A personnel shakeup at Richard Childress Racing will see Todd Berrier and most of the #07 crew begin work with driver Jeff Burton this week, but the veteran crew chief made sure that, in his last race, he gave Casey Mears a strong car.

Mears ran consistently in the top ten at Martinsville on Sunday, but contact from Mark Martin late in the race dropped him to 18th at the finish.

“We were hanging on to what we could, and I don't know if he just got in too hot or what, but he got into the back of us and got us into the marbles, and we just lost a lot of spots,” Mears said, “But you can't really control stuff like that. I'm just proud of the car that we had here today and how we ran.”

Mears' status for 2010 is in limbo as RCR looks for sponsorship to replace Jack Daniels on the #07 car. The distiller announced recently that it would discontinue its support to the team after the current season.

“This team is really clicking,” Mears insisted, “It's sad to see it getting taken apart like it is, but I understand the way things go, and, obviously, there are sponsorship issues, and there is a bigger picture that the team needs to look at. It's just frustrating to be in this spot.”

by Reid Spencer / Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service