DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In his six-year Cup Series career, the knock on Casey Mears has been the lack of consistent production, despite a steady climb in the championship standings during his first five seasons.

Four years with Chip Ganassi Racing, in which he went from 35th in the championship as a rookie to 14th in 2006, set the stage for a move to Hendrick Motorsports for 2007.

Unfortunately, Mears went the wrong way in the championship, though he had highlights, like his career first victory in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 driving HMS's No. 25 Chevrolet and a strong finish to 2008, when he scored two top-10 and four top-14 finishes while moving from 25th to 20th in the final standings.

But at that point he was already a lame duck, on his way to drive Richard Childress Racing's No. 07 Chevrolet in 2009 tuned by veteran crew chief Gil Martin, who put newcomer Clint Bowyer into the Chase two consecutive years.

Less than three weeks from the season-opening Speedweeks 2009 at Daytona International Speedway, Mears went out of his way to say how comfortable he's found the surroundings at RCR when he visited Daytona's Preseason Thunder Fan Fest on Friday.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native got a head start on '09, considered to be a pivotal season for him given RCR's expansion to four teams and the fact the longstanding organization has put all its teams into the Chase the last two years, by beginning to test in November 2008.

That continued last week at the GM proving grounds near Mesa, Ariz., and it's got Mears overflowing with enthusiasm after what was largely a three-day team-building exercise.

"The opportunity to spend the time with the team, I took everybody out to dinner, felt like it was very valuable in a lot of the things that we learned [and] hopefully we'll be able to carry it over to Daytona," Mears said. "It was definitely good to get to know the guys a little bit more. I left going, 'man, I really like these guys.' They're a lot of fun."

The most veteran teammate at RCR, Jeff Burton, said he's not had the chance to work with Mears at the track, but he's been impressed so far.

"In talking to Casey and the thing that I'm really impressed with is his enthusiasm -- his desire to be successful [and] I think that Casey is going to bring something to our company immediately," Burton said. "He's very professional, very much wants to do the right thing, wants to have success and he's willing to do whatever it takes to be successful."

Burton deflected Mears' critics.

"Not every situation is right for everybody," Burton said. "If you're part of a team and other drivers are having success, that doesn't mean you can't be successful -- it means that that program doesn't work for you.

"Matching the right people together is extremely important. It's chemistry, that's what it is; and Casey hasn't had the situation where he could be as successful as I think he can be."

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Honestly I haven't thought a whole lot about where [RCR was] last year and what they've done, I just know that I'm going in with a really good organization [and] obviously we want to continue success. That's [all making the Chase] something we want to do again this year.

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-- CASEY MEARS

Mears, laughing, said the biggest impact of the team change was that he "doesn't get to see my friends as often," but he downplayed even that, saying "I've got some great teammates over there at RCR. Those guys are very talented [and] obviously have a lot of information [so] it's all right there as far as teammates goes."

And he said friend Jimmie Johnson would never be more than 10 digits away.

"I think when you come to the race track you're focused on racing and it doesn't matter who that teammate is," Mears said. "I don't know if I'm losing anything because I can still call Jimmie and talk to him right now if I wanted to."

For his part, Johnson said he considered his friend "an amazing driver" and said Mears' recent history, including four different teams and crew chiefs in the last four years, has been his biggest holdup.

"I think that for Casey, he's lacked a little bit of continuity with the team," Johnson said. "If you look at his crew chief situation every year, it's been a new crew chief from the days at Ganassi and switching things around over there. So I think as [2008] went on, he and Alan [Gustafson] started hitting on some things and we saw Casey much more competitive."

At Preseason Thunder, Mears seemed almost apologetic to his former Hendrick teammates, but he stressed it was because of the comfort level he'd quickly been granted at his new home, and that a quick start is very possible, and he doesn't feel any undue pressure.

"Honestly I haven't thought a whole lot about where they were last year and what they've done, I just know that I'm going in with a really good organization [and] obviously we want to continue success," Mears said. "That's [all making the Chase] something we want to do again this year.

"The first indications of everything that I've gotten so far working the little bit that I have with Gil and the guys, spending time around the shop, it's just a good fit -- it really is a very good fit. Gil and I have clicked right away. The test that we had in November, every single change we made on the car went in the right direction, and to me that was a good indication that we're communicating, he understands what I'm saying, and he's translating it to the car.

"I thought I was comfortable last year, and now I'm over here at RCR and I'm working with Gil and these guys, and I'm realizing that I wasn't as comfortable as I should have been last year. These guys have really made me feel at home, and the speed has shown when we have gone and tested -- we've been quick. So I'm really optimistic about this year, and I think that the chances of us having a lot of success this year is very high."