Mears left searching for his identity after shuffle, again (cont'd)

Of course, the numbers always connect as journeyman Joe Nemechek celebrated victory in 2003 in his year-and-a-half stint driving, you guessed it, Hendrick's 25 car.

So in 2008, Mears will celebrate by doing what he's done best and without argument -- move on, this time to Hendrick's No. 5 with Kellogg's and Carquest providing the dollars.

It's no secret that sponsorship dollars lie in the $20 million range, and the trend -- as embraced by Hendrick and most notably Roush Fenway Racing -- has been to secure multiple companies to pay for a season's worth of signage. That's fine for teams. What about fans?

Dale Jr. to No. 88

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What does one wear if Greg Biffle is his favorite driver?

Will Matt Kenseth be in his bumble bee colors as usual this week, or will it be red, white and blue of USG, or red and white of Arby's, or green of R&L Carriers?

Wonder what the DuPont folks thought about all those late-night pics of Jeff Gordon at Richmond with his non-smoking garb on rather than his colorful paint threads?

And then there's Mears, who in addition to sponsor and number, will be handed the task of becoming favorable with a new crew chief. Alan Gustafson becomes the seventh crew chief to work with Mears in his five-year Cup career and third in his year-long stint at Hendrick. Lance McGrew inherited Mears, but mere weeks before the 2007 Daytona 500, Darian Grubb was promoted to the role. Now Grubb will help oversee Earnhardt's outfit.

Prior to joining Hendrick, Mears worked with Jimmy Elledge in the No. 41 car and Donnie Wingo in the No. 42.

Seven crew chiefs, five sponsors (including the would-be created car at Ganassi) and four car numbers all in four years -- it's silly to question why Mears hasn't quite gotten settled in for the long haul in Cup. He's got no identity.

"I think there is a lot in the number," Rusty Wallace said recently in an interview with NASCAR.COM (read more).

"You do get affiliated with a number," Elliott Sadler said, "and you kind of feel like it's yours."

Perhaps those Mears fans out there are fueling the financial fire of his teams, gobbling up all that merchandise up year after year, only to spend the same cheese on the same product with a different color the next season. It happened with Kurt Busch. It happened with Martin. It's surely happening with Junior.

Apples to oranges? Granted, that brief list is of apples is a recent Cup champion, NASCAR's most respected driver and the sport's most popular driver in its near 60-year history. And the orange is a pedigree who has yet to fully prove himself in stock-car racing's demanding deliver-now-or-leave-quietly environment. Then again, Mears has never quite had a home to call his. At least not with a permanent nametag.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.