Casey Mears may not have had the season I predicted last year when I nodded him as 1 of 3 sleepers for your NASCAR fantasy team, but he is on my radar again this year.

Moving from the jinxed #25 to the #5 may just be the final ‘umph’ needed to shine a little more spotlight on this NASCAR driver with the historic open-wheel bloodline.

Although he has the worst luck of any driver in 2008 by smacking the wall and blowing an engine, I’m still feeling optimistic about him.

His 2nd (car #5B) and 6th (car #5A) place showings in the Daytona single car speed runs for session one put him with the best overall average of any driver.

I think a big key for Mears in 2008 is having Alan Gustafson as crew chief. I always admired Jimmy Fenning’s continual praise of Kurt Busch while he was his crew chief, even when Kurt was showing his ass. I’ve noticed the same from Alan towards Kyle while emulating aforementioned Kurt behavior.

Casey won’t be the rock star at Hendrick Motorsports. Ever. But I agree with Racing Milestones that Mears and Gustafson are a dynamic duo.”