Richard Childress Racing Tag

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor What a year it’s been for 26-year-old Austin Dillon. The driver who won championships at the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series levels, looked to be out of his element in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the past couple of seasons. Fast forward to Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, and Dillon was busy racing his way into the round of 12 of the 2016 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup. Dillon entered the day with a five-point deficit toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – A wreck in practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was the last thing Austin Dillon needed. After a 14th-place finish last Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in the first race of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Dillon needs a strong run at New Hampshire to escape the bottom four in the standings. But with the Round of 16 elimination race looming Oct. 1 at Dover, Dillon had his weekend start catastrophically at the Magic Mile, site of Sunday’s BadRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With NASCAR invading New England for the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, another edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater” is upon us. As we look back at races from New Hampshire’s past, this week’s focus is on the 2001 New Hampshire 300, a race that featured a great battle for the win between two Gordons, Jeff Gordon and Robby Gordon, leaving one ecstatic with the win and the other fuming at what might have been. The raceRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Ryan Newman, who has made it into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in each of the past three seasons, will face a huge uphill battle in Richmond — the final race before the 2016 Chase — if he is to advance into the championship battle this year. Newman finished eighth this past week at Darlington, a track he calls his favorite on the schedule, but in post-race inspection Newman’s No. 31 Chevrolet SS failed in the LIS (Laser Inspection Station). As a result,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Since being added to the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule in 2010, Road America has been one of the tracks on the circuit that tends to provide drivers with their first NASCAR wins and the tradition continued on Saturday afternoon. In the first six events at the track, three of those went to drivers who scored their first NASCAR wins, with Nelson Piquet, Jr. becoming the first in the 2012 event, followed by AJ Allmendinger in 2013, and Brendan Gaughan in 2014. As the NASCAR SprintRead More

By Frank Rigas, NASCAR Wire Service ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Michael McDowell’s Twitter handle is @Mc_Driver. After Saturday, he may want to consider changing it — to something like @Mc_Winner. McDowell led 24 of the final 25 laps of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville for his first victory in 94 series races. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular finished .534 seconds ahead of his Richard Childress Racing teammate Brendan Gaughan after two late restarts, including a green-while-checkered that pushed the race to 48 lapsRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service It’s been 59 races since a full-time Richard Childress Racing NASCAR XFINITY Series driver won a race. The last time a full-time RCR wheelman celebrated in Victory Lane was when Brendan Gaughan triumphed at Kentucky on Sept. 20, 2014, leading a team sweep of the top-three positions. Brian Scott took second, while Ty Dillon finished third. Since Gaughan’s triumph, RCR full-timers have logged five runner-ups. Scott has been replaced in the stable by Sunoco Rookie Brandon Jones, while Gaughan and Dillon still remain. They’ll try toRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Stories about top-tier drivers getting a new crew chief are usually explosive news, but when Richard Childress Racing announced that Paul Menard would have a new crew chief starting this weekend in Pocono, there wasn’t much fanfare. However, I think bringing Danny Stockman Jr. over to turn the wrenches on the No. 27 Chevrolet SS was a smart decision. Not to take anything away from Menard’s former crew chief Justin Alexander, but Stockman has quietly become one of the brightest development crew chiefs in theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor One of the key cogs in Richard Childress Racing’s flying aces pit crew of the 1980s, David Smith has passed away. The race team announced the somber news Thursday via Twitter. Thoughts & prayers are with the family of our longtime RCR team member David Smith. Rest in Peace champ. pic.twitter.com/6EinNxvECl — RCR (@RCRracing) July 1, 2016 Smith was a longtime jackman of the pit crew, but he also served as the crew chief for the legendary Dale Earnhardt during the 1996 season. In thatRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service Sometimes second isn’t the first loser. Ty Dillon finished runner-up in last Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway, and received a nice consolation prize – the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus. Dillon won his Heat to become eligible for the big-money award, then earned it by finishing highest among the four Dash 4 Cash drivers in the Main. As a result of his strong showing, the Richard Childress Racing driver ascended from sixth in the standings to third, 19 points back from DanielRead More