Just when it looked like it would be another miserable weekend for Richard Childress Racing, they ended up with two top-10 finishes. Austin Dillon led his teammate and two-time NASCAR champion Kyle Busch on the day, P7 and P9 for them both, respectively.
The weekend began with Kyle Busch hitting the wall during practice. He had to go to a backup. Austin Hill wasn’t great in qualifying driving the No. 33 for the first time this season. Austin Dillon paced the group by starting P15.
With the poor qualifying effort from Hill and Busch’s wrecked No. 8 Camaro, things didn’t look great. Even during the race, it appeared that the Richard Childress Racing group would go home even more frustrated and disappointed than before.
Busch has changed his pit crew a few times already this season. Dillon made a swap at crew chief a couple of weeks ago. The only thing RCR has going for it on a weekly basis is their killer Xfinity Series program.
This season has looked far different from the three-win season a year ago. At one point, Busch was fighting for a spot in the 30s with Jimmie Johnson and others.
While Hill would be a DNF in this race, Busch and Dillon kept plugging away. They were able to get on a good pit cycle and advance their track position. On those various restarts, they made moves and it helped both the 3 and the 8 move up.
This is the first time RCR has had a pair of top-10 finishes since Richmond-2 last year. This was a very welcomed result for Dillon as that boat appeared rudderless for eight weeks this season. First top-10 for him since Homestead-Miami last season.
Richard Childress Racing has won the battle, not the war though. A pair of top-10s is great, but now, you have to do it again and again.
Richard Childress Racing has to give Kyle Busch a chance
So, I would say the bleeding has stopped for RCR. But that wound is still fresh and it won’t take much to get it going again. Here is the dilemma for Childress amid this overall tough start to the season – they have to give Kyle Busch winning equipment.
Last season, Rodney Childers and the Stewart-Haas Racing group had to reflect. They weren’t able to give Kevin Harvick winning equipment. A Cup champion. That is on the organization.
Richard Childress Racing doesn’t have to panic – yet. But they should be sweating. If you can’t give KFB cars that are fast enough to compete for wins on a regular basis, you are doing something wrong. Next Gen issues aside, other elite drivers and teams have found a way.
Things are moving in the right direction after Texas. Good news is Talladega is this week. Austin Dillon is very good on drafting tracks. Busch won the race last year after a last-lap wreck. Then there are a number of intermediate tracks ahead on the schedule, which could also be good for this RCR group.
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