Casey Mears signs....

Unfortunately for CART, Casey Mears has signed along with Andre Didier with Galles Racing in the Indy Racing League. Even after performing quite well at Fontana last year, Mears was unable to secure a CART ride and Galles has added another car to his now three car team.

Isn't that the team that Little Al races for? Another rookie to leave him in the dust ...

Well, maybe Mears will get a Champ Car drive next year.

Good for him. Which do you think would be a better proving ground- the IRL or Indy Lites? He has done Indy Lites and it is time to move on, the pressure of Indy should do him well...just look at Kenny Brack..

Casey did Lites for 3 or 4 years so it was definately time to move on...shame he didnt get a champcar ride ..but the IRL will teach him plenty of new tricks and being Little Al's teammate is a bonus for anyone..i doubt if he will stay to long before heading to Champcars ..but he should perform better than most of the current IRL drivers ..

and if casey was to win the indy 500........ :rotate:

.......Arie and Little Al would be looking for the razor blades......

Unfortunate for CART?? Who needs him? Who needs a good driver with the last name of Mears? CART has all of these great F3000 hotshots and F1 wash-outs. So what if their names are unpronouncable to most casual fans?

Another great American prospect gets the shaft from the CART team owners. What a pity.

Our local paper agrees with Jared - they think that even if he is not as good as the "furriners" he should have been hired because he is named Mears.

Here is the quote:

"The truth is that Mears' road-racing ability was suspect, making him a far stroger prospect for the IRL than for CART with its variety of tracks. Another negative, he raced for four years in Indy Lights without winning a championship, finishing his final year as runner-up. Whatever his shortcomings, the kid's name is Mears. That ...should have assured him a spot in the 2001 FedEx Championship."

Sorry, but I think it is NASCAR where you present a birth certificiate instead of a superlicense. :rolleyes:

Unfortunately, written (or typed) speech did not allow me to accurately portray the sarcasm I was trying to infuse my response with. My actual position on this is the second line, that it is a real shame for CART and American open-wheel racing, as well as for the validity of the CART "ladder system."

Actually Liz, CART does award rides based on birth certificates; you can only get a ride if your birth certificate is not from the US :(

I think it's very unfortunate that he's not going to be in CART this season. He certainly impressed me with his performance at Fontana, and I had hoped he would get a drive in CART. :(

Perhaps Casey Mears should change his name to something more Brazilian and see if it makes a difference. ;)

I think heīs not as good as some said, but he is indeed better than many actual Cart drivers. He shouldīve gotten the ride at cart this year, but Irl ainīt that bad, I wonder what he can do at the Indy 500, anyway itīs a shame heīs not racing in champ cars next year.