NVCC will host Casey Mears’ new NASCAR car Jan. 24

Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will make its debut at Daytona 500 next month

NASCAR driver Casey Mears’ newest car, which will debut next month at the Daytona 500, will be on display Wednesday, Jan. 24, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the NVCC Automotive Technician Center, 2200 Thomaston Ave., Waterbury. The event is free and open to the public.

WATERBURY (Jan. 22, 2007) —The new car for NASCAR driver Casey Mears will be on display Wednesday, Jan. 24, at the Naugatuck Valley Community College Automotive Technician Center in Waterbury.

The public is invited to attend this free event. The National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS — No. 25 — will be on display from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the center, located at 2200 Thomaston Ave., Waterbury. The car, one of those Mears will drive in the 2007 NEXTEL Cup Series, will make its NASCAR debut at the 49th annual Daytona 500 next month.

Casey Mears will not appear at the Jan. 24 event, but representatives from Hendrick Motorsports will be on hand to answer questions.

Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 10 championships in NASCAR’s top three divisions and 149 victories in the sanctioning body’s premier series, the NEXTEL Cup. The company, based in Concord, N.C., currently fields Chevrolet race cars on the Cup and Busch Series circuits with drivers Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Mears, the son of off-road legend Roger Mears and nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, made his NASCAR debut in a 2001 Busch Series race before hitting that circuit full time the following year.

NVCC, in cooperation with the National Automotive Dealership Association, the U.S. Department of Labor, local and national dealership associations, and the major automotive manufacturers, developed its automotive technician program to meet the longstanding need for skilled automotive service technicians.

Located off exit 18 on Interstate 84, NVCC serves more than 10,000 credit and non-credit students from 35 communities across western Connecticut from Litchfield to Waterbury to Seymour to Southbury and Danbury.