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Quiet riot: RCR teams making noise in the Chase
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All the attention may be focused on Roush-Fenway Racing as the Sprint Cup Series heads to the heartland and Kansas speedway this weekend, but the three teams of the Richard Childress Racing are running together, close behind and could be ready to pounce.
Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer are currently ranked 4-5-6 in this week’s Chase standings and after solid finishes in the last two races, they are knocking on the door.
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Burton has been steady throughout the season, posting 14 top-10 and five top-five finishes to go along with his one victory – the first Bristol race. Burton has finished fourth and ninth in the first two Chase events. And Burton also has another advantage on his side that most of the other Chase drivers don’t, years of experience in NASCAR.
"People talk about me being around for a long time and I have, I've been here for fifteen years,” Burton said. “Three of them have been being involved in the Chase. Percentage wise there is a whole lot of learning to do there. There's twenty percent of my time that I'm learning and if I didn't learn something from the last two years and if my team didn't learn something from the last two years then shame on us.
That's what experience is all about is understanding the things you did wrong, paying attention to them, realizing them, admitting them then moving forward.”<
In seven starts at Kansas, Burton has one top-5 and one top-10 finish. He does have one Nationwide series win, that coming in 2002.
Kevin Harvick may be flying under the radar more than any other Chase driver. He has put together a impressive string of eight straight top-10 finishes and jumped five spots in the standings last week after his sixth-place showing at Dover.
Despite his steady progress though, Harvick knows it’s too early in the Chase to dismiss any of those behind him in the points, so not only does he have to look towards the front but behind him as well.
“I think you have to wait until you get about halfway through the Chase to count anyone out.” Harvick said. “Right now Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson seem to be on a roll but that could change next week. So, I think for us, we just have to go out and race as hard as we can, get the best finishes possible and see where we end up in Homestead."
Like Burton, Harvick has seven starts here with two top-10 finishes. He also has a Nationwide series win, in 2006, at Kansas.
Bowyer, who is making his second straight appearance in the Chase, gained three spots in the standings last week after finishing eighth at Dover. He surprised a lot of people last season when he finished third in the championship standings. Bowyer, who hails from Emporia Kansas, always looks forward to the trip to his home state. But despite a home state appearance, if Bowyer were forced to choose between winning at Kansas or the championship, the choice would be a no-brainer.
"Kansas would be fun,” Bowyer said laughing. “But sorry Kansas I'm going after the championship. Kansas is one race; the championship is the whole year. That's what you work the whole year for.”
In his only two races at the track, Bowyer has one top-5 and one top-10 finish.
There will be one wild card this weekend not only for the RCR teams but the entire field. This will be the first time the new COT is raced at Kansas, so teams will be going in to Sunday’s race with very little information to rely on.
“We live in an era that data is really important and information to work off of is significant,” Burton said. “None of the teams have Kansas data for the new car. Track information is really important and I'm not sure that anybody will have it for Kansas so that's a huge point to pay attention to.
“Kansas is a tough racetrack,” he added. “It's slick and it's hard to get a hold of so I think Kansas will be really interesting to watch. I think you could see some people really struggle at Kansas that have run well at other places."
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