-
Home
-
Latest Headlines
-
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
Sprint Cup
CUP: RCR – Championship Caliber Again?
Richard Childress Racing could put all three of its drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup...
Team owner Richard Childress (Center) speaks with driver Clint Bowyer (Left) and Kevin Harvick (Right). (Photo: Getty Images)
On the floor of the Richard Childress Racing shop, someone has posted a sheet torn from a popular calendar: You Might Be A Redneck … if every car you “fix” never runs again.
This is funny – on several levels – at RCR these days because virtually every car that is rolled onto haulers and out the doors runs so well that it runs again – and again and again.
Maybe all the way to the Sprint Cup championship.
That hasn’t happened for the folks in Welcome, N.C. since the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. delivered the championship to Childress in 1994. Other teams caught – and passed – RCR as the '90s ended, and Earnhardt’s death in 2001 started the team on a significant slide as Rick Hendrick, Joe Gibbs and Jack Roush put their teams at the sport’s forefront.
With three races remaining until the Chase cutoff, RCR appears in the best shape in years to make a major run at a championship. Kevin Harvick, whose career at RCR has been a rollercoaster ride since he suddenly was called on to replace Earnhardt in the team’s marquee ride, has been solidly consistent throughout the season, won last week at Michigan International Speedway and appears to be operating at the peak of his driving and racing abilities.
Harvick’s teammates, Jeff Burton (seventh in points) and Clint Bowyer (12th), also would roll into the Chase if it began today, giving RCR three shots at that elusive title.
RCR has continued to be a force in the sport through the ups and downs since the ’94 championship – Childress’ sixth, and he has done good enough in an assortment of ventures to wander off into the sunset if he desired. Instead, he wants to return to the glory days.
“I think there’s a certain amount of fighter still left in me,” he said. “I’m getting a little older, but you still have to fight to survive, and I want to win another championship for this organization. I want to be involved in it, and that drives me.
“It’s a big responsibility. We had a family day [at the RCR shop] the other day, and you see all the kids and wives and everything. It means a lot to me to take care of those people.”
Childress was pushed into a quick decision in the dizzy aftermath of Earnhardt’s death and named Harvick, then a fresh-faced kid from the West Coast, to fill Earnhardt’s seat. He won quickly but has been through a sometimes difficult journey to approach the top of the sport.
“I think he’s a smarter race driver today,” Childress said of Harvick. “He’s always had a knack of being smart, but I think we look back at some of the things that happened last year; he just gets smarter every year. You learn from experience.
“I think Kevin’s proved to everybody that he deserves to be in this sport at the level that he is.”
RCR rebounded from a tough start last season to reverse its negative flow over the closing months of the schedule and set up this season’s run.
“It’s been a crazy year, to be honest with you,” Childress said. “From where we were last year to where we are now, but I really think last year kind of set the tone. The end of the year set the tone for how this year was going to start. Then it was up to us to continue that moving forward.
“To see the looks on the guys’ faces and everything that comes with doing good, I think everybody respects it a little more after the year we had.”
Although Harvick trails Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin in bonus points and probably will start the Chase behind them in the standings, most observers will rank Harvick as no worse than a co-favorite for the championship.
Harvick, however, isn’t ready to proclaim a changing of the guard at the top of the sport.
“When things are going well, we don’t like to brag or talk about it among ourselves,” he said. “We just want to run better. We talk about our jobs. All beating your chest is going to do is knock you to your knees and get you a real doze of reality really fast.
“It’s best to take it as it comes, enjoy it internally and let your race cars do the talking on the track and hopefully at least have a chance at it at Homestead. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. We’re going to let the cars talk for us.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
This is funny – on several levels – at RCR these days because virtually every car that is rolled onto haulers and out the doors runs so well that it runs again – and again and again.
Maybe all the way to the Sprint Cup championship.
That hasn’t happened for the folks in Welcome, N.C. since the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. delivered the championship to Childress in 1994. Other teams caught – and passed – RCR as the '90s ended, and Earnhardt’s death in 2001 started the team on a significant slide as Rick Hendrick, Joe Gibbs and Jack Roush put their teams at the sport’s forefront.
With three races remaining until the Chase cutoff, RCR appears in the best shape in years to make a major run at a championship. Kevin Harvick, whose career at RCR has been a rollercoaster ride since he suddenly was called on to replace Earnhardt in the team’s marquee ride, has been solidly consistent throughout the season, won last week at Michigan International Speedway and appears to be operating at the peak of his driving and racing abilities.
Harvick’s teammates, Jeff Burton (seventh in points) and Clint Bowyer (12th), also would roll into the Chase if it began today, giving RCR three shots at that elusive title.
RCR has continued to be a force in the sport through the ups and downs since the ’94 championship – Childress’ sixth, and he has done good enough in an assortment of ventures to wander off into the sunset if he desired. Instead, he wants to return to the glory days.
“I think there’s a certain amount of fighter still left in me,” he said. “I’m getting a little older, but you still have to fight to survive, and I want to win another championship for this organization. I want to be involved in it, and that drives me.
“It’s a big responsibility. We had a family day [at the RCR shop] the other day, and you see all the kids and wives and everything. It means a lot to me to take care of those people.”
Childress was pushed into a quick decision in the dizzy aftermath of Earnhardt’s death and named Harvick, then a fresh-faced kid from the West Coast, to fill Earnhardt’s seat. He won quickly but has been through a sometimes difficult journey to approach the top of the sport.
“I think he’s a smarter race driver today,” Childress said of Harvick. “He’s always had a knack of being smart, but I think we look back at some of the things that happened last year; he just gets smarter every year. You learn from experience.
“I think Kevin’s proved to everybody that he deserves to be in this sport at the level that he is.”
RCR rebounded from a tough start last season to reverse its negative flow over the closing months of the schedule and set up this season’s run.
“It’s been a crazy year, to be honest with you,” Childress said. “From where we were last year to where we are now, but I really think last year kind of set the tone. The end of the year set the tone for how this year was going to start. Then it was up to us to continue that moving forward.
“To see the looks on the guys’ faces and everything that comes with doing good, I think everybody respects it a little more after the year we had.”
Although Harvick trails Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin in bonus points and probably will start the Chase behind them in the standings, most observers will rank Harvick as no worse than a co-favorite for the championship.
Harvick, however, isn’t ready to proclaim a changing of the guard at the top of the sport.
“When things are going well, we don’t like to brag or talk about it among ourselves,” he said. “We just want to run better. We talk about our jobs. All beating your chest is going to do is knock you to your knees and get you a real doze of reality really fast.
“It’s best to take it as it comes, enjoy it internally and let your race cars do the talking on the track and hopefully at least have a chance at it at Homestead. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. We’re going to let the cars talk for us.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Shake and Bake: Recent Posts
-
Last Lap: Despite Struggles, Danica Patrick Unlikely To Return To IndyCar »
-
NHRA Champ Antron Brown Will Try A Stock Car »
-
The Lovely MWR Girls Talk Beer Cooler Racing With 'Vodkatime' (Video) »
-
Charlotte TV Schedule: Coca-Cola 600 Weekend »
-
Don't Act Like You're Not Going To Buy This Miss Sprint Cup Collectible Car »
-
Jimmy's Take: 150 MPH Pit Stops, Bruton Smith & Remembering Dick Trickle »
-
All-Star In-Car Highlights: Rowdy - "Imagine That. Mr. (Expletive) 5-Time Walking Away" »
-
NASCAR Fan Uses Driver Numbers To Win $1 Million Lottery Jackpot »
2013 All Star Race
LATEST HEADLINES: NASCAR
-
CUP: Record Smashed At Charlotte
Denny Hamlin wins Coca-Cola 600 pole with speed of 195.624 mph…… -
CUP: Thursday Charlotte Notebook (Update 8)
Denny Hamlin won the pole Thursday night for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600… -
CUP: Coca-Cola 600 – The Longest Day/Night
Speed, endurance, patience all part of the formula for Sunday’s… -
MCREYNOLDS: All-Star Race Vs 600
Does All-Star race help 600 field? -
SPEED Q & A - NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Teams Seasons To Date
The NASCAR on FOX/SPEED on-air team and SPEED.com Editor-in Chief… -
CUP: Patrick Refuses To Be Danica Downer
Danica Patrick has finished 25th or worse in nine of 11 NASCAR Sprint… -
SPEED Quotes: Joy, Petty, Hammond Discuss 2014 Hall Inductees
SPEED's NASCAR experts analyze the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2014...… - More News
