2009 has had its share of surprises. I never would have figured Carl Edwards for being winless, I didn’t see Kyle Busch missing the Chase, and I didn’t dare dream Mark Martin would make the run that he did.
On the other hand, some things were no shock at all. Though I’ve waffled more times than John Kerry, I did initially forecast a Jimmie 4-peat, which I’m virtually certain will happen now. After the disaster at Daytona, I caught myself thinking “this will be a long season for Junior fans” (I mean, if a guy is down in his wheel house, what’s that going to mean on the other tracks), and I also forecasted a down year for Richard Childress Racing.
I could speculate all the live long day on the reasons why, I’m not close enough to the action to know. Some fans will tell you the boss has been too busy hunting big game and not busy enough helping the organization hunt big wins. Others seem to think the expansion to four cars was cutting the pie into too many slices. For what it’s worth, I just thought they’d lost speed.
Overall, it’s not been a pretty year. Clint Bowyer started out well, and then disappeared for the early season stretch run. Kevin Harvick threatened to bolt, and got into a not-so-private row with the big man himself. Jeff Burton? I thought until Sunday at Phoenix he had gone into the witness protection program. Casey Mears has been similarly quiet.
With the Harvick-Childress spat, and all the discontent, one had to wonder if Richard Childress Racing wasn’t going to go the way of Petty Enterprises or Wood Brothers- an organization whose glory days were behind them. Was this season a bump in the road or a slow fade into oblivion?
Well, don’t look now, but RCR fans may be getting an answer, and one that looks encouraging. After an ugly stretch of races from Texas to Lowe’s, Bowyer started showing some signs of life. He hasn’t won this season, but check these numbers out: His average finish over the last 20 races is 13.3, over the last 15 it’s 12.1, in the last ten, he’s whittled it to 11.2 and in the last five, Clint Bowyer’s average finish has been a downright respectable, and dare I say competitive 10.2. It’s progress.
As for Jeff Burton, the move to make Todd Berrier crew chief has paid sudden dividends. Not only has “The Mayor” registered that runner-up finish at Phoenix, he’s also posted three straight top tens.
While Harvick’s improvement has not been quite so dramatic, you can still look over the season’s stats and see a steady improvement. I really find it hard to believe it’s been nearly three full seasons without a win for Harvick, but I’d be willing to bet that streak won’t last a lot longer.
I’ve made enough fearless predictions to know you can easily be proven to be famously wrong. All I can do is just look at the results. From here, the results indicate an organization working hard to better itself, and making some moves to right the ship.
This team has known its share of success and it would be a shame, in a day and age where there’s getting to be fewer and fewer viable teams out there to see this one go away. Richard Childress Racing is better than what the 2009 numbers show, and it’s encouraging to see some good things starting to happen.
Nothing against Hendrick Motorsports, but its time for some other teams to step and make some things happen. A return to winning for Richard Childress would be good for them, good for NASCAR and good for the fans.
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The last paragraph is the most important point. Other teams need to step up and compete. Hendrick does not have anything that is not available to others.