Mears joining RCR in 2009, Bowyer switching teams

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/24/2008 - Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Team owner Richard Childress announced changes within his organization for the 2009 season Saturday at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Casey Mears will drive the No.07 Chevrolet starting next year, while Clint Bowyer will move to Childress' new No.33 Chevrolet team.

Richard Childress Racing will continue an ongoing performance evaluation of its current three teams for the remainder of the season to determine the crew chief, engineer and crew member line-ups for next year.

"We're always looking for ways to improve RCR and feel strongly that this driver lineup will improve our company as a whole with our move to four teams next year," Childress said. "These changes will continue to raise the bar, and we have every intention of getting all four teams into the Chase in 2009 with the ultimate goal of one of our teams winning the championship."

All three of Childress' drivers, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Bowyer, are presently ranked in the top-12 point standings with two races remaining before the "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" championship begins September 14th at New Hampshire.

Mears is currently behind the wheel of the No.5 Chevrolet, but is leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season. The Bakersfield, CA-native will join RCR for his seventh season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition.

"This is a great opportunity, and I'm honored to become part of both the Jack Daniel's family and the RCR family," Mears said. "Richard Childress and everyone at Jack Daniel's have put a lot of faith in me to continue the winning tradition that's been established by the No.07 Jack Daniel's team over the last couple of years, and I look forward to the chance to live up to those expectations."

Mears recorded his first Sprint Cup victory in May 2007 by winning the Coca- Cola 600 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. He also has three poles to his credit.

Bowyer, the current leader in the Nationwide Series point standings, has been with RCR since 2004. He made his Cup debut in 2005 and has scored two victories and two poles since then. He qualified for last year's "Chase," finishing third in points.

Cheerios/Hamburger Helper will sponsor Bowyer's team next year.

"I'm proud to be joining the General Mills family," Bowyer said. "Cheerios and Hamburger Helper are brands my family and I grew up with ... At the same time, I have to thank Jack Daniel's for taking a chance on a rookie Cup Series driver and giving my career a great platform to build on. My focus now is to get into the 'Chase' and again compete for the championship."

Bowyer is currently 12th in points, just 12 points ahead of 13th-place David Ragan.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.