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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Car owner Richard Childress said he couldn’t wait any longer before he made changes to the teams of Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears.

Now that Childress has flip-flopped the crews for both drivers — the move takes place after Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega — the question is will this really work?

In-season crew chief changes are signs of desperation. While they often produce a spark, call it a honeymoon period where a driver’s average finish improves, many times the driver’s performance slides back about to where he once was and the change matters little.

That’s the dilemma Childress faces in the upcoming weeks. Will an improved finish, if that happens, be a sign that the move succeeded or mask problems that could keep both out of the Chase?

Childress doesn’t have long to ponder the question. Harvick fell from eighth to 16th in the points in the last four races and can’t afford to continue that slide if he wants to make the Chase. Mears, in his first season with Childress, hasn’t been a factor all season. He enters this weekend’s race 22nd in the points and needs a dramatic turnaround to have any hopes of making the Chase.

“In today’s environment you can’t wait,’’ Childress said of making changes. “With the point structure like it is, you’ve got to make changes to make the Chase.’’

Recent in-season crew chief changes show there are no guarantees such a move will work.

Kurt Busch experienced the highs and lows of a crew chief switch in 2007. Crew chief Roy McCauley took a leave of absence that April to be with his ailing wife. Troy Raker became Busch’s interim crew chief. Busch had an average finish of 9.8 in the first five races with Raker — about 10 positions better than he was finishing with McCauley.

This looked to be a great move. Then trouble. By the time Raker was replaced two months after taking over, Busch’s average finish was down to 19.1 — about 10 spots worse than how he started with Raker.

Pat Tryson replaced Raker. In the first five races with Tryson, Busch’s average finish was 12.6 — about seven spots better than where Busch was finishing during Raker’s tenure. Busch won twice with Tryson as crew chief that season, and Busch’s average finish the rest of the season with Tryson was 12.3. They’ve been together since.

Busch notes that performance, while looked at closely, isn’t the only indicator to a successful driver-crew chief pairing.

“To be competitive in this sport, you have to be good at all the race tracks, (and a crew chief) has to be good back the race shop Monday through Thursday, and you’ve got to be dialed in when you come to the race track on Friday and Saturday and then make those good pit calls on Sunday,’’ Busch said.

Building that driver-crew chief relationship also takes work. Steve Letarte replaced Robbie Loomis as Jeff Gordon’s crew chief in September of 2005 after Gordon missed the Chase that year. Gordon didn’t start strong, but he knew Letarte was good and stayed with him.

“I don’t know if he believed in himself as much as I believed in him,’’ Gordon said. “I think that took a little bit … to build that up and then it took some adjustment for him to realize what all it entails to be a crew chief, what those responsibilities are and how you manage them and the people. In ’07, everything just kind of clicked and came together. Last year, we got off for some reason. Through all of that I just kept telling him that I believed in him.’’

That’s what Childress wants to hear from his drivers with their new crew chiefs (Todd Berrier will be with Mears and Gil Martin will work with Harvick). Childress is at Talladega watching his teams instead of turkey hunting as he had scheduled.

“I’m not above making more changes if that’s what it takes,’’ Childress said. “I’m going to be looking hard at everything. We don’t have a choice. We have to be competitive.”

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com