Catchfence

Richard Childress Racing (RCR)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

RACE: SHOWTIME Southern 500

• RCR teammates finished 17th (Kevin Harvick), 22nd (Paul Menard), 31st (Clint Bowyer) and 33rd (Jeff Burton).
• RCR teammates are fifth (Harvick), ninth (Bowyer), 18th (Menard) and 24th (Burton) in the Sprint Cup Series point standings following Saturday’s race at Darlington Raceway.
• Harvick’s average running position during the 500 miler was 4.4 and a Driver Rating of 110.6.
• Harvick led on two seperate occasions for a total of 47 laps.
• Burton’s finish breaks his five-race streak of top-12 finishes or better at Darlington.
• Menard has completed each of his five contested NSCS races at track “Too Tough to Tame.”
• Despite his early exit, Bowyer scored an average running position of 10.8, spending 307 of his 363 completed laps in the top 15.
• Regan Smith captured his first career Sprint Cup Series win, bringing Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines to Victory Lane for the third time this season. Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five finishers.
• The next Sprint Cup Series race is the FedEx 400 benefitting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway on Sunday, May 15, televised live on FOX and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

2011 CC Team Icon 27 NSCS Menards

The No. 27 Turtle Wax/Menards Chevrolet Team Finishes 22nd in Darlington

For the second consecutive weekend, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams battled it out on Saturday night under the lights, this time at the historic Darlington Raceway. Paul Menard started the No. 27 Turtle Wax/Menards Chevrolet from the 18^th position; however, a tight-handling condition prevented him from gaining ground during the first green-flag run. He brought the Chevrolet to pit road under the lap-33 caution period for four tires, E15 Sunoco fuel and a track bar adjustment. When the field returned to racing, Menard continued to wrestle the Turtle Wax/Menards Impala around the 1.366-mile race track. The Slugger Labbe-led crew continued to work during subsequent pit stops to adjust the handling challenges that Menard was facing. As he entered his pit box, while under caution on lap 124, he was tagged from behind by the No. 2 car. The contact spun the No. 27 Chevrolet around, forcing the over-the-wall crew to pit the car as it faced backwards. Menard made a second visit to pit road so the team could repair the damaged rear bumper. He restarted from the 30^th position on lap 127. During the ensuing long green-flag run, Menard climbed up to 27^th but handling issues continued to torment Menard throughout the remainder of the SHOWTIME Southern 500. On lap 281, he entered pit road to make a green-flag pit stop just as the yellow flag was displayed for debris. The No. 27 crew continued to change four tires and pack the car with fuel. Front tire carrier Eric Pringle was removing tape from the grill as Menard started to leave the pit and was caught by the front bumper. Fortunately, Menard got the car stopped quickly and Pringle was unhurt. A multi-car accident forced the scheduled 367-lap event to a green-white-checkered finish. Menard had reported through the race that the engine’s temperature climbed during caution periods and on the final lap, it expired. Menard was able to coast to the checkered flag in the 22^nd position.

Start – 18^th Finish – 22^nd Laps Led – 0 Points – 18^th

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:

“The Turtle Wax/Menards crew was solid on pit road tonight. I’m glad that (Eric) Pringle is okay. That is a scary moment when you realize that you almost ran over one of your crew guys. The jack dropped and that’s my signal to go. Thankfully Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) yelled for me to stop right away; it could have been big. We’ll put tonight behind us and look forward to Dover.”

2011 CC Team Logo NSCS 29 BUD 150 px

Late-Race Incident Leaves Harvick and the Budweiser Team 17th at Darlington

A late-race incident cost Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team a top-five finish in Saturday night’s SHOWTIME Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Despite leading 47 laps and earning an average running position of 4.4 during the race, Harvick ended up with a 17^th-place result. The No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet started the race from the 13^th position and Harvick worked his way up to the top 10 before lap 15. From there, he remained inside the top 10 until the final laps of the race. Harvick was scored as the leader for the first time on lap 222 as the field came down pit road under caution for the team’s fifth pit stop of the race. The Budweiser team made only minor air pressure adjustments during the race to aid the car’s handling as the sun set and the track cooled off. Following the pit stop, Harvick restarted from the third position at lap 225, and moved back into the point position just 11 laps later. He held the lead until the team pitted again at lap 281 and another car beat him off pit road. During the subsequent run, he radioed to the team that the Budweiser Chevrolet was too tight as he dropped back to third position. The No. 29 team made a green-flag stop at lap 330 for four tires and fuel and cycled back to third position once all the teams pitted. When the caution flag waved at lap 357, the No. 29 team made what they planned to be their last stop of the night two laps later, taking only right-side tires. Harvick restarted in the sixth position at lap 362. He and Kyle Busch in the No. 18 car made contact several times during the next lap. Then, Harvick’s RCR teammate Clint Bowyer got into the mix and the trio went three wide, resulting in contact that sent the No. 33 car spinning into the inside retaining wall. As the cars continued down the frontstretch, Busch hooked the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet in the right-rear quarter panel, sending Harvick spinning up in front of the rest of the field. The No. 29 team pitted twice under caution to make repairs to the Budweiser Chevrolet and Harvick restarted in the 18^th position for the green-white-checkered finish. He was able to pick up one position before the checkered flag waved on lap 370 and finished 17^th.

Start – 13 Finish – 17 Laps Led – 47 Points – 5

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:

“Obviously, we were racing hard and doing what we had to do there at the end and things happen.”

2011 CC Team Logo NSCS 31 CAT

Burton, Cat Racing Team’s Visit with the Lady in Black Ends a Few Laps Early

Jeff Burton and the Cat Racing Team were well on their way of breaking the season’s bad-luck spell with a promising top-10 run, but with just under 20 laps to go, the engine expired on the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet that resulted in a 33^rd-place finish for the Todd Berrier-led squadron. After fighting tight-handling conditions for much of the scheduled 367-lap affair, it wasn’t until lap 243 that Burton cracked the top 10. He was ninth at lap 246, eighth at lap 280 and seventh only five laps later. The 21-time Sprint Cup Series race winner maintained that position while posting competitive and consistent lap times before reporting with 40 or so laps to go that both the water and oil pressure lights came on. A scheduled green-flag pit stop was made a few laps later that saw the over-the-wall crew replace all four tires and add fuel in hopes of not seeing both the driver and car until after the checkered flag waved. But, as the green-flag conditions wore on, the worse the water pressure got and the engine ultimately let go with nine laps remaining. The disappointing finish resulted in the loss of four spots in the championship point standings. Burton and Company now sit 24^th and are 20 markers in arrears to the 20^th-place tally.

Start – 24 Finish – 33 Laps Led – 0 Points Position – 24

JEFF BURTON QUOTE:

“I love coming to Darlington and we, typically, have good finishes here. I thought we were going to break the spell we’ve had all season but I knew with about 40 laps to go that something was wrong the engine. We hoped we could nurse it and it would last until the end. I hate it for this team and for Caterpillar. We just can’t catch a break.”

33 BB&T

Late-Race Incident Wipes Out Solid Run by No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet Team

After being involved in an accident with five laps to go, Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet team finished 31^st in the SHOWTIME Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Starting from the 26^th position, the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet climbed up the leaderboard with ease, entering the top 15 by lap 56 and the top 10 by lap 100 where the Emporia, Kan., native would remain for a majority of the 370-lap event. On a lap-176, green-flag pit stop for Goodyear tires and Sunoco E15 fuel, the “Helping Hands” pit crew fired off a fast stop and Bowyer jumped up to fourth, his highest position held during the race. He would remain in the top five until lap 240 when the handling of the No. 33 Chevrolet tightened up, resulting n the loss of a few positions. The Shane Wilson-led crew made proper adjustments under several caution-flag period pit stops to make a final run for Victory Lane in the last 50 laps of the race. On the last pit stop of the race and with 10 laps to go, Wilson called for four fresh tires while most teams who pitted decided to only take two tires. Bowyer restarted in the 10^th position with five laps to go, but was caught up in an accident when he made a move to the inside of turn four to pass two other cars that were battling each other on the outside. While exiting the turn, Bowyer was accidently bumped by RCR teammate Kevin Harvick, sending the No. 33 Chevrolet head-on into the Darlington frontstretch SAFER barrier and effectively ending a top-10 run. Bowyer was credited with a 31^st-place finish and now sits ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

Start – 26^th Finish – 31^st Laps Led – 0 Points – 9^th

CLINT BOWYER QUOTE:

“Sometimes, I hate this place. We had a good car and were making a run towards the front of the field on that last restart with four fresh tires. We just got caught up in someone else’s mess and ended with a DNF. I am really proud of this team and we had a solid car that was in the top 10 for most of the night. We just didn’t get the finish we wanted. That’s Darlington for ya.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release