Shakeup at Richard Childress Racing

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears gave all the right answers in deferring to the boss' orders, but clearly neither driver was exactly overjoyed by Richard Childress' decision this week to swap their two crews.

"Everybody's positive about it,'' Harvick said, walking quickly to his team trailer after NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday.

"When you own the company you have to make the decisions you think are right.''

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Harvick didn't stop to answer reporters questions, but when he was asked if Childress consulted him before taking the extreme action, Harvick shook his head, then turned and said, "no he didn't'' over his shoulder. Mears said he was not part of the decision process either.

Childress said he had been thinking of making a major change to his four-car team since last month's race at Bristol, Tenn. He ultimately pulled the trigger on the move this week while sitting on a mountain on a trip to Montana "to clear my head.'' The entire teams -- from crew chief to tire changer -- have swapped between Harvick's No. 29 Chevy and Mears' No. 07 Chevy.

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"We owe it to our sponsors and our fans to run better than we are and I felt these were the two teams right now that were the weakest,'' Childress said. "Sometimes a little chemistry or sometimes a little change makes a big difference.''

Childress hopes the jump start will come sooner than later. Harvick is ranked 16th in the points standings with three finishes of 30th or worse since a runner-up effort in the season-opening Daytona 500. He's 77 points out of the 12-driver cutoff to make the Chase for the Championship. Mears is 22nd in points and still looking for his first top-10 finish in his first season with RCR since moving from Hendrick Motorsports.

"With the point structure like it is, you've got to make changes to make The Chase,'' Childress said. "We have only so many races before the Chase.

"In today's environment you can't wait sometime half-way through the season.''

And, Childress added, "I'm not above making more changes if that's what it takes.''