Roger Mears
American off-road racer
Roger Mears (born April 24, 1947 in Wichita, Kansas) is an American former racing driver. Best known for his career in off-road racing, he also drove in the USAC and CART series from 1978 to 1984. He competed in 31 races, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1982 and 1983. 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 season, racing for Hendrick Motorsports, 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, and the older brother of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears.
Since his retirement from racing, Mears has been heavily involved in his son's career. He ran an Indy Lights team, with Casey as the driver, before working as a consultant with both Ganassi and Hendrick Motorsports.
Mears is an atheist. He played himself in the 1994 film Desert Steel.
01Racing record
American open-wheel racing results
(key)
Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | PIR1 | TRE1 | MOS | MIL1 26 |
TEX | MIL2 22 |
OMS1 15 |
OMS2 | TRE2 | PIR2 | 51st | 10 |
USAC
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Beith Racing | Eagle 72 | Offenhauser L4 t | PHX1 | ONT1 | TXS1 | TRE1 | INDY | MOS | MIL1 | POC | MIS1 | ATL | TXS2 | MIL2 | ONT2 6 |
MIS2 | TRE2 | SIL | BRH | PHX2 DNS |
25th | 400 |
CART
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Patrick Racing | Penske PC-6 | Cosworth DFX V8 t | PHX | ATL1 | ATL2 | INDY | TRE1 | TRE2 | MIS1 | MIS2 | WGL | TRE3 | ONT 13 |
MIS3 | ATL3 | PHX2 | NC | 0 | |||
| 1980 | Hodgdon Racing | McLaren M24 | Cosworth DFX V8 t | ONT 9 |
24th | 272 | ||||||||||||||||
| Grant King Racers | Kingfish 73 | Chevrolet V8 | INDY DNQ |
MIL | POC | MDO 4 |
MIS | WGL 16 |
MIL 26 |
ONT2 | MIS2 | MEX | PHX | |||||||||
| 1982 | Machinists Union Racing Team | Penske PC-9B | Cosworth DFX V8 t | PHX 8 |
MIL 22 |
CLE 21 |
9th | 103 | ||||||||||||||
| Penske PC-7 | ATL 4 |
MIS 17 |
MIL2 14 |
POC 9 |
RIV 4 |
ROA 8 |
MIS2 8 |
|||||||||||||||
| Penske PC-10 | PHX2 7 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983 | Machinists Union Racing Team | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8 t | ATL 7 |
INDY 28 |
MIL 8 |
CLE 6 |
MIS DNQ |
ROA 8 |
POC 16 |
RIV 9 |
MDO 12 |
MIS2 16 |
CEA 7 |
LS 6 |
PHX 16 |
12th | 43 | ||||
| 1984 | Caliva Racing | March 84C | Cosworth DFX V8 t | LBH DNQ |
PHX 26 |
NC | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Machinists Union Racing Team | Penske PC-10 | INDY DNQ |
MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | MIS | ROA | POC | MDO | SAN | MIS2 | PHX2 | LS | CEA |
Indianapolis 500
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Kingfish 73 | Chevrolet V8 | DNQ | Grant King Racers | |
| 1981 | Penske PC-7 | Cosworth DFX V8 t | DNQ | Agajanian | |
| 1982 | Penske PC-9B | Cosworth DFX V8 t | 19 | 32 | Machinists Union Racing Team |
| 1983 | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8 t | 8 | 28 | Machinists Union Racing Team |
| 1984 | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8 t | DNQ | Machinists Union Racing Team | |
NASCAR
(key) (Bold , Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics , Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * , Most laps led.)
SuperTruck Series
Sources and credits
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