Roger Mears
Roger Mears (born April 24, 1947 in Wichita, Kansas), is a former off-road driver who also drove in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1978–1984 seasons, with 31 combined career starts, and started in the 1982 and 1983 Indianapolis 500s.[1] He finished in the top ten 17 times, with his best finish in 4th position achieved 3 times.
| Roger Mears | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality |  | ||||||
| Born | April 24, 1947 Wichita, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||
| Achievements | 20 off-road world championships at Riverside Two HDRA/SCORE championships Four Baja 1000 class victories Five Pikes Peak International Hill Climb class victories | ||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| Years active | 1978–1984 | ||||||
| Team(s) | Machinist Union Racing Team American Dream Racing | ||||||
| Best finish | 9th (1982) | ||||||
| First race | 1979 California 500 (Ontario | ||||||
| Last race | 1984 Dana Jimmy Bryan 150 (Phoenix | ||||||
| |||||||
| NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career | |||||||
| 4 races run over 1 year | |||||||
| Best finish | 46th (1995) | ||||||
| First race | 1995 Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic (Phoenix) | ||||||
| Last race | 1995 Spears Manufacturing 200 (Mesa Marin) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics current as of May 18, 2013. | |||||||
Following his IndyCar career, Mears returned to desert racing.[2] Late in his career, he raced in four events during the 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series season,[3] racing for Hendrick Motorsports, including the inaugural series race at Phoenix. His best career finish, however, was a 16th at Mesa Marin.
Roger is the father of NASCAR driver Casey Mears,[4] and is 5 years older than his brother, Rick Mears, a 4-time Indianapolis 500 winner. He also is an atheist.[5]
Since his own racing career ended, Mears has been heavily involved in Casey's career. He ran an Indy Lights team, with Casey as the driver, before working as a consultant with both Ganassi and Hendrick Motorsports.[6]
Racing record
American open–wheel racing results
(key)
Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | PIR1 |
TRE1 |
.svg.png){kind=small} MOS |
MIL1 26 |
TEX |
MIL2 22 |
OMS1 15 |
OMS2 |
TRE2 |
PIR2 |
51st | 10 |
USAC
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Beith Racing | Eagle 72 | Offenhauser L4t | PHX1 | ONT1 | TXS1 | TRE1 | INDY | MOS | MIL1 | POC | MIS1 | ATL | TXS2 | MIL2 | ONT2 6 |
MIS2 | TRE2 | SIL | BRH | PHX2 DNS |
25th | 400 |
CART
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Patrick Racing | Penske PC-6 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX | ATL1 | ATL2 | INDY | TRE1 | TRE2 | MIS1 | MIS2 | WGL | TRE3 | ONT Ret |
MIS3 | ATL3 | PHX2 | NC | 0 | ||
| 1980 | Hodgdon Racing | McLaren M24 | Cosworth DFX V8t | ONT 9 |
24th | 272 | |||||||||||||||
| Grant King Racers | Kingfish 73 | Chevrolet V8 | INDY DNQ |
MIL | POC | MDO 4 |
MIS | WGL Ret |
MIL Ret |
ONT2 | MIS2 | MEX | PHX | ||||||||
| 1982 | Machinists Union Racing Team | Penske PC-9B | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX 8 |
MIL Ret |
CLE Ret |
9th | 103 | |||||||||||||
| Penske PC-7 | ATL 4 |
MIS Ret |
MIL2 Ret |
POC 9 |
RIV 4 |
ROA 8 |
MIS2 8 |
||||||||||||||
| Penske PC-10 | PHX2 7 |
||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983 | Machinists Union Racing Team | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8t | ATL 7 |
INDY Ret |
MIL 8 |
CLE 6 |
MIS DNQ |
ROA 8 |
POC Ret |
RIV 9 |
MDO 12 |
MIS2 16 |
CEA 7 |
LS 6 |
PHX 16 |
12th | 43 | |||
| 1984 | Caliva Racing | March 84C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH DNQ |
PHX Ret |
NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Machinists Union Racing Team | Penske PC-10 | INDY DNQ |
MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | MIS | ROA | POC | MDO | SAN | MIS2 | PHX2 | LS | CEA |
Indianapolis 500
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Kingfish 73 | Chevrolet V8 | DNQ | Grant King Racers | |
| 1981 | Penske PC-7 | Cosworth DFX V8t | DNQ | Agajanian | |
| 1982 | Penske PC-9B | Cosworth DFX V8t | 19 | 32 | Machinists Union Racing Team |
| 1983 | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8t | 8 | 28 | Machinists Union Racing Team |
| 1984 | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8t | DNQ | Machinists Union Racing Team | |
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
SuperTruck Series
| NASCAR SuperTruck Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | NCTC | Pts | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Hendrick Motorsports | 25 | Chevy | PHO 21 |
TUS | SGS | MMR 16 |
POR | EVG | I70 | LVL | BRI | MLW | CNS | HPT | IRP 24 |
FLM | RCH | MAR | NWS | SON | 46th | 382 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | MMR 29 |
PHO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- "Where Are They Now?: Roger Mears". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 2012. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
- Winderman, Ira (May 21, 1986). "Off The Beaten Track Roger Mears Is Carving His Niche In Off-road Racing". Sun-Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, FL. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
- "Pickups take to racetrack". Standard-Speaker. Hazelton, PA. May 27, 1995. p. 44. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
- "Dads Behind Sons' Wheels". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. June 15, 2003. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDQD6JHT-q0&t=3s
- http://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Roger_Mears
External links
- Roger Mears driver statistics at Racing-Reference