The Latest: Hemric eager to rep North Carolina in No. 8

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on NASCAR media day for the Daytona 500 (all times local):

11 a.m.

Casey Mears will have a paint scheme for the Daytona 500 .Mears secured one of the open spots for Sunday’s race when he qualified in an all-black No. 27 Chevrolet. Without a guaranteed spot in the field, Germain Racing was unable to sign a primary sponsor in time for qualifying.

Still wearing a plain, black fire suit, Mears at least had a Rim Ryderz hat on his lap.

“They literally handed me this hat when I walked through the door,” Mears said at Daytona 500 media day. “I’m learning as I go. It looks like a pretty cool company.”

The company makes skateboard rims.

Mears, who has one career Cup win in 488 starts, said he had no other races scheduled for this season. He was second in the 2006 Daytona 500.

Mears is running a second entry for Germain in a car built in collaboration with Premium Motorsports. He was one of the six drivers vying for four open spots in NASCAR’s season opener.

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