Power Rankings: Time to abandon Mears' ship

Power Rankings: Time to abandon Mears' ship
After such a great start to the season, the wheels have fallen off the Casey Mears bandwagon.
Since opening the season with three consecutive top 10s, his Chase hopes have been steadily fading and took a turn for the worse at Pocono.

First, he announced he wouldn't re-sign with Chip Ganassi Racing. Lame-duck status is never a good thing as far as championship hopes are concerned.

Sunday, though, was the icing on the cake. He finished 43rd after a Lap 1 crash with Scott Riggs. He has fallen to 15th in the point standings, 161 points out of 10th.

"The last I saw the 10 car (Riggs) was on the inside of me and he must have got loose," Mears said. "I don’t even know what to say. I’m so disappointed. We didn’t even make a lap."

"Things happen, and I’ve been in those scenarios on the first lap where I took out a bunch of guys. It’s hard to get too mad, but we’re sitting here in the garage. Any time something like that happens you can say too aggressive too early, but he may have gone in there way easier than he’s gone in there all weekend and just gotten too loose. It’s very disappointing because we didn’t get a chance to even turn a lap."

Regarding his decision to leave Ganassi at the end of the season, Mears said he felt he could perform better elsewhere.

"I'm making the best possible decision that I can make," said Mears, who's rumored to be signing with Hendrick Motorsports. "It's not a slap in the face to this race team at all. I think we're continuing to grow, continuing to get better. I think we can win some races before the year is out."

It's a nice sentiment, but rarely does a NASCAR divorce end on such a high note.