Casey Mears will try to make the most of his six-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series deal with Keyed-Up Motorsports. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“Obviously their goals and ideas are to run a full season,” Mears said. “You’ve got to start somewhere. We ended up cutting a deal to run the first six races, which works out for me to get to the race track. If things go well and we make the races like we’d like, it puts us in position to be able to find some sponsors a little bit better and get on to more races.”

Mears will have to qualify for races on speed or, for Daytona, through the qualifying race. For Mears, that is a fairly new position to be in as he hasn’t had to qualify for races since joining Chip Ganassi Racing in 2003.

“It’s going to be difficult,” Mears said. “I’m sure it’s going to be stressful. Do I think I’m qualified to race with these guys? Absolutely. Is everything going to go our way, is it all going to work out? I don’t know. … We feel like we’re doing the best job we can with what we’ve got and giving a real, legitimate shot.”

With the team having hired some quality personnel and a pit crew, Mears feels he has that legitimate shot. The organization is still seeking sponsorships.

“Raymond Key and all these guys here are making a true effort to try to go racing,” Mears said. “That’s what I want to do. I don’t want any part of a start-and-park program. I want to go out and race and these guys want to do the same thing. … Obviously they’re trying to secure sponsorship to run more. Raymond felt good about funding the first six and going from there. It gives me a good opportunity to assess and see exactly where we’re at and it also gives them an opportunity to buy some time, look for some sponsorship to continue.”

Mears said he is excited about the chance to work with the team and won’t be bitter over his departure from RCR.

“I understand why it all happened,” Mears said. “I’m not really the type to sit around and be bitter. … Of course, I would have loved to see things work out last year and continue on because I thought we really had a good head of steam going and things were going in the right direction.

“So is it frustrating to a certain level that things didn’t pan out after last year? Yes. But at the same time, I am excited about this opportunity and find myself thinking about going to Daytona. I’m excited and I’m a little apprehensive, and I’m curious to see how things are going to go. You know after your first couple of laps at Daytona if you’re in the ballpark or not.”

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