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Like being Most Popular driver means anything. Get a grip. They don't even show it at the banquet. It just shows how dumb people are. They put down Jr no mat...
RCR puts three of its Sprint Cup cars in top 10 at Texas
By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer
Sunday, November 08, 2009
FORT WORTH, Texas – Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway was just the kind of outing that Richard Childress Racing wanted.
Nearing the end to a disappointing season by the six-time Cup champion organization’s standards, RCR placed three of its four cars in the top nine at Texas.
Kevin Harvick finished fifth, followed by teammate Clint Bowyer in seventh and RCR’s Jeff Burton in ninth. RCR’s fourth driver, Casey Mears, finished 21st.
Harvick moved up in the final running order by stretching his last tank of fuel to the finish when many of the leaders ducked on to pit road for a splash of gas in the closing laps. The finish gave Harvick his first top-five since a runnerup effort at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sept. 6.
And the overall performance of RCR was a shot in the arm for the organization, which remains winless in 2009 after failing to place any of its drivers in NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup.
RCR put all three of drivers in NASCAR’s 10-race championship-determining playoff in 2007 and 2008 before adding a fourth team this year.
“The Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was a good car all day. I think we were running seventh or eighth there and just decided to go for it at the end [on fuel],” Harvick said. “[We] came up about a lap short there but a great call by [crew chief] Gil [Martin] to just give it a whirl and see what happened in the end."
While Burton wasn’t RCR’s top performer in the race, he probably overcame the most adversity over the course of the weekend. The veteran driver started at the rear of the field in a backup car following a crash in Friday’s opening practice session at the 1.5-mile track.
The finish gave Burton his second top-10 in as many starts with crew chief Todd Berrier, who RCR moved over from Mears’ No. 07 team prior to last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Burton placed fifth in that event – his first without former crew chief Scott Miller, who was promoted to RCR’s director of competition.
"What a heck of a run with the … team,” Burton said. “These guys fought hard after we had to load up our primary Chevy when it received too much damage when I hit the wall. Todd did a great job dialing in our back up for the race and what a great way to end the weekend."
Bowyer was the most consistent RCR car throughout the race at Texas, running in the top 10 for much of the 334-lap event before ultimately settling for seventh.
"Our car was tight all day,” Bowyer said. “[Crew chief] Shane [Wilson] made a call to short pit for fuel in order to make it to the end. The cards fell in our favor and were able to grab a seventh-place finish.
“Wish we could have had a better finish but, all in all, it's a good result and another top-10 to add to our 2009 resume."
Mentioned Drivers: Clint Bowyer
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Ford 400
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6652 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -141 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -179 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -206 |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | -317 |
| 6 | Tony Stewart | -343 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -360 |
| 8 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -400 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -477 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -524 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -534 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -723 |
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6 responses to "RCR puts three of its Sprint Cup cars in top 10 at Texas". Post a Comment.
Phoenix987 said:
Nov 9, 2009 at 12:22 AMIf Burton finished 9th, which is correct, how does he have 2 Top-5 finishes in the last two races? Is this some new math only SceneDaily writers know?
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» Confirm Abuse Reportipopakeg293388 said:
Nov 9, 2009 at 6:09 AMTWO TOP 10 FINISHES,NOT 5,IS WHAT I READ!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPhoenix987 said:
Nov 9, 2009 at 6:31 AMProbably because they edited the article?
Report as AbuseI think it's a pretty good sign how bad the year has been when RCR celebrates 3 cars in the Top 10 and one finishing on the lead lap. They aren't really close to HMS or the big teams, which hopefully will be rectified in 2010.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportipopakeg293388 said:
Nov 9, 2009 at 6:44 AMI SURE HOPE SO! 2010 WILL BE A LOT BETTER! I GUESS THEY FIGURED PUTTING 3 IN THE TOP 10 GAVE THEN SOME KIND OF SPARK! I KNOW IT DID FOR ME!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner said:
Nov 9, 2009 at 5:06 PMwas it due to actual racing on the trak or cars running out of fuel and they had the right calls in the pits...Harvick did run out and mananged to coast to finish...
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» Confirm Abuse Reportkylestewart said:
Nov 10, 2009 at 11:50 AMtoo bad those losers can't win a race like kyle can. KYLE 4 rcr losers 0
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