Mears surprised, but pleased with change

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In 2006, Casey Mears finished runner-up in the Daytona 500 to Jimmie Johnson, who drove a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that was tuned and guided that day by engineer Darian Grubb -- the man who late Monday afternoon was named Mears' crew chief on Rick Hendrick's No. 25 Chevrolet.

Mears, who has yet to run his first race for Hendrick after making 144 starts for Chip Ganassi Racing, met the man whom he expects to engineer his breakout Nextel Cup season face-to-face for the first time Thursday and said the impromptu session was "impressive."

"We talked a little bit at some of the tests, but obviously without knowing that it was going to go in this direction, so it was pretty light conversation, just little things about set-up and things like that," Mears said Thursday afternoon, smiling. "I talked to him several times over the phone since things went down [because] I was in Vegas testing, so I didn't get a whole lot of time to talk to him.

"I heard about it a couple days before it happened, but it was a fairly quick decision [and Thursday] was the first time we met each other in the garage and we sat there and talked for 45 minutes and I was almost late coming to Media Day just because we got to talking about things and getting excited about what we were getting ready to be a part of."

Mears appeared to have gotten over what he said was a surprising change.

"It all happened really fast," Mears said. "But I had talked with Jimmie about Darian for a lot of years and he expressed [how highly he thought of him]. So far I've been impressed and we've just got a lot of work to do.

"I think [Grubb's] excited about [the sponsors] and I think he's excited about the attention and effort that's been put towards this 25 team and I just couldn't be happier that he decided to come aboard.

"It was something that had to be decided quick and it was a personal decision [because] there's a lot of time devoted to this [because] he's looking to lose a lot of personal time at home so it was a huge decision for him to make and I'm glad he did -- and I'm excited about it."

But after a couple Hendrick Motorsports personnel weighed-in Thursday, it seemed outgoing crew chief Lance McGrew, who led former HMS driver Brian Vickers to the Busch Series championship in 2003 but struggled with Vickers in Nextel Cup until the pair won at Talladega last fall with the No. 25 Monte Carlo, would be the only one who might offer the definitive reason for the change.

McGrew was cited in Monday's announcement for a "leadership role" at Hendrick, which fields full-time Nextel Cup programs for defending champion Johnson, four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, former Nextel Cup rookie of the year Kyle Busch and part-time Busch Series programs for Busch, Mears and Johnson, among others.

"Lance has proven to be a winner on every level he's raced, and we're excited about the positive impact he can make on our overall efforts," HMS general manager Marshall Carlson said Thursday. "He's a first-class person with broad experience in this organization who will continue to contribute to our success."

"I really hope Lance finds something within the organization and can still be a part of things," Mears said. "Because he's very valuable and has a lot of experience and we don't want to lose that."

Grubb stepped into a brilliant spotlight in Cup racing last year when Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, was suspended for four races after Daytona 500 Bud Pole Qualifying for a technical infraction found in post-qualifying inspection.

Grubb stepped up from the team Knaus assembled and scored the hallmark 500 victory, second place at California, a win at Las Vegas and sixth place at Atlanta before Knaus returned.

"[Me and Johnson] talked a lot about Darian stepping in for him last year and how impressed [Johnson] was with him and how calm [Grubb] was, the way he approached situations and his attention to detail in trying to sort out and really get the feel that Jimmie wanted in the car," Mears said. "He was just impressed with that. So right now, it's a surprise to get the change at this point [because] I was really looking forward to working with Lance, we had a good rapport and things were going well.

"The team had their reasons for making this decision and I support 'em. It's a team that's been around for a long time and they understand what it's going to take to win races and win championships in this sport, and for whatever reason they felt like this was the right scenario for us to go out and do well.

"I think if there was anybody capable or anybody that could have stepped in and eased any apprehension I had about having a new crew chief, it was Darian. He is the guy that definitely was the right guy for the job, within the company because there was nobody else that I could see, at this point just being able to pluck out and put in this situation and be able to deal with it."

Carlson said the timing -- though it seemed last-minute -- was correct and that there was little question Grubb was the person of choice.

"Our season is year-round, so we're constantly evaluating everything we do [and] we felt that adjusting immediately would be most beneficial for the organization," Carlson said. "With the No. 25 team, we saw an opportunity to make adjustments and felt Darian was the right person to lead those efforts.

"He has a strong history here and his leadership ability is already proven."

During preseason testing at Daytona in January, Mears was 12th out of 64 cars but he said "no, it wasn't between us" when asked if test results led to the change and added that conjecture that another organization had approached Grubb about a crew chief's position was "digging pretty deep."

"It was just a team decision based on information they've had over the last couple of years, and what they felt maybe would be a better fit," Mears said. "There were really no bad issues and there wasn't one thing that set them off to spark this decision -- it was just a series of events leading up to where we are now that they felt this was the best scenario.

"It would take forever to explain that and to be honest, I don't know all the reasons right now, but like I said, I was really looking forward to working with Lance, and by the same token I'm really looking forward to working with Darian [because] in no way, shape or form did we take a step backwards."

Mears said he didn't anticipate a move and laughed when it was pointed out that Grubb himself had mentioned last year that he wasn't looking for a crew chief's role after his brief fill-in for Knaus.

"He did say that he didn't think he wanted to go that direction," Mears said. "At the same time, one thing that he did express was that he wanted it to be the right scenario, and he felt this was a good opportunity, which I took as a huge compliment."

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."