RCR's New Beginning

2014 Look at RCR After 6 Races

Team Spotlight: RCR

By Richard Tix

Since 1969 Richard Childress and his racing team, RCR, has had many ups and downs. Along the way many different faces and personalities have come and gone leaving Mr. Childress with many memories.  In 2014 RCR came into the new NASCAR season turning a new page.

Kevin Harvick is out as the driver of the #29 after taking over for Dale Earnhardt. Harvick was a main stay st RCR so it was big news in the NASCAR world (RCR Preseason Spotlight). Also, Jeff Burton announced he was leaving RCR full time and would only run a race or two in the 2014 season. That left RCR with one driver, Paul Menard.

Menard has not been a bad driver for RCR over his career, but he seems to have settled into finishing around the 16-19th spot in points every year. Add to that, last season RCR seemed at times to struggle to keep up with the top teams (Harvick got it going some) and many were left wondering how this season would go.

Well Richard Childress started out the year with a bang by announcing he would be bringing the #3 back for the first time since Dale Earnhardt had passed away. His own family would be driving it, Austin Dillon. Also announced before that was that Ryan Newman would be joining the team to replace Harvick.

So, RCR entered the season with one highly touted rookie, and former "next big thing" and rookie of the year (Ryan Newman) who has been in a funk, and a career average driver (Paul Menard).

2014 started on a high note after Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 Pole in the #3. Since that moment I would argue that the season has stayed pretty steady. In fact, RCR is having a quiet but good season so far especially if you take into consideration all the new faces in the garage.

Current standings have the 3 drivers sitting 9th, 10th, and 11th in the Cup Standings. They have 6 combined top 10's and a top 5, but they all seem to just be heating up. Austin Dillon has spent the season riding around learning the Cup series and at the same time finishing about top 15. Menard has 3 top 10's in his last 4 races, which is all of his top 10's on the season.

If they can keep it up and somehow all get into the Chase it would be a huge accomplishment for RCR. But with NASCAR's new rules these drivers may need to find a way to win. Newman has shown he is capable, but Dillon is young and Menard has 1 win in 261 career races. So, can RCR somehow get all three drivers into the Chase? It will be fun to watch play out.

**Added note: AJ Allmendinger has started coming on as of late with an 11th and 8th place finish in his last two starts. AJ and the #47 team have a technical alliance with RCR. Martin Truex Jr also has an alliance but has had some bad breaks to start the season.**

Some RCR Related Articles:

• Preseason Spotlight on RCR
• The Intimidator
• Preseason Driver Spotlight: Ryan Newman

Nascar Sprint Cup 2014 Headlines

Nascar Behind the Wall is going to take a fast look at the to ten headlines that may impact the 2014 season plus we go for extra credit. We have got the Nascar offseason itch so lets get to it.

• Richard Childess Racing Bringing Back The #3
• RCR announce in December that they would be bringing back the number know most notably for Dale Earnhardt. The rumors were flying around before the season ended in 2013 that RCR may bring back the number and Austin Dillon would be in the drivers seat. The official announcement sent the Twitter and Social Media world into a frenzy over if it was right. Many mixed feelings by fans have been shared, and now in 2014 we will finally see the number back in the track.

• #SmokeRising
• Last year the Nascar world got a huge shock when Tony Stewart got in a racing accident and broke his leg, resulting in him missing the rest of the 2013 season. This drama started a #smokewillrise following for the rest of the season, and this season all of Nascar will be awaiting Smokes Return.

• NASCAR's New Rule's (New Era)
• When NASCAR Changes something they go all out. "Go big or go home," is what I always like to say. NASCAR seemed to not leave a stone upturned this offseason. Starting with new drafting rules, then onto a new penalty system, and then onto blowing up the Chase as we know it. It will be fun to see how the new Era shapes up in year one, while at the same time it could frustrate teams, drivers, and fans alike. 

• The Rebirth of Denny Hamlin
• At the beginning of the 2013 season Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano had a heated rivalry starting up and it was a joy to watch as a Nascar fan. That all ended when the two were racing hard and Hamlin ended up on the wrong end of a crash that sent him into back surgery. Yes Denny got back into the car by the end of 2013 but he was still recovering.  In 2014, Hamlin should be rested and ready to take on a full 2014 schedule.

• 7 Time?
• Year to year Jimmie Johnson is always the story line, whether winning or losing, people notice where he is. Well, now that he is 6-Time, can he become 7-Time? Can he/will he join the ranks of Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty as a 7-Time Champion?

• Stewart-Haas Racing
• Well, this past season was eventful for SHR. They let Ryan Newman go, saying they would not be resigning him, and then said most likely they would not go with four cars yet in 2014 until they could be more consistent with 3. Then they signed Smokes buddy Kevin Harvick to take over Newman's spot (does these mean more Stewart "goosing" Harvick's wife?). Later in the season, as a shock to most, Kurt Busch was brought in by Haas as a fourth driver to the team. Will all the personalities coexist? Will the team self destruct? So many stories within the story on this one.

• Brad Keselowski Bounce Back?
• Now yes, I am a big BK fan, but I do believe that this is a story line worth looking at. Between him and Smoke, theyre the only two to take down JJ resently. Plus, BK is always somewhere to be found because he lets his mind be heard. So is there a bounce back? Can Penske get it back together?

• Driver Changes
• Already mentioned in this article, Harvick and Busch both made there way to SHR, but a few other drivers of note have new rides. Newman left SHR for RCR and will take over Jeff Burton's old ride. Maybe some fresh air will get him going, at times he was the best driver at SHR last season, and that was while Smoke was in. Martin Truex Jr got caught up in the MWR scandal and missed his shot at another Chase, now he is out at MWR with no sponsor ship and in at Furniture Row where Kurt just left. Mark Martin is "retiring" but we may see him from time to time as a fill in, plus he is still testing with SHR. Last but not least, Jeff Burton will spend some time in the booth and also some time with MWR part time.

• 2014 ROY Class
• This class is headlined by Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon. Both of these drivers have rides with contending teams that may have decent equipment. Larson will be in the #42 Ganassi ride while Dillon will be in the #3 RCR ride. These two guys could make the ROY chase worth paying attention to. Joining them could also be Michael Annett in the #7, Justin Allgaier in the #51, and Cole Whitt/Parker Kligerman in the #30. The last guys all have different plans for the 2014 season but whoever runs full time may not have the equipment to run with Larson and Dillon. 

• Gen-6 Year Two
• Well the first year didn't go so bad for Nascar and the Gen-6. Seems like it went over better with fans then the COT.... Year two seems like it could be a big year though as it seems Nascar fans still want to see some improvement. Throughout the year it seemed like the topic of passing and being able to race someone came up a lot. Testing has been done at Charlotte with the car so maybe Nascar will make some minor changes to help out.

• Iowa Purchased
• Iowa Speedway was purchased by Nascar this off season and it hit Social Media hard. Speculation started right away if they would bring Cup to the track, but Nascar responded with a "not now" approach. Nationwide will still continue to run there, but I, and many other Nascar fans, would like to see a stop at the short track for the Cup Series soon.

• Danica v Ricky Round Two (Extra Credit)
• This one is a bit of a joke, but Danica will always find a way into the story lines. So here goes, my turn, will Ricky pull away from Danica in year two, or will she finally find a groove. Also, could drama start if they break up? I don't want to make this a daytime soap episode so here is to hoping they stick it out together and that a break up isn't the reason we talk about her in 2014.

Well those are my top 10 (plus extra credit) early season 2014 Nascar Sprint Cup Headlines. It will be interesting to see which one of these headlines become a front runner and which end up being a non story. Let the count down to Daytona continue!

**Updated 2/14/14 to reflect some big news, that is now old news, in NASCAR. The new Points System.**

Driver Spotlight: Underdogs Part One

Underdog Driver's 2014 Preview

By Richard Tix

Well this time around NASCAR Behind the Wall is going to use the Driver Spotlight to take an even faster look at some underdogs going into the 2014 season. This will be a two part Spotlight featuring Rookies and guys who haven't quiet broken out yet. Because they haven't broken out yet NASCAR Behind the Wall has not done a Driver Spotlight directly for them. None the less, these drivers can still win and need some attention.

Austin Dillon

Austin Dillon will run his first full time schedule in the Cup Series in 2014, but hold on that's not the big news. The big news, as everyone knows, is he will be driving the historic #3 for RCR. So the main thing for Dillon will be what kind of expectations will he see from fans and the media. The #3 adds extra pressure to the already stacked rookie class that includes Kyle Larson and others. Dillon ran 11 races in 2013 and 3 of them he finished top 20 (two top 15). Two of those were at Michigan where he finished 11th and 14th.

My big question with Dillon is, can he win? He has proved to be fast, Daytona he was fast in Preseason Thunder, and in NNW he won the Pole 7 times in 2013, but he came away with zero wins. In the Cup series it is huge to find a way to win multiple races to actually compete. Dillon is young, so the pressure shouldn't be to compete, but to win ROY first, but in the long run he will need to win in Cup to make people forget about the #3 controversy.

Kyle Larson

We are moving from one rookie to the next. One thing is for sure, the 2014 rookie class should be a good one and these two seem to be most fans favorites for ROY, mostly because of name and the rides they are getting into compaired to others. Like Dillon, Larson has some big questions too. My biggest question on Kyle Larson is, is he ready for Cup? He has just ran one full time season in NNW which was last year. He did win once, 9 top 5's, and 17 top 10's in those 33 races. During his time in Nationwide he did show no fear even when Cup drivers (Kyle Busch) were running against him, which may have won him some respect, but he is still very young and raw. Just the chance at ROY should be his goal, while trying to find some top 10's and maybe top 5's along the way.

Jamie McMurray

McMurray had his best season in three years in 2013 finishing the season 15th in points. In 2013 he had more wins, top 5's, and top 10's then in 2012 and 2011 combined. The win during the Chase race at Talladega was his first since 2010. McMurray is coming up on the last year of his contract this season With Ganassi so the biggest question going into 2014 is can he do enough to be brought back in 2015?





Martin Truex Jr

Well 2013 was much of the same for Truex for the most part, until right before the Chase that is. Truex was having a typical season, not always a front runner, but a consistant threat to pull out a top 5 or sneaky win here or there (even though in 2013 he finally broke his win less streak). Then came the Chase fiasco that left Truex out after he made the Chase in 2012. Then, 2013 came to a close and Truex found out that NAPA was leaving MWR and so was he. Now he is moving on to Kurt Busch's old ride at Furniture Row. The big question on Truex is can he bounce back from everything in 2013 and find his way back to becoming a top 15 driver?


Well that's it for Part One, let me know what you think on Twitter about how these guys will do in 2014. Next up in Part Two, our final preseason Driver Spotlight will be Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Paul Menard, Aric Almirola, and Marcus Ambrose.


Previous Driver Spotlights:

• Carl Edwards
• Greg Biffle
• Kasey Kahne
• All Previous Spotlights