Kevin Harvick (Right) the current points leader stands with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner Richard Childress(Left). (Photo: LAT Photographic)
There's much celebrate these days in rural Welcome, N.C., home of Richard Childress Racing.
After a dreadful 2009 season that included an unsuccessful attempt to expand to four cars, RCR has totally reinvented itself this year, with a big management shake-up as well as a major shift in technical direction.
The results speak for themselves:
• Kevin Harvick won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona and currently leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings, having finished seventh in the Daytona 500 and second to Jimmie Johnson in Southern California and Las Vegas.
• Clint Bowyer is second in points after finishes of fourth at Daytona and eighth at Southern California and Las Vegas.
• Jeff Burton has finished third at Southern California and 11th at the other two races, good enough to put him seventh in points, with three races down.
Considering that none of RCR's three drivers finished in the top 12 in points last year, having all three in the top seven right now truly is a noteworthy accomplishment. Yet there's one glaring omission on this team's otherwise spotless 2010 resume: race victories.
As good as RCR is a group right now, the last Sprint Cup race victory Burton had came 44 races ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 2008. Bowyer last won at Richmond in May 2008, 65 races ago. For Harvick, who nearly won each of the last two races, his last triumph was the 2007 Daytona 500, a whopping 110 races ago.
If any of the three is to knock Jimmie Johnson off the top of the Sprint Cup mountain, winning races must become part of the formula.
Needless to say, all three RCR drivers are heading into Atlanta Motor Speedway with high expectations and a more than passing shot at winning, too.
