One of the top stories from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010 was the revival of Richard Childress Racing as the Welcome, North Carolina based team put all three of its cars in the Chase for the Championship, one year after failing to get a single entry into the playoff field.
The question is, with a fourth car being added for driver Paul Menard in 2011, will the team be able to backup the success from 2010, or face struggles reminiscent of their tumultuous 2009 season?
Kevin Harvick carried the torch for RCR in 2010 winning three races and leading the standings for a total of 20 weeks until the field was reseeded prior to the start of the Chase. Harvick finished the season 3rd in the final standings. Stable mate Clint Bowyer scored two victories, and ended up 10th in the final standings. Veteran Jeff Burton made the Chase, and finished 12th in the final points, but did not visit victory lane.
Although the stats put up by RCR drivers in 2010 fall short of those put up by Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, it is light years ahead of where the team was in 2009. None of the four cars fielded by RCR entered victory lane in 2009. In fact, Kevin Harvick alone scored more top 5’s (16) last year than the entire four car team recorded in 2009 (14). 2009 saw Clint Bowyer have the highest finish in points out of all four cars in 15th. He was followed by Burton in 17th, Harvick in 19th, and Casey Mears in 21st.
The 2009 season was supposed to be one of great success for the RCR team as it was coming off of back to back seasons with each of its three cars in the Chase for the Championship. 2007 saw all three cars visit victory lane and each of the three finish in the top ten in points. 2008 was also successful as Burton and Bowyer went to victory lane while Harvick finished fourth in points with his teammates, Bowyer and Burton, directly behind him in fifth and sixth.
However, the addition of a fourth car seemed to bring the team down. Harvick and Childress had several heated discussions over the team radio, and knowing that he was in the next to last year of his contract at RCR, it appeared evident that the team’s top driver would be going elsewhere by 2011. Yet Childress did not give up. Knowing that all hope was lost at putting a team in the Chase, he made crew swaps and geared everything toward 2010. The results showed on the track by the end of 2009 and carried into 2010. The strides made were enough for Harvick to sign a multi-year contract extension in May of 2010.
Richard Childress is aware of the things that were done right, and the things that were done wrong in 2009 when the fourth team was started at RCR. With the addition of Paul Menard in the fourth RCR entry in 2011, you can rest assured that the same mistakes that brought down one of NASCAR’s top teams, will not be made again.
Devon Holder is a feature writer for SpeedWeekly magazine and SpeedWeekly.net
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
