The beginning of the season always sees a host of new drivers in a variety of new rides. A driver that is no stranger to switching rides is Bakersfield, California-native Casey Mears. In his six previous years in the Sprint Cup Series, Mears has had four different cars with two different teams. Making the move to his third organization - Richard Childress Racing - in 2009, Mears is optimistic this move will bring longevity.

Over the last six years, the only thing that has remained consistent for Mears is the inconsistency of his ride. After spending three years in the No. 41 car with Chip Ganassi Racing, Mears was shifted to the No. 42 to make way for Reed Sorenson's rookie year. When Juan Pablo Montoya made the move from open-wheel racing to NASCAR, Mears was once again on the move, this time to Hendrick Motorsports.

Joining close friends Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, it appeared Mears had finally found a home in Hendrick Motorsports. Piloting the No. 25 Chevrolet, Mears was able to score his first career victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Things appeared to be looking up for the California-native, however at the end of 2007 he was on the move again. Moving to the No. 5 car for the 2008 season, Mears once again found himself in another ride. Unable to find consistent finishes, he struggled throughout the season, scoring only one top-5, six top-10s and ending the year 20th in the overall series standings.

When talks between Rick Hendrick and Mark Martin began last summer, it was apparent Mears would once again be bumped from his ride. On the market and in search for a ride, it did not take long for Mears to hook up with Richard Childress. RCR was planning on adding a fourth car to the team for the 2009 season, and Mears seemed to be a perfect fit.

Moving to RCR, Mears takes over the No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, while Clint Bowyer moves to the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet. Mears retained the majority of the 07 crew, leaving him with a solid team with a strong foundation. Over the winter, the entire RCR team has come together, gotten to know each other and showed up ready to win at Daytona.

"Driving for Richard is a lot of fun," Mears explained. "The biggest thing that I really enjoy about Richard is that he doesn't pull any punches, that's for sure. He definitely tells you what's on his mind. He gets right to the heart of the matter real quick. If there have been any small issues up to this point, you mention something to him and man, it gets done, it gets taken care of. The other thing that I really like about working for him is that every single time I've been in the shop, I've run into Richard, walking around on the floor. And it's just nice to see that. It's nice to be able to chat with him."

"I think he needs guys that will work with him, some teammates that will work," team owner Richard Childress told HardcoreRaceFans.com. "He's good to go."

Stepping into a team with as much chemistry as RCR, Mears may have finally found his spot. While his close friends were at Hendrick Motorsports, it seemed Mears got the short end of the stick amongst Gordon, Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I'm good friends with Rick and was great friends with Ricky and am best friends with Jimmie there as well, but it's a different family."

"Our relationship is so young we have a whole lot of room to grow and help each other," teammate Jeff Burton told HardcoreRaceFans.com. "Casey is going to bring some enthusiasm and a sense of urgency. We're going to lean on Casey a bit for our qualifying effort, because we haven't been too good at that.  We have a lot of confidence in Casey. We believe he is the right guy at the right time. We're just going to work hard to work together, that's the key. We have to be willing to work together and do whatever we can to get better."

While Mears joined some of his closest friends the last two years at Hendrick Motorsports, he feels that joining RCR has presented him with the best opportunity for a solid, consistent ride looking towards the future.

"Last year, it was, you know, it should be good, based on everything you see. This should be good. It should be good," Mears pointed out. "I'm very excited. This year, I know it's good. There is a different feeling about going into the year.

"That's the feeling that gives me more excitement about this year than I've had probably since that last year I drove the No. 41 car for Ganassi. Jimmy Elledge and I were on the same page," he went on to say. "We were leading laps up front and having a good time. Ever since then, I've changed every single year and it's been a different scenario. This is the first time that I know going into this year that we've got a good shot at it and that's the difference."

With the shop located in Welcome, N.C., away from most other teams, the 30-year-old driver feels the focus is truly on racing.

"It's a little more of maybe a down-home feel," Mears went on to say. "I don't feel like there are a lot of outside distractions. They just focus on racing and that's it."