I'm NASCAR driver Casey Mears. I drive the #13 GEICO Chevrolet. AMA!

Hello from /r/NASCAR! Do you plan to use Reddit frequently like Josh Wise (aka /u/Dogedriver) does? We would love to see you in our discussions about the sport over on our subreddit!

Also, what'd you think of qualifying today?

This is my first time on Reddit. Seems like a great site, but still feeling my way through.

It went okay for us. Any time NASCAR changes the rules, it makes things interesting.

Thanks guys, sorry to be so brief. We'll do another one down the line. Looking forward to doing this again sometime.

Hey Casey,

Greetings from Sweden.

As someone who has grown up with watching Formula 1, and just "recently" got into watching Nascar (Due to the whole Dogecoin, Josh wise thing).

I was part of the group who only see Nascar as "I'm going to turn left", but as of May this year I've tried to watch it more, and it makes for some geniuenly good and fun racing.

some props for /r/dogecoin, /r/nascar and /u/dogedriver for sort of bringing me into the whole idea of watching Nascar.

But what I am wondering,

How would you describe Nascar, and what would you say, to try and bring some more viewers. What makes Nascar interesting to watch, in your opinion?

Good to see fans of the sport from overseas! I think the racing speaks for itself. It's a good combination of a lot of the disciplines I've done over the years. It has the beatin' and bangin' from off-road and the 200mph+ speeds I ran in Indy car.

Hey Casey! Big fan especially during your time with Hendrick. Would you like to see your daughter race in the Sprint Cup?

Maybe one of these days, as long as it's something she really wanted to do!

Do you collect swords?

Believe it or not, I do have one sword but I don't collect them.

Is your stock car insured with geico?

Sorta-kinda, because at the end of the day, GEICO always pays its bills on time.

Do you have a partner for tomorrow's race already worked out or will that be a decision made on the fly?

I'll probably work with RCR guys as much as I can. Otherwise, at the end of the day, you have to make the decisions throughout the race that benefit your team the most.

What has been your biggest oh sh*t moment in racing?

A couple years ago, had a big run to win this race and ended up in one of the biggest pileups in Talladega history.

What is your opinion of the dogecar and 98 Josh Wise?

I still don't have a clue what to think about it. Still don't know exactly what it is. What's a "Doge"?

But it's cool how they got all those votes to get Josh in the all-star race!

I am a huge fan of you, Casey. Thanks for being an inspiration to me, first of all. My question is: What kind of advice do you have for fans that are going through hard times/bullying?

Really appreciate your kind words. Always remember who you are and bullies in life, if taken the right way, can make you a stronger person.

Hey there! Here's a question I like to ask people: If you could create your own racing series, what would it be like?

Probably something off-road. Off-road was my roots and where I came from.

Hey Casey, do you think there's any sort of discipline you could find yourself down the line, like USCR or maybe even Le Mans?

I would definitely like to dabble more in the GrandAm series and have an opportunity to race at Le Mans.

Hey, do you think NASCAR should implement a rolling start for knockout qualifying at super speedways, and DQ anyone who stops or does not meet minimum speed? Today was a bit of a mess.

At the end of the day, I let NASCAR make the rules and I do my best to be on the right side of them.

Hey casey can we count on you to help our beloved crowd funded #98 Doge Car in the draft tomorrow?

Yes, if he's pushing me across the start/finish line I'll help him all day.

Hey Casey, thanks for dropping by! What are your favorite / least favorite tracks to race at?

Least: Wherever my car doesn't handle. Found out a long time ago that some of the tracks I hated the most have become my favorites because my car works well there.

Favorite: One of my favorite tracks is Martinsville, but with the PR side of Talladega staring me down I love Talladega as well.

A few years ago, you were in position to get a top 5 in this race. What are you planning to do to be able to do that again this year (besides stay out of the Big One)?

I have my ideas and theories of how to approach this race, but I'm not disclosing my secrets to anyone else. Haha.

Hello Casey! What do you think of the qualifying procedure at the restrictior plate tracks?

It's definitely more exciting than single-car qualifying and, as seen today, it can really mix things up!

If you could switch places with anyone in the world for a day, who would it be and why?

Can I say Warren Buffet?

Hi Casey! Big fan, two questions.

1. How do you feel about the Talladega Qualifying Format?

2. You are allowed to change the NSCS schedule, what do you change?

I'd probably add a couple more road courses. We only run 2 road courses a year, so it'd be fun to run more of those throughout the year.

One more thing! You won the first race I ever attended! You had a lot of fans at that time outside the track yelling and just generally being ecstatic about your win. (One stuck his head at our window and screamed "WOOOO CASEY MEARS") Do you feel like your fan base is as large as it was then? And if not, do you enjoy it being smaller?

I have a lot of loyal fans that have been great supporters for a lot of years, and appreciate every one of them.

What are your thoughts on debris cautions? Does NASCAR throw them at times for entertainment purposes?

Really good question for NASCAR, but don't have much of an opinion on that one.

Hey Casey, you were in NASCAR Drivers 360 series. I never got to view those, and saw a few episodes on Youtube. Do you happen to know if there is anyone that sells those in DVDs or anywhere to view that? I would love to see the whole series.

Also, how was it filming that series? It was cool watching you race the Vipers with your dad.

That was a lot of fun, but have no clue how to get those videos.

Hello Casey! What is the most difficult track to race on in the current Sprint cup schedule? And what is the scariest moment in your racing career?

Double-parter! One of the more difficult tracks to race on is Darlington because of the high speeds next to the fence and the narrow groove. It's also one of the most fun to drive.

I had a bad crash in an Indy car in Atlanta in 2001. Looking back on it, it was one of the scariest crashes I've been in.

Hey Casey, big fan of yours dating back to when I first started following the sport. You're Germain team has really made some impressive steps these last few seasons! Do you think cracking the Chase grid is a reasonable goal for next season? You guys are awfully good at those plate tracks...

Thanks for being a fan! Yes, because of the format. As long as we keep our heads down and focus on growing in the right direction, we'll have an opportunity to win races and be in a position to make the Chase.

Hello, Casey. Big NASCAR fan here. What's the best-looking car you've ever raced?

I'd say in 1999-2000, the champ cars/Indy cars at the time were probably the coolest cars I've ever gotten to race.

Hey Casey! If you could go back and race in any race of all time, which one would it be? (In Spint Cup)

Wow. Ya know, I'd love to race back in the 70's when my dad ran a hand-full of NASCAR races on the west coast. My brother got to race against my dad and I've always thought that would be a really fun experience.

Hey Casey, you've done some pretty nice things in that #13 car!

1. What is your favorite paint scheme you have ran?
2. How much of a surprise was it when Ambrose gave you the black eye?
3. If you had 5 minutes with the NASCAR rule book, what would you change?

Can't say I was really surprised, but I was obviously caught off-guard.

Casey! Thanks for the Doing the AMA.

A topic of conversation that has popped up once or twice in rr/NASCAR is that you and your team over the past 3 seasons (including this one) have consistently dropped your average finish by a few spots each season. I can't quite recall the numbers, but regardless that is awesome considering the equipment and funding you all are working with. Is there anything specific you can point towards that has allowed this to happen?

Also, congrats on your deal for 2015! Looking forward to the number getting even smaller next year!!!!!

Thanks for following our progress!! Additional support from GEICO and the restructing/growth of our team has made the improvement a truly group effort. Also, our relationship with RCR has been a great step in the right direction.

Casey how do you feel about the HP reduction next year?

I think everybody's on board with the changes that NASCAR is making for next season. As a racecar driver, I always want to go faster and have more horsepower, but there's always a bigger picture for the longevity of our sport that we have to keep in mind.

As a long time fan, it's great to see you with such a good team. If you could do one crew job (or CC Bootie's job), which would you do?

Thank you for your support of Germain Racing. The most thrilling side of the sport outside of driving the car would probably be going over the wall and changing tires.

Hi Casey! Big fan of yours and am very excited to see you race tomorrow. A couple questions: was the GEICO commercial the first one you had filmed and was it difficult? How many takes did you have to perform?

Bonus question: could your wife beat Doug in a basketball game?

First: Yes, my wife would was his behind in basketball.

I really enjoyed filming the GEICO commercials and I'm definitely not a one-take guy.

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I think our paint scheme looks great, but it's always fun to change things up. We're running a special paint scheme in Phoenix that I really like to support our military.

What are your thoughts on this year's new qualifying format? Should NASCAR bring back the top 35 to prevent full time teams from going home (17, 51 today)?

Better question for the 17.

If racing hadn't worked out, what would your career have been?

My goals in life have changed. It's always been hard to look past racing, so I'll deal with that decision if the time ever comes.