Richard Childress responds to AJ Allmendinger ECR comments from Kansas

Last week at Kansas, AJ Allmendinger unleashed a flurry of words against ECR Engines. Richard Childress didn’t appreciate it. Allmendinger suffered his second engine failure of the season, and always a fiery NASCAR competitor, let his feelings be known on the radio.

Richard Childress is the man at the top of RCR, the NASCAR team, and ECR Engines. RCR, Kaulig Racing, and Trackhouse Racing all use ECR Engines in the Cup Series. There have been a few quiet complaints and veiled comments about the power of ECR this season.

However, Allmendinger took it to another level. He went on a tirade. Childress was asked by Dustin Long of NBC Sports about the mild controversy.

“The 12 [Ryan Blaney] blew up two times [this year]. The 48 [Alex Bowman] blew up [one time]. They never said anything. It’s how you want to run your mouth,” Childress told Long.

To his credit, Richard Childress is determined to find the cause of the engine failure. He would like to be able to tell Allmendinger, and Kaulig Racing, what went wrong and how they are going to fix it.

“I just want to know what happened to the engine,” Childress said. “When [Allmendinger] jumps out [of the car at Kansas], he don’t even know if the belt come off the oil pump or what.”

According to Danny Lawrence, VP of alliance operations at ECR Engines, there was a bearing issue. The engine had been previously used at Darlington this season. An official cause will be known soon after the bearings are inspected.

Richard Childress Racing, ECR have struggled with speed

When you look at what happened with AJ Allmendinger, it can be seen as an isolated event. However, I am not so sure that it is. This season, we have seen RCR drivers be inconsistent in qualifying and in races. Trackhouse Racing drivers, Ross Chastain in particular, have also voiced concern with speed.

Allmendinger may have called out ECR specifically, but I am not sure anyone is happy with the engine performance this year compared to Hendrick and Roush and TRD. There is something missing there and it has made this season very difficult on drivers.

At this point in the season, Ross Chastain is the only driver with ECR Engines who is in the playoff picture. He is 11th in points. Kyle Busch is 17th in points. So, is it wild for Allmendinger to get a bit upset after his second engine failure of the year?

Richard Childress has the right to stand up for ECR Engines and his product there. He needs to be focused on getting those engines better overall and the complaints would likely go away.