Mears Returns to TBR

After being released from Red Bull Racing this week, Casey Mears will return to Tommy Baldwin Racing's No. 36 Toyota for the Sprint Cup Series race on June 27 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Team owner Tommy Baldwin said the decision was finalized Wednesday afternoon. "Casey is going to come back and we are excited. We hope to rebuild on some of the momentum created before he left."

MearsThis weekend at Sonoma, road course specialist Brian Simo will pilot the No. 36 at Infineon Raceway. Steve Park will slide behind the wheel on July 3 at Daytona and drive the Richie Evans tribute car for TBR.

After performance issues -- a best finish of 22nd in four races -- and wrecking a teammate -- a mid-race dust-up with Scott Speed last Sunday at Michigan, Mears was released from Red Bull Racing's No. 83 Toyota.

German Touring Car competitor Mattias Ekstrom already had been tabbed to drive the No. 83 this weekend at Sonoma. Mears has been filling in for full-time RBR driver Brian Vickers, who continues to be treated for blood clots. Mears slipped behind the wheel of the No. 83 at Dover and finished 22nd. His other three finishes were 29th at Charlotte, 23rd at Pocono and 36th at Michigan.

Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody on Sirius Satellite Radio first reported Mears' release on Tuesday. The Sirius Speedway report follows confirmation from Red Bull Racing on Tuesday that director of competition Elton Sawyer will leave the organization after this weekend's race at Infineon, in what can best be described as a cost-cutting move.

Mears began the season with Key Motorsports but failed to qualify for a string of races including the Daytona 500, which broke his streak of 252 consecutive starts in the Cup Series. He joined TBR at Richmond, where he qualified 13th and finished 25th. He went on to Darlington but wrecked in practice and didn't have a proper back-up machine.

Then Mears was presented with a more attractive offer from Red Bull Racing. The team asked Mears to replace Brian Vickers while he recovered from a blood clotting issue. However, after four races of lackluster performances, Mears was let go.

Baldwin said Mears and TBR parted on good terms after Darlington, which left the door open for Mears to return. "We knew there was a possibility of something like that happening; he put us in a bind, but we understood it was something he needed to do," Baldwin said. "But now we are glad to have him back and turn this into a positive."

Mears made his Cup Series debut in 2003 and has raced for two of NASCAR's premier teams -- Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing -- with one win, 12 top-five finishes and 46 top-10s in 258 starts.