Could they get along? Would they?

Casey Mears and Kyle Busch, who have had an on-going feud this season, could be teammates at Hendrick Motorsports.

Kind of does away with the notion of team chemistry, doesn't it?

Maybe not.

Mears, who is good friends with Hendrick drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, knows that if he joins them, Busch is a part of the deal.

Mears could be in line to replace Brian Vickers after Vickers announced last week he had received permission to look elsewhere next season. Vickers likely will drive Toyotas for Red Bull Racing next year. Mears, who announced last week he will not return to Chip Ganassi Racing, appears to be the lead candidate to replace Vickers.

That means Mears and Busch could be teammates.

Their season makes that Rusty Wallace-Ryan Newman teammate freeze seem downright balmy.

Busch was upset with Mears at Phoenix. Busch hit the wall after making contact with Mears. Busch retaliated during a red flag when he drove up to Mears' car and tapped it.

Asked about Busch's bump, Mears told NASCAR Scene after the race: "I'm not surprised with anything he does.''

In the Coca-Cola 600, Mears spun and hit Busch, knocking Busch into the wall. Busch waited for Mears to drive by and threw his neck restraint at his car.

"I saw his interview after the race,'' Mears said a couple of days later of Busch's interview on Fox when he spent most of his time thanking his team.

"Obviously he was in the truck and they talked to him. He was Mr. Nice Guy after that, which everybody would be. But at the same time he's always Mr. Nice Guy after that. At some point he's got to learn how to carry himself a little better, grow up a little bit and not react like that.''

So, what about the prospect of being Busch's teammate?

"To be really honest, I stand by some things that I said,'' Mears told reporters at Pocono this past weekend. "Do I agree with some of the things he's done? No. That's stating the obvious. Can I work with Kyle if it becomes an opportunity? Absolutely.

"The things that he's done through his career and growing and learning, is probably just a growing process. Do I think that some of things are right? No, but I think he's learning from them. If we do end up being on the same team, I don't see why that would hinder us working together.''

Key race

Dale Earnhardt Jr., sixth in the points standings, calls this weekend's Michigan race "very important.''

Earnhardt has not finished better than 17th in the last five Michigan races. He comes in after he fell two spots in the points when he placed 14th last weekend at Pocono.

"I felt like we really gave some points away at Pocono, and this isn't the time we need to be giving points away,'' Earnhardt said in his team's weekly release. "I was real disappointed because I feel we should be in the top 10 every week.

"Michigan has been a place where we've won a couple of poles and been fast in brief spurts, and then other times it felt like we were going in there with a blindfold. But I'm confident we have a better game plan going into this weekend.

"The Fontana and Vegas races earlier this year helped us a lot. They were big steps in the right direction on these flat speedways. Hopefully we can continue gaining on them this weekend at Michigan."

Earnhardt finished 11th at California and 27th at Las Vegas.

Pit stops

Jeff Gordon has been cleared to drive this weekend after his crash at Pocono. Gordon was uninjured but went to a doctor after the incident. ... Martin Truex Jr. will compete in both the truck and Cup races this weekend at Michigan. Bill Lester will be doing the same. Cup rookie David Stremme will run Cup and ARCA this weekend at Michigan. ... Petty Enterprises continues to look for sponsorship of Kyle Petty's car for races at Chicago, New Hampshire, Phoenix and Homestead. ... Morgan-McClure Motorsports announced Tuesday that P.J. Jones will drive for Scott Wimmer at Infineon Raceway later this month.