TALLADEGA, Ala. -- If there were any doubts whatsoever about whose decision it was to swap the crews and crew chiefs of two prominent Cup Series teams, those were put to rest Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.

"I own the company, so it must have been my decision," Richard Childress stated emphatically.

“

I know Todd is one my best friends in the world, and that's the part I've had the most trouble coping with. Richard [Childress] feels strongly about it. And I think everybody's got some enthusiasm about it, so I think that's a good thing.

”

-- KEVIN HARVICK

Following the Aaron's 499 Cup race Sunday, the crews and crew chiefs for the No. 07 and driver Casey Mears will swap with those of the No. 29 driven by Kevin Harvick. Both Mears and Harvick said they were not consulted about the move that will go into effect beginning with next weekend's race at Richmond (read more).

Entering Sunday's event at Talladega, Harvick was 16th in the point standings and Mears, in his first season of driving at RCR, was 22nd. Childress admitted that he was concerned about both cars falling too far behind to make the top 12 that qualify for the Chase.

Sunday's race will be the 11th of the 26-race "regular season," making Childress very nervous.

"In today's environment, you can't wait sometime halfway through the season," Childress said. "With the point structure like it is, you've got to make changes to make the Chase. We only have so many races before the Chase."

So as of next week, long-time Harvick crew chief Todd Berrier will become the crew chief for Mears. Gil Martin, who served last year as Clint Bowyer's crew chief but this year started out with Mears, will switch to Harvick. The rest of the crews on the No. 07 and No. 29 teams also will swap places.

"I'm OK with it," Mears said. "I think the main reason why those decisions were made is because we haven't had the success that we wanted at the beginning of the year. It's no one's particular fault. I think it's just adjusting and getting used to everybody.

"And then they wanted to shake it up over on the 29 side of things, so it just kind of worked out. At the end of the day, it's not that big of a deal. I really enjoy working with Gil and all these guys. I've had a lot of fun with them this year. We haven't had the results that we need, but I think we're really getting to the point where we're starting to understand each other. At the same time, I've known Todd for a long time and all those guys are great, too. To me, it's just a change. It's not good or bad. Just have to take a little time getting to know those guys and hopefully we do it sooner rather than later.''

Mears should be used to change. He's driving for his third organization in four years, and this will be his seventh crew chief in a Cup driving career that is in the early stages of only its seventh season.

For Harvick, change may not come as easily. Berrier has been his crew chief since 2003, and they won the Daytona 500 together in 2007. They also have made each of the last three Chases together.

“

If you look at where we are in the points right now, and where the 29 is at in the points right now, the [organization] really felt like they needed to do something to shake it up a little bit. And this might just be that spark.

”

-- CASEY MEARS

"I know Todd is one my best friends in the world, and that's the part I've had the most trouble coping with," Harvick admitted.

Harvick tried to be diplomatic about Childress' decision to order the switch.

"When you own the company, you've got to make some decisions that you think are right for your company," he said. "Richard feels strongly about it. And I think everybody's got some enthusiasm about it, so I think that's a good thing."

"I think Gil does a good job. Everybody does a good job. There are just a lot of things everybody is working on."

Asked why he thought his No. 29 Chevy team has struggled this season under Berrier, Harvick added: "It all depends on how you look at struggling. We came out and won the Shootout and finished second in the [Daytona] 500, and ran great at Atlanta and Las Vegas. Really, the last three weeks hasn't been that good. But I think you just have to work on those things and you're going to go through peaks and valleys. But just the last three weeks is all that had been really bad."

Still, Childress didn't like what he had been seeing lately out of both teams. He said he considered making the change as early as for the Bristol race prior to March 22, but decided to give it more time because he figured the next four races on the schedule -- at Bristol, Texas, Martinsville and Phoenix -- were normally where RCR teams gained some of their best results.

When those teams struggled at those tracks as well, that sealed the deal in the owner's mind.

"We owe it to our sponsors and our fans to run better than we are, and I felt these were the two teams that were the weakest," Childress said. "They're both great race teams, and we should be running better."

The other RCR teams -- the No. 33 driven by Clint Bowyer and the No. 31 driven by Jeff Burton -- have clearly performed better. Although no RCR car has won a race this season, Bowyer was sixth in points entering Sunday's race at Talladega and Burton was 11th.

Mears said he had no problem with not being included in the decision-making process before the swap was announced.

"It was a team decision. I can't fault anybody for making a change," Mears said. "If you look at where we are in the points right now, and where the 29 is at in the points right now, the [organization] really felt like they needed to do something to shake it up a little bit. And this might just be that spark.

"I wasn't really involved in the decision process, it was more like, 'This is what we're going to do.' But I'm good with it. We're going to race hard this weekend and hopefully finish with these guys with a bang -- well, not a bang, but with a good finish and a win. And then we'll go on to next week."

Childress said that he is optimistic the change will produce fairly immediate positive results.

"You know sometimes it's kind of like a divorce," he said. "When a man and woman are getting a divorce, they think they're both giving 100 percent. Then the first thing she wants to do [afterward] is get in the tanning bed and lose 30 pounds. He goes and gets rid of his gut and gets a sports car.

"Maybe the change is just what we need. It's always worked for us in the past when we've made similar changes, and hopefully this time it will work, too."