Burton excited about new crew chief at RCR
Jeff Burton talked to a lot of potential crew chiefs, and he liked what he heard from a 15-year Richard Childress Racing employee.
Even more important, Burton has seen Todd Berrier work up close, and he thinks Berrier is the guy who can get him back to victory lane and into contention for a Sprint Cup championship.
That’s why Berrier will become Burton’s crew chief beginning with the upcoming race weekend at Talladega.
“He is the most talented person out there,” Burton said Oct. 21. “My whole thing, what I care about, is, No. 1, we’ve got to go fast, and I think Todd’s the guy that can make the 31 [car] go fast. I have a lot of faith in that. I really do. I really have a lot of faith in that.”
Burton’s crew chief, Scott Miller, is leaving to become director of competition as part of a reshuffling of the competition department at RCR. After placing three teams in the Chase in both 2007 and 2008, RCR did not have a Chase team this year, and the organization’s four cars are winless in Sprint Cup competition.
Berrier has 19 victories in NASCAR’s three national touring series, including eight Cup wins with Kevin Harvick. But he and Harvick struggled along with the rest of RCR this year, and Berrier was moved to Casey Mears’ No. 07 team in May.
Since then, Mears has four top-10 finishes and has moved up two spots in the standings to 19th.
“Working with Casey this year probably has set me up really good for this because I did learn that all the things we did for eight or nine years with Kevin, some things would work, but most of them wouldn’t,” Berrier said. “If we went right from Kevin to Jeff, it would have been a little bit harder. I think it has caused us to be a lot more open-minded. Casey is way more open-minded [of a driver]. I’ve learned a lot, and I think it will benefit a lot because I’ve been through this little transition period.”
All the RCR teams will have some shuffling in crews. Doug Randolph, a Nationwide Series crew chief at RCR, will become Mears’ crew chief. The Mears team still needs a sponsor for next season.
“We’re definitely looking at it as long term,” Randolph said. “You do the best you can to try to perform well between now and the end of the year, and then at the same time, we’re also looking at what we can do to make it better in the future.”
Dan Deeringhoff will replace Randolph and return to the No. 29 Nationwide car for the remainder of the season.
All of the changes are designed to help RCR improve. Burton says he has seen progress.
“Todd is in a position of feeling like he has something to prove,” said Burton, who has 21 career Cup victories. “I’m in the position of feeling like I have something to
prove. I feel like we both have the ability and talent. … I’m confident the things we’re doing are going to help us dig out of the hole.
“Todd being at RCR is going to help us do that. Todd being my crew chief is going to help us do that. I know that Todd being my crew chief is going to help the 31 in particular do that. I’m real excited about it.”
