BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Another of the Sprint Cup Series garage's worst-kept secrets will become official at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday when Casey Mears is announced as the fourth driver for Richard Childress Racing beginning next season.

Team owner Richard Childress, who has been tight-lipped about persistent rumors that Mears joining his team has long been a done deal, essentially confirmed it Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“

He's a racer. That's what I like about him. ... You know, there are a lot of guys who haven't won if you really look at it. I can tell you all that stuff [Saturday], if you want.

”

RICHARD CHILDRESS

Asked what he liked about Mears, Childress replied: "I think he's a good race driver; I think he's a solid race driver. I like his attitude. He's just got the right attitude when it comes to racing. He's a racer. That's what I like about him."

When asked in a follow-up question why then he thinks Mears has been unable to win more at the Cup level, Childress added: "You know, there are a lot of guys who haven't won if you really look at it. I can tell you all that stuff [Saturday], if you want."

Mears currently drives the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, and on Friday qualified fifth for Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol. But he has known for weeks that he would not be in the No. 5 next year, as Hendrick previously announced that the ride would go to Mark Martin in 2009.

Almost as soon as that announcement was made, rumors swirled that Mears would be Childress' choice to fill out his driver lineup as RCR makes the switch from three full-time Cup entries to four. Mears, whose only career Cup victory to date came last season in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, merely grinned when asked about his future following his qualifying run Friday, politely adding that he did not yet want to comment.

Told that Childress had "said some good things about him," Mears smiled and added only: "That's good to know. He's a real good guy."

Childress also addressed another hot topic regarding his operation when he confirmed that his grandson, Austin Dillon, would begin testing in Truck Series and Nationwide Series vehicles, starting this Monday.

"I think he's running a truck at Richmond on Monday, and then going to Iowa to drive a Nationwide car," Childress said. "We'll run him in some Nationwide cars. We'll just see how it goes from there. You know, he's never run a radial tire. So we'll try to run him a little and see how he does."

For now, there are no plans to have Dillon drive a No. 3 car in the Nationwide Series, according to Childress. That is the number that was driven in the Cup Series by the late Dale Earnhardt, who drove for Childress. Dillon has been running a car bearing that number in the Camping World East Series and also in some dirt-track races, but Childress said Dillon will run a No. 21 Chevrolet when he makes his Nationwide debut. It earlier had been confirmed that Dillon, 18, would run his first Nationwide race at Richmond on Sept. 6.

Austin Dillon, grandson of championship-winning team owner Richard Childress, will make his Nationwide Series debut Sept. 5 at Richmond International Raceway.

• Complete story, click here
• Dillon living up to heritage
• No. 3 driving back on track

Childress did not rule out the possibility of letting Dillon run the No. 3 car in future Nationwide events, however.

"I kind of wanted to do the 3, but we'll just have to see what happens," Childress said. "He enjoys racing [the No. 3] in the Camping World East Series, plus he's run it on dirt. So he's been runnin' it some. If we get something solid [sponsor-wise], we might do it in the Nationwide -- but I don't have any intentions of doing it anywhere else, though. I don't have any intention of running it in Cup, but I might do it in Nationwide."

Also expected to be revealed at Saturday's announcement is a switch in cars and sponsors for Mears and Clint Bowyer. At the request of sponsors, Mears is expected to move into the No. 07 car currently sponsored by Jack Daniel's while Bowyer, who now drives the No. 07 Chevy for RCR, will move over to the new No. 33 sponsored by General Mills (and take his No. 07 owner points along with him, if NASCAR approves it).

"All you do is you're just out there trying to do a good job for your sponsors. Whatever it takes to do a good job, you do it," Childress said.

Childress said it shouldn't matter who is in which car for RCR next season.

"Our goal always was that we wouldn't do [a fourth car] until we were able to give everybody equal equipment. And I think that's what we're going to be able to do," Childress said.

"I just want to get all this over and get it behind us. Our goal is to get to where we can concentrate on getting these [other three RCR] cars in the Chase and be a championship contender."