Catchfence

Richard Childress Racing (RCR)

RACE: Crown Royal 400

TRACK: Richmond International Raceway

DATE: April 30, 2011

Race Highlights:

• RCR teammates finished sixth(Clint Bowyer), 12th (Kevin Harvick), ) 16th (Jeff Burton) and 37th (Paul Menard).
• RCR teammates are fifth (Harvick), seventh (Bowyer), 15th (Menard) and 20th (Burton) in the Sprint Cup Series point standings following Saturday’s race at Richmond International Raceway.
• Menard has completed each of his nine contested NSCS races at RIR.
• Bowyer improved three positions, to seventh, in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings. He has now gained 17 positions in the last five NSCS races.
• Bowyer has five straight top-10 finishes, leading at least one lap in each event.
• Burton led laps for the second consecutive race.
• Burton hasn’t finished worse than 18th in his last eight races at Richmond.
• Harvick continues his streak of running at the end of all 21 races contested at Richmond.
• The next Sprint Cup Series race is the SHOWTIME Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Saturday, May 7, televised live on FOX and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

2011 CC Team Icon 27 NSCS Menards

Bad Luck Plagues the No. 27 Libman/Menards Chevrolet Team in Richmond

Saturday night short-track racing is always unpredictable with drivers rubbing fenders and tempers flaring. The Crown Royal 400 proved to be no different under the lights of Richmond International Raceway. After starting the No. 27 Libman/Menards Chevrolet from the 10^th position, handling issues plagued the team throughout the 400-lap event. The Slugger Labbe-led crew worked diligently on each pit stop to remedy the tight-center condition that Menard was battling on the 0.75-mile race track. Choosing to remain on track during the lap-292 caution-flag period, Menard restarted from the sixth position. Hopes of salvaging a solid finish were dashed when a multi-car accident on lap 301 collected the No. 27 Impala. The Libman/Menards team worked to make repairs to the heavily damaged car while keeping Menard on the lead lap. Shortly after green-flag racing resumed, Menard reported to the team that the engine temperature was climbing. He drove the car to pit road where they quickly removed all remaining tape from the nose of the car. When that didn’t help, he returned to the pit stall again and the No. 27 crew followed Labbe’s orders to hook the car up to the cool down unit. The pit stops cost the team 15 laps to the leader; however, Menard was able to complete the race, bringing home a disappointing 37^th-place finish.

Start – 10 Finish – 37 Laps Led – 0 Points – 15

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:

“The Libman/Menards team worked to adjust the car with each pit stop and eventually we got back on the lead lap. We were running sixth when we were caught up in someone else’s mess. The guys did a good job of keeping us on the lead lap despite about eight or nine trips to pit road. It wasn’t until we started to overheat that we had to come in under green and lost a lot of ground. It just wasn’t our night.”

2011 CC Team Logo NSCS 29 BUD 150 px

Harvick, No. 29 Team Post 12th-Place Finish in Richmond

Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team scored a 12^th-place finish in Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Harvick started the race from the 12^th position and ran as high as eighth and as low as 35^th (during a round of green-flag pit stops) over the course of the 400-lap event. Early in the race, Harvick radioed to the crew that the car wouldn’t “roll through the center (of the corner) like I need it to and then I’m loose up off.” He continued to fight the car’s handling for much of the night despite the numerous chassis and air pressure adjustments the team made to the car. Harvick ran inside the top 15 for most of the first half of the race. In the second half, he cracked the top 10 at lap 305 after narrowly avoiding a wreck and raced his way up to eighth before dropping back a few spots in the final 50 laps. The No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team pitted for the final time at lap 293, taking four tires and fuel. Following the stop, crew chief Gil Martin asked Harvick to save as much fuel as he could under caution in the final 100 laps as the team thought they might be a few laps short of making it to the end. While Harvick went down a lap to the leader with just over 10 laps to go, he was able to complete the final laps on fuel and brought home a 12^th-place finish.

Start – 12 Finish – 12 Laps Led – 0 Points – 5

2011 CC Team Logo NSCS 31 CAT

Up and Down Night for Burton, Cat Racing Team in Richmond

Jeff Burton and the Cat Racing team endured a tough outing in Saturday night’s 400-lap feature at Richmond International Raceway, but never-give-up attitudes prevailed and the team rallied to score a 16^th-place finish. After rolling off the starting grid 25^th, the veteran driver tussled with a loose-handling Caterpillar Chevrolet that, ultimately, placed him one lap down to the leaders and left him fighting for the Lucky Dog award for most of the first half of the race. A rash of cautions just past the halfway mark rewarded Burton with a return to the lead lap where he began his accent up the leader board, moving from 22^nd to 11^th in just 22 laps. Two more cautions slowed the field at laps 293 and 302 that left the South Boston, Va., native at point when crew chief Todd Berrier made the call to stay on the racing surface while other competitors pitted. After leading the field back to green for the final 87 laps, Burton settled into the fourth position while the team hoped for a caution as the No. 31 Chevrolet was short on fuel in order to go the distance. Unfortunately, the caution never came and the 21-time Sprint Cup Series race winner was forced to pit on lap 383 for fuel and two right-side tires. He returned to competition 20^th on the scoring pylon and notched four positions in the closing 15 laps to score a 16^th-place result. The finish allowed the Berrier-led crew to advance two spots, to 20^th, in the overall point standings where they now sit 35 markers behind Richard Childress Racing teammate Paul Menard in 15^th.

Start – 25 Finish – 16 Laps Led – 12 Points Position – 20

JEFF BURTON QUOTE:

“Tough race for us tonight. We fought to get back on the lead lap for much of the race but, when we did, our Caterpillar Chevrolet was handling better and we were able to make up some ground. The rash of cautions near the end threw us out of sequence and we had to pit for fuel with about 20 laps to go. I’m proud of the team for trying some strategy but, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out in our favor.”

33 BB&T

Bowyer Jumps Three More Positions in Points with Top-10 Finish in Richmond

Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet team led 18 laps en route to their fifth straight top 10, finishing sixth in the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Starting from the third position, the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet handled great in the beginning of the race. It took Bowyer only 25 laps to grab the lead and earn a valuable bonus championship driver point for the fifth race in a row. Bowyer would continue to run in the top five for a majority of the first half of the 400-lap event. As the race progressed and daytime turned to night at the ¾-mile oval, the No. 33 Chevrolet’s grip level deteriorated and Bowyer slid back into the eighth position on the track. Crew chief Shane Wilson and the “Helping Hands” pit crew continued to service the Chevrolet under every pit cycle while making adjustments to the car that would help increase the grip that Bowyer needed to make a run back into the top five. After back-to-back caution-flag periods on laps 280 and 293, Bowyer decided to come down pit road to take four fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco E15 which put him outside of the top 10 since most competitors didn’t pit or only took two fresh tires. On the ensuing restart while running three-wide in a massive pack of cars, the Emporia Kan., native was collected in a multi-car accident on the RIR backstretch causing moderate, but fixable, damage to both front fenders. Bowyer immediately came down pit road and the crew fixed the damage on the car, getting him out of the pits on the lead lap in 16^th with fresh tires and most importantly, a full tank of gas. That accident turned out to be the final yellow-flag period of the race. Over the 86-lap green-flag run to the finish, Bowyer continued to run consistent lap times with the leaders and gained 10 positions while other cars were forced to pit for gas late in the race. He crossed the finish line on lap 400 in the sixth position, moving up three more spots to seventh in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings. He has now gained 17 positions in the last five NSCS races.

Start – 3 Finish – 6 Laps Led – 18 Points – 7

CLINT BOWYER QUOTE:

“I’m really happy with the BB&T Chevrolet team’s sixth-place effort. Even though we got caught up in one of those typical short-track incidents, the guys never gave up. We led some laps and got out of here (Richmond) seventh in the points.”

RACE: Kentuckiana ARCA 200

TRACK: Salem Speedway

DATE: May 1, 2011

Race Highlights:

• RCR teammates finished second (Ty Dillon) and 11th (Tim George Jr.).
• Ty Dillon earned his third consecutive pole award and became the first driver since 1987 to win the first three pole awards of an ARCA Racing Series season.
• Dillon led the field to the green flag and led the most laps (79 laps).
• Dillon assumed control of the ARCA Racing Series points lead and heads into the next race on the schedule leading Frank Kimmel by 65 markers.
• George started 15th and ran as high as third during the 200-lap contest.
• George’s 11th-place finish marks the New York, N.Y., native’s best Salem result in five attempts at the 0.555-mile short track.
• Brennan Poole won by 0.643 seconds over Dillon, Frank Kimmel, Bryan Silas and Matt Merrell.
• The next ARCA race is the Menards 200 at Toledo Speedway on Sunday, May 15, 2011. Check arcaracing.com for live Timing and Scoring.

2011 CC Team Logos ARS 31 RCR

Tim George Jr’s Promising Run at Salem Speedway Ends Early with Late-Race Incident

Tim George Jr. was in position for a top-five finish at Salem Speedway, but a turn-two incident with three laps to go ended his day shy of the finish, relegating the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to an 11^th-place result. George started the Kentuckiana ARCA 200 from the 15^th-position but knew that his Chevrolet was very good under race conditions. The first 20 laps of the 200-lap affair was run under caution to account for a racing surface that was not completely dry due to heavy morning rain showers, and George spent the opening segment of the race in the top15. However, he started picking up positions following a lap-52 caution that allowed the RCR team to pit for four fresh Hoosier tires. With fresh rubber under his Chevrolet, George was able to race his way to third position by lap 70, and remained in the top five as he battled cars around the tough Southern Indiana-based short track. He was running fourth on lap 197 when he made contact with another car at the bottom of turn two, resulting in a spin. With extensive damage to the black and white No. 31, George’s race ended short of the finish, which was extended to 206 laps to accommodate a green-flag finish. He finished 11^th, nine laps down to the leader.

Start – 15 Finish – 11 Laps Led — 0

TIM GEORGE JR QUOTE:

“The No.31 ARCA guys worked really hard this weekend, as always. Everything seemed to come together during the race — strategy wise. I almost lost it in qualifying and that wasn’t a good start to our effort. But, we knew we were good in race trim. We proved that by being able to race near the top five. I’m a bit frustrated because I often find myself to be right there at the end and unable to capitalize. We all stacked up on the back stretch, and the No. 52 and I got together with two laps to go.”

“Coming away in 11th isn’t the end of the world for Salem, but we’ve had some unfortunate circumstances that have kept us from two top fives in a row. I look forward to Toledo, so we can change that. I also have to thank my spotter Will Lind. He’s been at RCR a long time, and his knowledge wore off a bit on me today.”

2011 CC Team Logos ARS 41 RCR 150 px

Ty Dillon Survives Salem Short Track with Second-Place Finish in RCR’s No. 41 UNOH Chevrolet

A cut tire with less than 50 laps to go could have caused serious issues for Ty Dillon and the Scott Naset-led Richard Childress Racing team, but hard work and perseverance helped the rookie ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards team rebound with a second-place finish in Sunday afternoon’s Kentuckiana ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway. Gray skies and rain welcomed the University of Northwestern Ohio-sponsored team to the short track on Sunday morning, but a break in the weather allowed ARCA and track officials to start the 200-lap race on schedule. The first 20 laps were run under yellow-flag conditions as teams adjusted to the slightly damp race track, and Dillon led the field to green from the pole position. The majority of the field, sans Dillon, took advantage of a lap-52 caution to pit for four fresh Hoosier tires, a definite advantage at the weathered and old short track. As a result, Dillon lost the race lead on lap 80 as teams with fresher Hoosier rubber were able to pass him, and he fell one lap down to the leaders soon thereafter before earning the “Lucky Dog” award on lap 108. Naset made the call to pit under caution for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Although Dillon had to restart at the tail end of the longest line, he had confidence in his Chevrolet and was able to work his way into the top five within 10 laps. He was battling for the lead on lap 155 when he cut a right-front tire, sending the No. 41 UNOH Chevrolet into his closest competitor before scraping the outside wall in turns three and four. Dillon immediately made a series of four separate pit stops under the ensuing caution period, and the RCR team was able to make sufficient repairs without losing a lap to the leaders. Restarting at the tail end of the longest line, Dillon spent the remainder of the race fighting for position and was able to drive his way up to second place before the end of the race. He now leads the point standings heading into the May 15 Menards 200 at Toledo Speedway.

Start – 1 Finish – 2 Points Position – 1 (leads by 65 points)

TY DILLON QUOTE:

“We had a really fast car. We were coming back through the field with fresh tires. I just overdrove a little bit and blew a right front. I overheated it. These guys never gave up on the UNOH Chevy; she was really fast. To be able to finish second after everything we went through today is a testament to this team. I think we showed that we can be championship contenders.”