Track Smack: Change good for Mears, not so for quals (cont'd)

2. Mark Martin and Casey Mears, bound for Hendrick Motorsports and RCR respectively, could be in their 2009 rides before the end of this season. Is such an early switch a good thing?

Raygan Swan: Casey really seems to be hitting his stride right now in the No. 5 car, but what's the point? I think he should begin R&D with RCR ASAP. From this point on, only speak in acronyms, BTW.

David Caraviello: I say, let 'em go. Surely it eases the transition and gives them a leg up on the next season. I mean, why not? If both car owners are on board, nobody really loses here.

Joe Menzer: LEG. Let 'em go. Let 'em get a LEG up on next year. ASAP, BTW.

David Caraviello: Well, I should say, nobody loses except the Mark Martin fan who just bought his $200 U.S. Army leather jacket.

Raygan Swan: Casey has pretty much spent his last few seasons in transition, so he's accustomed to it. The sooner the better to get him gelling with his new crew chief.

Joe Menzer: Oh, come on, DC2 (not to be confused with DC, who is our boss). Anybody who just invested in a $200 Army jacket because he's a Mark Martin fan is clueless.

Early move?

Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress are discussing the possibility of moving Casey Mears to RCR and Mark Martin to HMS before the end of the season.

• Complete story, click here
• Mears moving to the 07 in '09
• Martin signs with Hendrick
• Martin looking forward to '09

David Caraviello: Hey, Joe, the discount rack at Wilson's Leather holds quite a spell on people.

Raygan Swan: You can smell it from outside the store Joe!

David Caraviello: It lures you in, like the scent of a fresh-baked pie. Except it smells like leather.

Joe Menzer: Well, let me talk about something that stinks. And that's Casey Mears' body of work at Hendrick Motorsports. I thought he might break through this year, but no. So why not let him get a jump on next year while allowing MM to do the same. GTP? (Get The Point?)

David Caraviello: Easy, big man -- both on the acronyms and on Mears. He has gotten much better toward the end of the year. Give the kid a break. He gets passed around more than a bag of M&Ms.

Raygan Swan: I wonder if fatherhood will have any kind of impact on Mears and life on the track?

David Caraviello: Shoot, nothing would have a bigger impact than having the same team and crew chief two years in a row. The kid has had no stability. No wonder it takes until the end of the year for him to get things going.

Joe Menzer: Look, I really like Casey Mears. Truly, I do. But the fact is he did the same thing last year toward the end of the year, and it looked like he was building toward something. Instead, this year has been pretty awful for CM. But I will say this, to be fair to him I would like to see what he can do if he gets with the same crew chief for more than five minutes.

Raygan Swan: I can't say a bad thing about the man or else my inbox floods with hate mail. People love that guy.

David Caraviello: It's the Bakersfield Mafia. Joe, Casey's been 15th or better in six of his last eight starts. They've really improved from where they were earlier in the year. Of course, he'll never get the chance to build on that.

Joe Menzer: Guys, again, I really like Casey Mears as a person and have stood up for him in the past as a driver. But this season took a wrong turn for him at the Daytona 500. Wasn't that when he was running up front and wrecked himself?

David Caraviello: No Joe, that was you in your rental car in Chicago.

Raygan Swan: Ouch baby, very ouch!

Joe Menzer: The other thing to remember is that because of the fact that he IS such a nice guy, people keep saying things like what DC2 just said: "Aw, give the kid a break." But this isn't a case of a kid having a kid here. Casey turned 30 years old in March!

David Caraviello: My words are being taken out of context! I don't mean that he should actually be given anything. I'm saying that he's run better toward the end of the year, and that he's never had the chance to build on anything. And certainly that's a reason he struggles so much.

Raygan Swan: It's his attitude that team owners love and why he stays outfitted with top teams. He'll always have a nice ride no matter if he wrecks himself in Daytona or in a rental car.

Joe Menzer: Are you talking about me or Mears? Maybe we'd better move onto the next question ASAP. (Continued)