Scott Miller (Right) was Jeff Burton's (Left) crew chief during the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
This is not the first time the people at Richard Childress Racing have been on a rollercoaster ride.
After Dale Earnhardt’s death in the 2001 Daytona 500, the team put up a few victories, but much of the fire was gone. By the mid-2000s, the once-powerful operation had devolved into mediocrity, and team owner Childress stepped in with a big revamp, bringing in new investment money and new people and plotting a new direction for a team that had won six national championships.
Among the results: three cars in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in both 2007 and 2008.
Then, 2009. RCR’s four drivers – Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears – plummeted into virtual obscurity, scoring no race victories and not even seriously threatening to make the Chase. It was a particularly difficult year, especially considering the accomplishments of RCR’s Chevrolet brethren at Hendrick Motorsports.
Something had to be done.
Enter Scott Miller.
Childress promoted Miller, a 52-year-old Kentucky native, to be the team’s competition director late last season, moving him up from the crew chief slot with Burton’s team. Miller joined RCR in 1997 as a shock specialist for the No. 3 car, moved on to Cal Wells’ non-defunct team in 2000-01 and then returned to Childress.
Although 2009 produced few results the team could boast about, there was a sense of recovery and improved performance late in the year, giving Miller a foundation of upswing to build upon this season. The target – and it’s a moving one, he acknowledged – is to gain on the Hendrick teams and re-establish RCR at the top levels of the sport.
