The 2007 Season So Far - Casey Mears

It's hard to believe that in a Hendrick Motorsports car, Casey has only one Top 10 in ten races. You could say that the #25 is cursed, but unless you are superstitious you have to think there is a logical reason for the team's struggles. This year, there are two: a horrible start and then bad luck, resulting in the #25 teetering frighteningly close to the 36th position in points.

Before the start of the season former #25 crew chief Lance McGrew was replaced by Darian Grubb - who has a great reputation after his stint with Jimmie Johnson during the beginning of 2005 when Chad Knaus was suspended. Darian is a Daytona 500 winning crew chief, so it was easy to feel very optimistic about his pairing with Casey. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out as quickly or as well as HMS would have wanted it to. The chemistry between driver and crew chief was slow in the making, and Casey swiftly plummeted down through the standings.

When the chemistry started to make itself known, suddenly good luck disappeared. At Martinsville, a Lap 3 mechanical problem took Casey out of contention. Texas handed him another early wreck, this time on Lap 1. Although the damage wasn't extensive, the alternator became a problem later on. Things were looking up at Phoenix until another wreck not of his making ended his night. Possibly the worst of them all happened at Talladega while Casey was in 2nd. A miscommunication during pit strategy before green flag pitstops sent Casey flying into the inside retaining wall, by the bumper of his teammate and best friend Jimmie Johnson. Finally at Richmond he was caught up in yet another wreck but fought back to 18th.

In one sentence: Casey is now running much better than his finishes show, but because he performed so poorly at the start of the year he has no points cushion to fall back on.

Meanwhile, the Busch Series has been incredibly kind, with seven Top 10s and four Top 5s in eight starts, including a 2nd place (nearly a win) at Fontana. Crew chief Chad Walter is absolutely amazing and I definitely feel that we'll see Casey and the #24 (maybe it's the number?) in Victory Lane this year.