Casey Mears taking no chances

It looks like Casey Mears is going to try to end the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series regular season with some punch.
His team is bringing the same car to California Speedway this weekend that won the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May. The car also finished fourth at Michigan International Speedway, considered Fontana's sister track, in June.
"It's a great car and obviously one I'm pretty attached to after our win at Charlotte," said Mears, driver of the No. 25 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "It's funny, but there's always a car or two that sticks with you like that during the course of a season. It's a car that just feels a little more comfortable and a little more familiar no matter how long it's been since you've driven it or how good your other cars might be."
Mears is 16th in the Cup standings, more than 400 points behind Kurt Busch for the 12th and final spot for the Chase. It looks like his realistic chances of making the Chase are gone.
In the February race at California Speedway, Mears finished 31st. But on a positive note, Mears was second in the NASCAR Busch Series race at California Speedway in February.
"I think California has widened out a lot in the past couple of years, which gives it that Michigan feel. But also, I think the drivers are exploring more, too," Mears said. "The competition at this level gets tighter and tighter all the time, and it gets harder and harder to be one of those top-10, top-five guys. I think that makes all of us search a little bit more and try to find other areas to make the car work better, including running the high groove at Fontana more than we have in the past."