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These days, it's resurgent Childress Racing

Sporting News, The, July 21, 2006 by Spencer Lee

When Richard Childress went on a safari in Africa last April, no one blinked.

Sure, it was early in the season and it had been 38 races since any of the three Richard Childress Racing cars had won. But R.C. was confident that with the restructuring the organization had done the past two years, everything would be just fine.

He was right. Kevin Harvick won at Phoenix while R.C. was away and moved to eighth in the points standings. A third-place finish two races later at Richmond, in a race where Harvick had the dominant car, vaulted him to fifth--a position the No. 29 team hadn't seen since the week after the 2004 Daytona 500. Halfway through the season, Harvick sits ninth and is giving every indication he'll grab a spot in the Chase.

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Rookie Clint Bowyer showed promise early, finishing sixth at Daytona and staying in the top 10 for the first four weeks. He has slipped to 16th, but his No. 07 car, with longtime RCR crew chief Gil Martin, has been more consistent lately.

Finally, Jeff Burton is the comeback kid--at 39. He has been in the top 10 in points after nine of the 18 races, and he was a solid fourth after Chicago. His cars haven't been this competitive since 2003, when he was racing for Jack Roush. Aligning a thinking driver (Burton) with an engineer-crew chief such as Scott Miller has worked wonders. If Burton stays away from misfortune, he'll be in the top 10 for the first time since 2001.

R.C. and the late Dale Earnhardt had Burton in mind to take over the No. 3 when Earnhardt retired. But his death in 2001 unexpectedly put Harvick in that seat. Still, Burton saw the potential in the Childress organization when he toured RCR's campus in Welcome, N.C., in 2004. All the pieces were there--they just needed to be put in the right places.

In the past two years, a lot of people, including Childress and Burton, have worked long hours to give the organization a different structure. Chris Hussey leads the engineering department and reports directly to Bobby Hutchens, vice president of competition. Hutchens made an in-house chassis program a reality. Longtime Roush aerodynamics genius Nick Ollila oversees research and development. Ronnie Hoover runs the fabrication shop.

Rick Mann took over the engine shop from 20-year veteran Spenny Clendenen, who is concentrating on the administrative side of the program. Finally, adding former Cosworth engineer Nick Hayes, who helped Michael Schumacher to his first Formula 1 title, was a coup for the company.

To maintain a competitive edge, no organization can afford to sit still. But given RCR's turnaround, Childress' vacation was well-deserved.

speed reads

Boris Said's relationship with Jack Roush is win-win. Said gets top-notch equipment to pursue his racing dreams, and Roush gets a top-notch road course instructor for his less experienced drivers.

It's amazing sponsors will sacrifice performance for popularity. Waltrip Racing's support from Toyota will be extensive and Michael Waltrip and Dale Jarrett are great spokesmen, but the ability to get up on the wheel ought to count for something.

NASCAR's television partners hope that starting races later will increase ratings. But inquiring minds want to know: How many fans are blowing off the live broadcast and relying on TiVo to capture the excitement?

Inside dish

Elliott Sadler has until Saturday to tell Robert Yates whether he plans to stay and drive the No. 38 M&M's Ford. With Dale Jarrett and UPS leaving at the end of the year, RYR might have to fill two seats, maybe three if CitiFinancial--which sponsors Sadler's RYR Busch car--moves to Cup in 2007. Two drivers on Yates' shortlist are Ward Burton and Stephen Leicht, who tested with Yates last Tuesday at Kentucky and has made tremendous gains on the Busch circuit in the CitiFinancial car. Having a vet such as Burton to mentor Leicht would expedite the rookie's adjustment to Cup. According to William Clements, director of sponsorships and sports marketing for Masterfoods USA, which makes M&M's: The company is "150 percent committed to Yates" and has every intention of completing its contract that runs through 2008. > There also has been talk of a possible alliance between Robby Gordon and RYR. Gordon has made it clear that he needs to expand his current operation to be competitive. Gordon says he will not drive the No. 88. His intent is to continue with the No. 7 and Jim Beam, but he will add the No. 77 and likes fellow Californian David Gilliland as a potential teammate. Gilliland is entertaining several offers. He wants to remain loyal to his current car owner, Clay Andrews, but he is not under contract. > A fourth Nextel Cup team is on the horizon for Richard Childress Racing. Although Richard Childress insists publicly that he wants to make all three teams competitive before expanding, team sources confirm that a capital expansion on the RCR campus will include another Cup squad. The organization hopes to run a partial schedule next year and a full slate in 2008. > Despite published reports, Eddie Wood says the Wood Brothers have no intention of closing shop. In fact, the organization will bring three cars to test at Indy--two for current driver Ken Schrader and one for Busch Series driver Jon Wood.

These days, it's resurgent Childress Racing

Sporting News, The, July 21, 2006 by Spencer Lee

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