Hard Turn
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jeff Owens
- TEXT SIZE: Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Reset Text Size
- 1 Comment. Leave a Comment
- Digg This
- Add to Del.icio.us
- RSS Feeds
Mears-Hendrick split is the nature of the beast
Jun
27
You can’t help but feel a bit sorry for Casey Mears.
He landed the opportunity of his career last year with Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR’s most successful and most powerful team.
Now, just halfway through his second season with the organization, he finds out he is being released after this season and won’t be back for year three.
He had a solid season last year, scoring his first Cup victory and finishing 15th in points. Then, this year, he gets shifted to a different Hendrick team with a different crew. The results haven’t been pretty – Mears has just three top-10 finishes and is 24th in points.
The moral to this story is simple: This is a tough business, and you better perform now, especially when you are with a top team.
You can say that Mears didn’t get a fair shot, but, in Hendrick’s defense, Mears is the only Hendrick driver who didn’t make the Chase last year and he’s the only one of the four drivers not in the top 10 this year.
Except for last year’s win, which came on a fuel-mileage gamble, Mears’ numbers at Hendrick are similar to what he posted at Chip Ganassi Racing, and that’s not close to what team owner Rick Hendrick expects.
Yes, it’s perhaps a bit early for Mears to be released, but when you are with a powerful team like Hendrick, you better perform. And Mears’ track record so far has not been good.
As a result, he must now look for a third Cup organization that might give him a chance.
Fair or not, that’s the nature of the ultra-competitive Sprint Cup Series.
He landed the opportunity of his career last year with Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR’s most successful and most powerful team.
Now, just halfway through his second season with the organization, he finds out he is being released after this season and won’t be back for year three.
He had a solid season last year, scoring his first Cup victory and finishing 15th in points. Then, this year, he gets shifted to a different Hendrick team with a different crew. The results haven’t been pretty – Mears has just three top-10 finishes and is 24th in points.
The moral to this story is simple: This is a tough business, and you better perform now, especially when you are with a top team.
You can say that Mears didn’t get a fair shot, but, in Hendrick’s defense, Mears is the only Hendrick driver who didn’t make the Chase last year and he’s the only one of the four drivers not in the top 10 this year.
Except for last year’s win, which came on a fuel-mileage gamble, Mears’ numbers at Hendrick are similar to what he posted at Chip Ganassi Racing, and that’s not close to what team owner Rick Hendrick expects.
Yes, it’s perhaps a bit early for Mears to be released, but when you are with a powerful team like Hendrick, you better perform. And Mears’ track record so far has not been good.
As a result, he must now look for a third Cup organization that might give him a chance.
Fair or not, that’s the nature of the ultra-competitive Sprint Cup Series.
Other Blogs
Recent Blog Postings
- Jimmie Johnson too good to be true?
by Art Weinstein | 11/29/2008 - Does winning the Daytona 500 jinx a driver's season?
by Kenny Bruce | 11/29/2008 - NASCAR races aren't boring
by David Exum | 11/26/2008 - Cracking the big three of Jimmie, Carl and Kyle will be tough
by Bob Pockrass | 11/25/2008 - Tough Nationwide season for Brad Keselowski
by Jared Turner | 11/24/2008 - Plenty to think about while waiting for 2009 Cup season to begin
by Rea White | 11/23/2008 - NASCAR should leave some money on the table
by Mike Hembree | 11/21/2008
Poll Position
Which NASCAR competitor should be Driver of the Year?
Comments
1 response to "Mears-Hendrick split is the nature of the beast"
DON ZEIDLER said:
Jun 29, 2008 at 12:00 PMALL OWNERS HAVE MORE MONEY THEN GOD!!YOU KNOW IF THIS WAS GORDON OR DOPEY J.J.THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED AND YOU ARE RIGHT MEARS GOT THE RAW END ALL RIGHT OR HE GOT THE COMPANY POSITION.JOHNSON AND GORDON ARE NOT DOING HENDRICK WORK!!SO WHY TAKE SOMEONE OUT OF A RIDE NOW AT THIS POINT?? I KNOW WE WILL PUT ALL ARE EFFORTS INTO THE #88 CAR AND SPEND ALL THE MONEY WE NEED TO EVEN IF JR.COMES IN 30th.HE CPOULD DO THIS ALL YEAR OR NOT GET A POLE OR A TOP TEN OR FIVE.BUT THAT'S O.K..OR HIT THE WALL TEN TIMES THIS YEAR.HENDRICK IS ONLY CONCERNED ABOUT HIMSELF.I HOPE SMOKE GOES UP IN FLAMES!!
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Report