Highs, Lows and Plateus: RCR Team Recap
What Happened
Need a sign of how far Richard Childress Racing has come? The team placed all three cars in the Chase, won four races including the Daytona 500 and the All-Star race and yet, in some ways the year was disappointing. Three years ago that would have been considered a banner season for the fledging organization. In 2004 Richard Childress Racing went winless and no cars made the Chase. The turnaround has been impressive and things should get even better in 2008.
It wasn’t all positive for the company in 2007. In midseason the team merged their engine program with DEI. Between merging shops and tackling Chevy’s new R07 engine package, things didn’t go exactly as planned. After a fast start, Harvick went from championship contender to barely making the Chase.
What Went Well
RCR put the pedal to the floor to start the season. Kevin Harvick won a wild Daytona 500 with Jeff Burton finishing 5th. Meanwhile Clint Bowyer tried to one-up his teammates by sliding across the finish line on his roof and then escaping the car when it burst into flames. Harvick nearly won the next week at California if not for a late flat tire. Burton finished 4th and Bowyer 6th. Through the first 10 races the trio combined for two wins, 7 top 5’s and 15 top 10’s.
All three cars spent the year inside the top 12, easily ensuring that they were eligible for the Chase. Once there, Bowyer won the first Chase race at Loudon for his first career Cup win. That began a strong Chase effort that saw Bowyer finish third in the final point standings.
Burton’s season was bookended by two great runs. He scored a win at Texas, five top 5’s and 6 top 10’s in the first seven races and finished with 2 top 5’s and 6 top 10’s in the final 8 races.
What Went Wrong
Off the track RCR and Burton’s primary sponsor AT&T spent the season engaged in a lawsuit with Nextel and NASCAR. Although the team won two appeals to put AT&T logos on the #31 car, the suit did disrupt things. The case is still pending, which means it could be more wrangling with Nextel and by connection, wrangling with NASCAR.
Harvick’s season didn’t match his 2006 output. In 2006 he had a line of 5 wins, 15 top 5’s and 20 top 10’s. In 2007 that shrunk to 1, 4 and 15. He won the Daytona 500 but was inconsistent after that. His 86.4 driver rating was 14th best, a decent effort but far from a front runner. He made the Chase more from his ability to stay on the track (0 DNF’s) than from great runs.
Like Harvick all three drivers did a good job of avoiding trouble (Burton’s 2 engine failures were the only DNF’s), but too often they were also far from the front. Harvick’s laps led dropped by 70% compared to 2006, Burton’s by 82%. Bowyer’s total improved from 112 to 387, but none of the three placed in the top 10 in laps led. That has to be a point of emphasis in 2008, especially now that the CoT will feature full time.
Past Team Reviews
- DEI
- Michael Waltrip Racing
- Penske Racing
- Haas-CNC
- Team Red Bull
- Joe Gibbs
- Evernham
- Wood Bros
- Hendrick Motorsports
- Robert Yates Racing
- Chip Ganassi Racing
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