Casey Mears made headlines last weekend in New Hampshire after it was announced the Bakersfield, Calif., native would not be returning to Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) in 2009. Once again at the end of the year he will move on to another ride - something all too familiar for Mears.

With this recent announcement, that means in six seasons (including 2009), Mears will have driven five different cars. The 30 year-old got his Cup Series start with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2004 behind the wheel of the No. 41 Dodge. Mears spent two years driving the No. 41 before jumping over to the No. 42 car to make way for Reed Sorenson.

With the addition of Juan Pablo Montoya in 2007, Mears made the move to Hendrick Motorsports to take the seat vacated by Brian Vickers. Hoping HMS would provide a bit of stability; Mears scored his first career victory by taking the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 in Mr. Hendrick's backyard.

Instead, Mears got the bump when Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined the team as well. Mears was once again shifted from one car to another, taking the place of Kyle Busch behind the No. 5 Chevrolet.

Friday's announcement means Mears is once again on the market and looking for a ride. For Mears, it seems his departure or shift from one car to another is not entirely of his making. A pinball of sorts, he has never fully had the opportunity to stay in one place long enough to make a difference.

Mears explained last week that team owner Rick Hendrick "understands my situation more than anybody and that getting some stability would be good. But decisions are made for certain reasons and like I said, it's frustrating but at the same time I can't control a lot of those things. So, hopefully in my future, somewhere before I'm about 45 (years old), I can get a couple of years in a row (smiles). That would be good."

A talented driver - he showed that by leading 52 laps in Sunday's LENOX Industrial Tools 301 - Mears will be picked up by another team before long and will refocus his sights on starting again.

However, while all of this is going on behind the scenes, Mears and his team - led by crew chief Alan Gustafson - still have to perform on the track. Heading into Daytona, Mears is coming off one of the strongest Speedweeks of his career. The No. 5 Chevrolet finished sixth in the Budweiser Shootout and fourth in its Gatorade Duel.

During the Daytona 500, Mears ran up front for much of the day until contact with Tony Stewart with just six laps to go sent the No. 5 hard into the outside wall. What was shaping up as a top-5 or possibly a win - Mears was running third at the time - resulted in a 35th-place finish.

Looking forward to Saturday night's Coke Zero 400, Mears is once again optimistic. "We had a great car in February for both the Shootout and the (Daytona) 500," Mears explained. "We were a little loose in the start of the race, which I think made everyone a bit nervous, but once the sun went down we were nearly perfect. We had the opportunity to win, but made contact there at the end with Tony (Stewart). I'm looking forward to going back and finishing this one the right way.

Finishing Saturday night's shootout under the lights 'the right way' would not only bring Casey Mears more attention and more opportunities, it would be a self-earned pat on the back and reassurance that the talent is still there.

NOTE:

On a related note, Hendrick Motorsports has called a press conference Friday afternoon in Daytona where it is expected the team is going to announce its plans for 2009. Mark Martin is the leading candidate to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet for next year.