Trouble in Turn2

The word on the street is that Casey Mears drives for Hendrick Motorsports. Based on most NASCAR publications and promotional pictures it would be easy to think of HMS as a three-car galaxy of superstars. Mears is a solid driver in his own right. In fact Mears finished one spot better than his higher profile teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 2007 point standings. Don’t feel bad for Mears. Sure he gets as much attention as an extra on Oceans 13, but his situation continues to improve with Hendrick.

It took Mears the first third of the season to settle into the #25 car. A rash of wrecks didn’t help and it pushed Mears to the edge of the top 35 cliff. He eventually clawed his way back to the teens in the standings. Then came the big breakthrough. At the Coca Cola 600 Mears ran in the top 5 all night and then endured on fuel mileage for his first career Cup win. He followed that up with two top fives in the next three races.

He set career highs in wins, top 5’s, top 10’s and lead lap finishes. The first three numbers are obvious, but improving his lead lap finishes is a credit to his new Hendrick equipment. The cars are there for Mears to take advantage of, now the rest is up to him to avoid wrecks and find the right setup.

New crew chief Alan Gustafson will handle most of the heavy lifting on car setups. Last year Darian Grubb came from the engineering team to be Mears’ crew chief. Grubb had to rebuild the #25 team and quickly grow into the crew chief’s role, both of which contributed to Mears’ slow start. Now Grubb moves back to engineering to make way for one of the top young crew chiefs in the sport. Gustafson has spent the last three seasons with Kyle Busch and the #5 team, where they’ve won 4 races. After assorted headaches with Busch, Mears is surely a treat for Gustafson.

Mears showed improved consistency, but the next step is running closer to the front. He had 12 races where finished 11th-20th and only led 33 laps in 2007. Whittling 15th place finishes down to top 10’s would mean a nice jump in points. It’s a simple plan, but will be tough with so many other top drivers vying for the same space on the track.

His comfort is found at the intermediate tracks where he has experienced the most success. Tracks like Texas (4 top 10’s in 5 starts), Las Vegas, Kansas and Pocono comprise the type of fast, gradually-banked tracks that apparently fit Mears’ style. Mears weakness continues to be places like Phoenix, Loudon and Richmond. He has one career top ten in 28 career starts at the three sister tracks.

Can he make the Chase? Some have pointed to 2005 when Roush Racing placed all five of their drivers in the season ending playoffs as a sign that Hendrick could land all 4 drivers in the 2008 Chase. So sure, it’s possible. The big difference then, was that Roush perfected the 2005 aero package while other teams, including some Hendrick cars, struggled mightily. The CoT is in its second year and while Hendrick shot out to a large lead last year, the rest of the sport is bound to close the gap this year. In other words, last year was the more likely season to place a whole organization in the Chase. Mears had a nice 2007, and another win at a speedway or superspeedway is entirely possible in 2008. Beyond that, it’s hard seeing Mears vault over so many drivers to make the Chase.