LONG POND, Pa. -- Brian Vickers' being forced to step out of Red Bull Racing Team's No. 83 Toyota just one-third of the way into the Sprint Cup season was the perfect tipping point to prepare not only Vickers' team, but also teammate Scott Speed's for their future.

Earlier this week, on the eve of Sunday's Gillette Fusion 500 at Pocono Raceway, Red Bull announced that it would take a chunk of personnel from each of its two Cup teams and swap them; primarily pairing Vickers' sub Casey Mears with crew chief Jimmy Elledge and Speed, who's in his second season, with the veteran crew chief Ryan Pemberton.

"We decided to make the change this week," Red Bull vice president and general manager Jay Frye said Friday at Pocono. "Obviously, with the situation the team is in we're able to experiment. This is nothing that's new. Other teams have done the same type situation.

"Ours is maybe a little bit different in that we [sectioned] two teams -- we took six people from each team and swapped them. Jimmy and Casey have obviously worked together [at Ganassi Racing] and they've had some success. We expect them to continue to have success.

"Ryan and Scott -- this is a new element for Scott. We think Jimmy did a great job getting Scott to here, and we think Ryan can help Scott go to the next level. So we're quite enthused about what we did this week. It was a very calculated move and we've still got to go this year."

Last year, in their first complete season together, Pemberton and Vickers qualified for Red Bull's first Chase for the Sprint Cup berth. But even before Vickers had to step out -- after scoring a 10th place at Darlington -- his team had been in a downward spiral that leaves it currently 23rd in the owners' standings. Speed's No. 82 Toyota squad is 27th.

Frye said the move was competition-based and had nothing to do with preparing for a possible "life after Vickers."

"Performance [is what it's all about]," Frye said. "We're able to experiment right now with some different situations -- we need to get some great momentum to finish this year up and then going into next season. It's hard to say, but we probably would not have made this decision if Brian was still here. Obviously, this has given us an opportunity to do some things differently.

"We have full expectations -- talking to [Vickers], talking to the doctors -- that Brian will be back. What we're starting to get is people asking questions -- like it's a knee injury and it might heal sooner and he'll have a miraculous recovery and come back sooner. But this is a three- to six-month program that he has to complete.

"He looks great and feels great but it's going to take time to fix itself, no matter what. But we've got to fix these teams --- we've got a job to do this year and we think pairing Casey and Jimmy can help that team close the gap quicker."

Frye said there was no update to Vickers' condition and that his sidelined driver might be at Pocono Raceway Sunday, but his schedule from here on would be spotty.

"He'll be here Sunday, but part of what he has to do is to rest," Frye said with a smile. "His job right now is to get better, to take care of himself and to do what the doctors tell him to do to get better so he's ready to go next year.

"If he was out here every day, every week that would probably not be what they want him to do --- so I believe he's coming in on Sunday, still, and if he doesn't, that's OK. We want him taking care of himself, and if he doesn't feel up to coming he doesn't have to come.

"With the road trip we're about to start on, to Michigan and Sonoma and New Hampshire -- he probably won't come. But with the modern technology we have he's been a great help to Casey getting him up to speed with our terminology and he'll continue to be. We'd love to have him out here all the time; but just because he's not, we know he's taking care of himself and that's what he's supposed to do."

Friday was only one day, but the results seemed less than stellar. Mears practiced 25th and qualified 23rd while Speed practiced 22nd, but fell to 31st in qualifying. Both drivers said their cars drove well but lacked speed while Mears said he was enjoying working with Elledge again while Speed said it would take time to get used to Pemberton, but that the move was "good for the whole organization."

Related:
• Elledge, Pemberton swap roles at Red Bull Racing