Glen success could lift Bowyer, Childress Racing
Richard Childress returned from hunting in Argentina on Thursday, but he entered this weekend's events at Watkins Glen loaded for bear.
Although his targets in South America included "doves, ducks and big water buffalo," what concerned the NASCAR team owner in the garage on Sunday was surviving the road course with his cars and drivers intact.
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For the second time since the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship debuted in 2004, Childress could very easily miss the playoffs. Jeff Burton moved to RCR midway through the 2004 season and that was the last time the organization went winless. For all intents and purpose, 2005 was a rebuilding season for Childress.
Since then, Childress' name has been mentioned among the NASCAR trifecta of Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing — until this season. Burton and Kevin Harvick qualified for the postseason in 2006 and all three cars, including Clint Bowyer, battled for the title during the final 10 races the last two years.
The ever-consistent Burton has been snake-bit in 2009. In six of 21 races, Burton has not completed all the advertised laps. He was barely hanging on to his Chase hopes through Michigan in early June, but since double-file restarts were introduced at Pocono on June 7, Burton has painfully watched his advantage slip away and his name tumble down the standings.
Harvick fell from the Chase zone in April and never regained momentum. Childress swapped pit crew between Harvick's No. 29 crew and newcomer Casey Mears that same month, but neither team has shown marked improvement. Harvick's problems were exacerbated by rumors that he wanted out of his contract before the 2010 season. Childress said on Sunday that issue has been settled and Harvick will remain at RCR next season.
"We're here to race," Childress said.
Now, RCR's best shot at the Chase is Bowyer. Bowyer is currently 15th in the point standings and 115 points out of the Chase. He's just 14 points behind 13th-place Kyle Busch and has the best opportunity with five races remaining in the regular season.
"He's about our only chance if we can just get through this (the Glen) race," Childress said. "We haven't been able to capitalize on the finishes like the (Nos.) 16 (Greg Biffle) and 17 (Matt Kenseth) Roush Fewnway Racing cars (that are currently 11th and 12th in the standings) have. And the misfortunes have got us so far behind.
"Our cars have been decent, but we have to get them better to win. We had really good cars at Talladega and got crashed out. We had really good cars at New Hampshire that were wrecked. We've been in more crashes this year than we've been in the last three. We know we're better than what the points indicate."
Childress is confident that if Bowyer can survive the Glen with a decent finish then return to the ovals — Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond — he'll have a fighting shot at the Chase. In three starts at Watkins Glen, Bowyer's best finish was 14th his rookie season.
"I feel like I've come a long way at Watkins Glen," Boywer said. "Harvick always seems to run well there, so that tells me that our equipment is pretty good. Road courses were not in my growing up path, so I've had to learn a lot about them.
"It seems like I've always been comfortable at Infineon, but for whatever reason I seem to struggle a little bit more at the Glen. But I've kind of settled in there, I've found my way around there and I feel much more comfortable racing there now."
Thanks to Sunday's rain showers, we'll have to wait until Monday — at least — to see how that comfort will keep him in the Chase hunt.
