2015 Team Spotlight Preview: Richard Childress Racing

RCR 2015 Season Preview

By Richard Tix

2014 Season Review

2014 Season Stats

Races: 108

Wins: 0

Top 5: 11

Top 10: 33

Pole: 1

2014 Chase Drivers: 1

Going into 2014 I would say most fans would have agreed that a RCR driver making the Final race at Miami was a 0% chance (other than fans of those three drivers), yet there Ryan Newman was competing for a Championship in the closing moments at Homestead.

RCR as a whole wasn't overly impressive, but yet they found themselves hanging along each race. Newman never won a race yet, he never had terrible finishes. Dillon didn't rack up the top 10's, but he found a way to finish top 15 a majority of the time. Paul Menard once again started the season out on the right path, but couldn't finish it off.

So, 2014 wasn't amazing, yet wasn't bad and the end goal of a Championship was within reach. So what does 2015 bring? I think the goal for RCR should be to go from one driver in the Chase to getting two of three guys in. 

I think Dillon could take the next step and run consistent enough to contend for a Chase spot. I also believe Newman can take his win-less streak from last year and find a win somewhere along the season. The wild card will be Paul Menard and if he can string together a full season.

RCR seemed to be gaining momentum to end 2014 so if they carry that over with the new 2015 package they could do some damage with what many people believe to be middle of the road talent. I don't think they will have enough momentum to win a Championship, but getting a pair of drivers into the Chase is a possibility,

Ryan Newman

• Newman proved the new system is more than just winning, but he also helped prove (with Harvick) that winning still is everything. That because Newman lost to Harvick at Homestead when Harvick won and took the title from the remaining three other drivers. But, Newman's run was an eye opener in year one of the Chase that you can get in many different ways. 2015 might prove that once again but I doubt he can make a run at the title again without a win. Newman does give RCR it's best shot to win in 2015 so he might be one to watch.

Austin Dillon

• Newman might give RCR the best chance to win next year, but Dillon is the long term fix. He could continue his development in 2015 by posting more top 10's then he did last season and maybe even contend for a few wins. Dillon gives RCR a shot at putting two drivers into the Chase in 2015.

Paul Menard

• Paul Menard is an interesting driver in 2015. No, not because of his personality that is as dull as a butter knife, but because he came off a strong 2014 season yet was no closer to making the Chase. In fact, this new system may make it even harder for him to make the Chase than the old one (which he never finished better than 16th). Menard is a quality driver that gets overlooked a lot, but he also isn't a consistent threat to make the Chase or even finish top 10, which makes his 2015 season an interesting one, even if he lacks the interesting interviews. 

2014 Team Spotlight Review: Richard Childress Racing

Richard Childress Racing 2014 Review

By Richard Tix

Season Preview

2014 Season Stats

Wins: 0

Top 5: 11

Top 10: 33

Pole: 1

2014 was a big transition season for Richard Childress Racing. Jeff Burton was retiring from full time driving, which left the door open in the #31 car. Kevin Harvick took off to Stewart-Haas racing after a long career with RCR. The moves that RCR made to counter those was to bring in Ryan Newman to replace Burton and young gun Austin Dillon in the #3 to take Harvicks spot.

Obviously, when you lose a veteran like Burton and Harvick it will almost always look like a downgrade, but RCR ended up handling it better than I expected.

Newman came in and brought a ton of consistency to a team that seemed to lack it in 2014. That consistency lead him into the Chase and then into the Finale at Homestead-Miami. On paper his stats don't jump out, but most drivers would have taken the shot to win a Championship in the last race over winning 5 races and being left out.

Past Newman's season, (heck including Newman) RCR had a lot of mediocrity in 2014. They weren't terrible but they weren't great either. Let take a fast look at each driver in 2014.

Ryan Newman

• The crazy thing about Newman's first season with RCR is that most categories he was a bit down. He had zero wins (2009 was the last time that happened), he had 5 top 5's (a low since 2012 when he had 4), and 16 top 10's (low since 2012). Yet, his average finish of 12.7 was the best of his 13 year career (full time season's only). That is how he made the Chase and that is how he made the Finale at Miami.

Paul Menard

• Statistically Menard had one of his better seasons in his 11 year career. He finished with 0 wins, 5 top 5's, and 13 top 10's. However, for the first time since 2010 he finished outside the top 20 in points (21st). Things could have been worse, but missing the Chase once again has to be eating at him.

Austin Dillon

• Dillons 2014 rookie season will be the stepping stone for his career. It was a quality first season but now its all what he does from here. He ended the year with zero wins, one top 5, four top 10's, and one pole while finishing 20th in points.

Previous Team Spotlight: Roush Fenway Racing

Driver Spotlight: Paul Menard

2014 Driver Spotlight on Paul Menard: Week 8

By Richard Tix

The first Driver Spotlight of the regular season was on underdog Casey Mears. NASCAR Behind the Wall will take advantage of this early season hot streak to spotlight another underdog, Paul Menard.  

The 2014 season started off with Paul Menard being the lone driver still in the RCR stable. RCR brought in Ryan Newman to replace a soon to retire Jeff Burton. RCR also brought in young gun Austin Dillon and the #3. So, as many off seasons go for Menard, not a lot of talk was on him.

The first two races of the season are not ones Menard wants to think about (32nd and 23rd) but since then he has been on a good run. Menard has finishes of 3rd, 9th, 10th, and 9th in his last 5 races. That is 4 top 10's (one top 5) in his last 5 and good enough to get him to 10th in the points standings, which is the highest of any RCR member.

Not only is Menard running well, but he also recently had a child with his wife. So, so far 2014 has been a good year for Paul. 

This week NASCAR heads to Darlington Raceway. Most race fans get excited about heading here as it tends to bring exciting, wheel man, racing. Once again, in the eyes of Menard, Darlington will prove a big test.

In 2013 Menard also started the season out pretty well, but eventually fell into his typical season and ended the year 17th in the points.  Darlington has not been kind to Menard as he has an average finish of 23.7 in his 7 career starts. Not once has he finished in the top 10 at Darlington.

So far Menard has passed the early season test, but if he wants to avoid another season where he finishes around the 16th-20th spot in points he needs a good finish this weekend. If he can manage a quality win and maybe even a top 10 at Darlington we maybe talking about Paul Menards first season finishing in the top 15. If not, we might be able to just expect the same Paul down the stretch.

Past Articles:

• Driver Spotlight
• Darlington Entry List
• Darlington Schedule
• Power Rankings

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