Casey Mears

On August 11, 2005, two sources, on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that Reed Sorenson will replace Casey in the #41 Target Dodge for the 2006 NEXTEL Cup season. Mears will remain with Chip Ganassi Racing, but with a different team. While the car number has not been determined, Home123 has been confirmed to be the primary sponsor.

Casey Mears, the son of former Indy car and off-road driver Roger Mears and the nephew of Hall of Fame Indy car star Rick Mears, scored a top-10 finish in his first stock car start, in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Talladega. He then moved on to a Busch Series race driving for Welliver-Jesel, where he qualified 21st and finished 28th. Mears previously competed in the Dayton Indy Lights Series, where he won at the Grand Prix of Houston in 2000. He became just the fourth driver in Indy Lights history to complete every lap in a season on his way to finishing second in the 1999 standings.He competed in five CART races from 2000 through 2001, posting a fourth-place finish in his series debut at California Speedway in 2000. In 2001, he scored two top-five finishes in four CART starts after replacing the injured Alex Zanardi.

Mears went full-time to stock cars in 2002. He finished 21st in the Busch Series standings. He scored one top-five and two top-10 finishes that season. The year was good enough to get him a job in NASCAR's elite series, taking over driving duties for the No. 41 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing.He finished 35th in his first season in NASCAR's top class. His top finish was a 15th-place effort at Las Vegas.