__NOTOC__ Roger Mears (born April 24, 1947 in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

) is an American former racing driver. Best known for his career in

off-road racing Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.). North America Desert racing D ...

, he also drove in the USAC and

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

series from 1978 to 1984. He competed in 31 races, including the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. He finished in the top ten 17 times, with three fourth-place finishes. Following his IndyCar career, Mears returned to off-road racing. Late in his career, he raced in four events during the

1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series The 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman was the inaugural season of the NASCAR SuperTruck Series. The season began on February 5, 1995, and ended on October 28. Mike Skinner of Richard Childress Racing won the championship. ...

season, racing for

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...

, including the inaugural series race at Phoenix. His best career finish, however, was a 16th at Mesa Marin. Mears is the father of NASCAR driver

Casey Mears Casey James Mears (born March 12, 1978) is an American professional off-road racing, off-road and stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang, Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Garage 66. He ...

, and the older brother of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner

Rick Mears Richard Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is an American former race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...

. Since his retirement from racing, Mears has been heavily involved in his son's career. He ran an

Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

team, with Casey as the driver, before working as a consultant with both Ganassi and

. Mears is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He played himself in the 1994 film Desert Steel.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

( key)

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

USAC

CART

Indianapolis 500

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

SuperTruck Series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mears, Roger Living people 1947 births American atheists Sportspeople from Wichita, Kansas Racing drivers from Kansas Indianapolis 500 drivers Champ Car drivers Off-road racing drivers NASCAR drivers Hendrick Motorsports drivers