I was never really a Casey Mears fan until I met him at my first race in Charlotte at an autograph session. He was so unbelievably nice that I instantly became a fan of his. I’ve met him several times since that October day, and again he was always nice and most importantly had a sense of humor, even when we teased him about certain hand gestures.

The only thing that changed with Casey is his wardrobe. It’s not that he went from suit to spandex or anything, but his sponsors changed each year since then.

Oh yeah, so did his car number also.

In the past four years he has driven four different cars - #41 and #42 for Chip Ganassi and the #25 and #5 for Rick Hendrick.

As a Casey Mears, this is troubling and very expensive. I’m afraid to buy anything because of the fear that he may not be in that car the next year. Guess what? He won’t be in the #5 car next year… he will be in this fifth ride with a fifth sponsor in as many years.

Can you imagine how rough that is on Casey Mears?