Associated Press

Mark Martin and the No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet team currently lead the Chase for the Cup Standings going into the second race of 10.

DOVER, Del. -- Car owner Richard Childress says he plans to field a fourth car next season even with sponsor Jack Daniel's leaving after this season.

Who will drive the car, though, is unclear. Childress said he had not exercised the option on Casey Mears' contract. That's not surprising since any sponsor approves the driver and with no sponsor, a team might be likely to wait.

Mears ranks 20th in the points heading into today's race at Dover International Speedway with three top-10 finishes in 27 starts.

"He's done a good job for us,'' Childress said of Mears. "Naturally, you want to run better, but we want all of our cars to run better and we're working on it. We've got them running better the last several weeks. As all of them have stepped up, he's stepped up as well.''

Childress isn't the only car owner committed to remaining the sport after losing a sponsor. Robby Gordon says he'll continue to race next year even with Jim Beam announcing this week it will leave the sport after this season. Gordon said Jim Beam was a primary sponsor for 12 races. Gordon says he's found another company to sponsor four of those races next year.

Gordon also says that if the start time for the Indianapolis 500 is moved up so a driver could compete in that race and the Coca-Cola 600 later that day, he has a sponsor that says it would back him for those events. Currently, the start time for the Indy 500 is too late for a driver to compete there and make it in time for the start of the 600 in Concord, N.C.

No changes now

Car owner Jack Roush says that any personnel moves among his non-Chase teams will be made after the season since he's focused on the championship with Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

"I will re-evaluate every person and every position on every team this winter as I do every year,'' Roush said.

He said he would make a change on a Chase team immediately if it could help that team contend for the championship.

Roush has three cars not in the Chase: Jamie McMurray, David Ragan and Matt Kenseth.

This is the first year Kenseth has not made the Chase. He's also in his first season with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, a combination that won this year's Daytona 500. David Ragan enters today 30th in points after finishing 13th last year. Roush had former crew chief Chris Andrews work with crew chief Jimmy Fennig and Ragan for five races earlier this year in hopes of turning that team's season around. Ragan has not scored a top-10 since the Daytona 500. He's finished 33rd in each of the last three races. McMurray's team will move elsewhere so Roush can meet NASCAR's four-team cap.

Fuel injection

Childress predicts that NASCAR will go to fuel injection in 2011.

Childress has a share company that builds Chevrolet motors. He says "we're constantly working on it right now.''

Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition for NASCAR, said that series officials met with teams about it last week.

"It wasn't about ideas, it was about laying out the groundwork ... with fuel injection,'' Pemberton said. "We're right in the very, very early stages of all of that.''

Pit stops

Kasey Kahne was the fastest in the final practice session with a lap of 152.014 mph. He was followed by Juan Pablo Montoya (151.502 mph), rookie Joey Logano (151.057), Mark Martin (151.013) and Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle, who each had a top lap of 150.981 mph.