Mears surprised, but pleased with change (cont'd)

As he left the garage Thursday, Knaus said he was pleased his protege had received a bona fide leadership opportunity rather than an interim position and that he would excel in his new role.

"I think it's a great opportunity for him," Knaus said. "Darian's a really good guy and I couldn't be prouder. I'm happy when any of my guys get the opportunity to expand within the company and get more responsibility [because] we've had it happen a few times and I think it's great.

"I think he's going to do a good job and I hope that, obviously working with me over the last few years he's developed a style that's similar, with what I've got with the racecars and if he has, then it's only going to help us, so I'm looking forward to it."

Mears cited a similarity in his and Johnson's driving styles that he picked up on even more in his initial briefing with Grubb.

"The way that we work the pedals and work the wheels is similar, on a lot of these tracks," Mears said. "And that kind of helped Darian understand that he had worked with a guy that has a similar driving style to this guy, now."

Knaus agreed.

"I hope it makes the transition more seamless -- I really do," Knaus said, with a laugh. "I think Casey's got a lot of talent but we'll just have to wait and see.

"But I think it's going to be a great opportunity for everybody and I'm really excited about it."

In an audio package posted on Hendrick Motorsports' media Web site Thursday, Grubb said he wasn't looking for a crew chief's role -- but he relished the chance.

"I'd say my goals are just like those of any other team out there -- just to try and win races and to perform to the best of our ability -- and to get the cars into the Chase," Grubb said. "With Casey coming in, and with his enthusiasm -- and with basically everything starting over for this team, I think it's one of those things where it's not an unrealistic goal.

"With the equipment and the resources we have here at Hendrick Motorsports -- and the backing we have from the National Guard and GMAC, which is second to none -- I think [making the Chase] is a good goal to try to accomplish. And just like everyone else it's something we're going to go out there and try to fight for."

Both driver and crew chief agreed their initial vibe indicated good things might be coming this season -- even this Speedweeks -- though Mears laughed off any thought of pressure despite his and Grubb's performance in the 2006 "Great American Race," which Mears stressed was a team effort, even though Grubb had the lead role on the pit box.

"It's a reassuring feeling that Darian has been through that [winning] process and understands how to get there," Mears said. "He understands how the team needs to perform and how the guys need to react to certain situations.

"He's been there, watching it with the championship team and he knows what it takes to get there, so having that knowledge is very valuable and we'll see how we click -- but so far, things are going well, I had a great conversation with him [Thursday] and so far things are going well."

"[Casey] is great," Grubb said. "What little I've talked to him he's a great guy and I know he's been friends with Jimmie [Johnson] in the past -- and with my past dealings with Jimmie Johnson and Casey coming around, they joked and carried-on and [Mears] definitely has got a great personality, a great attitude toward the sport and I really think he's going to succeed."

If he does, it will be in Grubb's first season as a crew chief, which he said was never his intent.

"I got the opportunity to play at crew chief for four races last year and I really enjoyed it," Grubb said. "It was a great opportunity and a great challenge for me [and] I'm just proud that Hendrick Motorsports has put their confidence in me to be able to go through and try this. I think it's one of those things where I couldn't have ever asked for this opportunity, but now that it's been laid in my lap, I'm really looking forward to going with it."

Knaus said by his engineer's training Grubb had the capacity to excel in 2007's Nextel Cup landscape.

"He's probably one of the smartest engineers I've met, so I think that's going to bode well for him," Knaus said. "He's good and he understands. A lot of the crew chiefs out there don't understand the engineering side of it, they don't understand data acquisition and how to read through programs and do a lot of that stuff -- and he does.

"That will help him to communicate with the engineers and it will give him what he needs from his engineers to be a good crew chief."