Richard Childress Racing looking at expanding again
Childress says team will learn from its mistakes
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Richard Childress Racing got better when it got smaller, shrinking from four teams to three in the offseason. So it stands to reason that Childress might think twice before taking another shot at expanding his team.
Of course, the possibility of landing driver Paul Menard – and his lucrative family sponsorship – can be very convincing.
Childress announced this week that he’ll field a fourth car for Menard next season, with the car number and crew chief to be determined. And Childress expects it to work much better than last year.
“We’re going to do this team completely different than we did that one,” Childress said.
It could be a risky move for Childress, given the fact that his team suddenly reclaimed its status as one of NASCAR’s best after it went from four cars to three.
Going into today’s race at Michigan International Speedway, Childress driver Kevin Harvick is leading the Sprint Cup series points standings and teammate Jeff Burton is third. Clint Bowyer is 13th, 10 points out of the final Chase-eligible spot.
It’s a dramatic turnaround from 2009, when Childress fielded four cars and none made the Chase. When Childress eliminated the fourth car driven by Casey Mears, the best crew members from that team were absorbed into the other three teams.
“I have been a proponent for, ever since I have been at RCR, to expand to four teams,” Burton said. “And even last year, when we had the fourth team and we weren’t running well, it wasn’t the fault of the fourth team.
“Now, I will tell you when we went from four to three, we got strong because we took the very best people and made three. So what that means is, when we do four, we have got to go get the very best people to create four.”
If done correctly, Burton said an expansion could make the team even stronger.
“We didn’t do four teams right. We did four teams wrong,” Burton said. “This time (we have) a clear picture of what we did wrong and we’ve got to make sure we learned that and that is what Richard is committed to. I would not have supported a fourth team if we were doing it just to hire enough people to run the fourth team.”
Childress said his team is better organized with stronger engine and engineering programs, putting it in better position to expand. RCR also appears to be in good shape off the track. Childress said he expects to announce a sponsorship deal for Harvick next week, eliminating one of the team’s biggest concerns.
“I think that is the biggest thing, it’s about people,” Childress said. “I think we put together the people to make this thing really work and to have a fourth team be competitive as well.”
They’ll certainly have more funding, courtesy of the Menard family’s Wisconsin-based home improvement company. Menard’s father, John Menard Jr., has a net worth of $5.5 billion according to Forbes magazine.
But that’s a mixed blessing for Menard, who will need better finishes to fend off the perception that he only has a ride because he has money.
“Earlier on, you heard a lot of that,” Menard said. “People will always be talking about it and there is nothing that you can do about that.
“Bottom line is we’re a racing family, we have a racing heritage, and I’m a race car driver and that’s what we enjoy doing.”