Mears hoping to do more than serve as a substitute

DOVER, Del. -- Casey Mears emerged from a race car with Brian Vickers' name scrawled above the driver's side window, and pulled on a cap with Brian Vickers' name written across the front. NASCAR's favorite fill-in driver had just completed another lap in his latest substitute gig.

Vickers released

Brian Vickers was released from the hospital Friday after being diagnosed with blood clots on Wednesday.

• Complete story
• Clots sideline Dover
• Vickers hospitalized

Earlier this season, Mears was on standby at Phoenix and Texas after Denny Hamlin had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee. Although he made a few laps in practice, he never had the opportunity to wheel the No. 11 car in a race. Sunday at Dover International Speedway, he'll drive the No. 83 for Brian Vickers, who is out indefinitely with blood clots. All the while, Mears -- who drove the No. 07 car last season at Richard Childress Racing before sponsorship losses shuttered that program -- waits for another opportunity with a top-level team to come along.

"I'm not sure I want to be the standby guy," Mears said. " Given the way the scenario fell down last year ... obviously it puts me in a scenario this year where I'm doing the things that I'm doing now. Then again, it's given me a lot of great opportunities to work with some good teams this year that I would've never had an opportunity [to work with] if this hadn't happened. Although in the grand scheme of things it's a big negative, there's been some positive things that have happened throughout this experience -- just getting to run other people's cars, and getting to know some other people in the garage."

Vickers, who was released from the hospital Friday night and plans to consult with specialists in North Carolina about his condition, called his friend Mears personally and asked him to take over the No. 83. Red Bull general manager and vice president Jay Frye followed up with a formal request a day later. And Mears went from planning to drive Tommy Baldwin's car to piloting a vehicle that won a race and qualified for the Chase last season. (Continued)