Success runs in this family

Coincidentally, Casey Mears scored his first NASCAR Nextel Cup victory on the same day as the Indianapolis 500, a race his uncle, Rick Mears, won four times.

But as he watched on television last Sunday while Casey, squeezing every drop out of a dwindling fuel load when others had to pit for gas, won the Coca-Cola 600, Rick was struck by another coincidence.

“At my very first win [in Indy cars], I ran out of fuel and coasted across the finish line,” Rick said, referring to his victory in Milwaukee in 1978. “I know that feeling.”

Casey’s breakthrough added another chapter to the history of the racing Mears family of Bakersfield. Besides Rick’s success -- Indy 500 victories in 1979, ‘84, ’88 and 1991 -- Casey’s father, Roger Mears, was an off-road racing champion.

Rick, 55, is now a top advisor on Roger Penske’s IndyCar Series team, and last Sunday he was high above the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the spotter for pole sitter Helio Castroneves in the 500.

Rain brought that race to an early end, with Dario Franchitti of Andretti Green Racing taking the victory. Castroneves, a two-time winner of the race, finished third and his Penske teammate, 2006 Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr., was fourth.

“After our race was over, I ran back to the motor coach, got out of my wet clothes to dry off a little bit and flipped on Casey’s race,” Rick said.

The No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Casey, 29, was strong throughout the Coca-Cola 600, which started in the late-afternoon at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in suburban Charlotte, N.C., and finished under the lights.

With less than 10 laps remaining, the leaders had no choice but to dart onto pit road for a splash of fuel. Rick figured that Casey, who was running in the top five, faced the same fate.

“Our hearts were in our throats,” Rick said. “When they started talking about everybody stopping for fuel, I thought, ‘[Casey’s] got to, too.’

“When they decided to keep him out I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go.’ I thought there was no way he could make it, based on how well he was running. I was waiting for the [car] to cough any minute.”

But Rick said that what he and most others didn’t realize was that Casey and crew chief Darian Grubb had been trying to conserve fuel for much of the race, then gambled correctly that Casey could go the distance.

After he’d taken the checkered flag, Casey’s Chevy finally burned its last drop of fuel on his cool-down lap, and he needed a push into Victory Lane.

“It was just so exciting, seeing him get his first win,” Rick said. Casey is “a good, well-rounded driver and has a good feel for the car.”

Rick understood that Casey, who joined the Cup series in 2003, had been under growing pressure to finally get his first win, especially after he’d joined the powerful Hendrick team this year.

The situation “had cast a shadow on him,” Rick said. “But I knew, and I know [car owner Rick] Hendrick knew, that he could do it. Their luck needed to change too.”

Shortly after the race ended, Roger Mears -- who drives Casey’s personal motor coach so that he and Casey’s mom, Carol, can be with him on the Cup circuit -- said, “We’re both so happy because we know how this makes [Casey] feel. I’ve been crying since they threw the checkered flag.”

Then Roger called Rick and put Casey on the phone.

“What could [Casey] say? He was so thrilled,” Rick said. “I just told him, ‘Great job, and you’ll be able to sleep great tonight.’ ”

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james.peltz@latimes.com