. The cars look fun, the racing looks cool, but obviously they’re so immersed in what they do on a weekly basis that it’s hard to look outside of that much.


Dominik Wilde: What skills do you think translate from NASCAR to rallycross? Likewise, what do you think would help from your open-wheel career in rallycross too?

Casey Mears: I think as a whole, and I’m assuming this because I haven’t driven one of those cars much – I drove a Peugeot over in Europe one time for a couple of demo laps when we were doing the race of champions deal over in the Canary Islands in Spain, but it was a really quick two laps and that was it. But I think that everything you do would help prepare you for the rallycross car. Obviously it’s its own discipline but having raced on pavement and asphalt and some gravel roads racing some off road I think the biggest thing is in an off-road car and even in NASCAR these days is you’ve really got to search your line out. 

If it’s in dirt you’re chasing whether it be a cushion or just chasing the grip, when it gets slick and polished off you try and move and find somewhere that’s maybe a little more damp and has more bite. In NASCAR you’re constantly changing your line because as rubber builds in certain lines it’ll have a lot of grip for a little bit then go away – just being versatile I think would be a key attribute to doing well in the GRC series, being able to adapt, and being able to adapt quickly because you don’t get a whole lot of time to really practice the craft and the track changes pretty quickly so really all of the above would probably help prepare me for that the most.


Dominik Wilde: Should you move to GRC next year, how well do you think you'll fare? Two of the top three this year were former-NASCAR drivers, do you think you'd be on their pace right away?

Casey Mears: It’s hard to say if I’d be on pace right away. I don’t think that it would be a massive transition to try to pick up on it and I think it would all depend on how much test time I got. Obviously if I can get some preseason testing and really get the function of the car down – how to do the starts, where’s the off-switch, that kind of thing because you’d be in a completely different car but I think once you got a lot of the essentials down, the biggest thing would be adapting to a four-wheel-drive car. 

The one time that I did jump in that rally car over in Europe, when you’re off the gas sliding into the corner versus when you pick up the throttle and continue round the corner, you’re really doing a lot of different work with the steering wheel than you would do in a two-wheel-drive car so I think the biggest transition would really be getting the timing of all that down but I don’t see any reason why I couldn’t be competitive with the proper amount of time to get up to speed. 



Image: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images/NASCAR Media