Childress Says Changes Had To Be Made
Richard Childress is counting on crew changes to bring Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears back to victory lane. (Photo Courtesy NASCAR)
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Talladega, Ala. – Richard Childress said Friday that he came away from a recent hunting trip to Montana with a big game plan – for his race teams.
Childress said it was on that trip that he finalized his plans for swapping the No. 07 and No. 29 crews at his Richard Childress Racing organization. Kevin Harvick, driving the No. 29, is 16th in points. Casey Mears, in the No. 07, is 22nd. The changes will take effect after this weekend’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.
From all indications, the decision was an executive one. Asked about the input he might have gotten from the drivers and crew chiefs involved, Childress answered, “I told them basically what we were going to do. ”
Asked to comment on the reaction from those affected by the change, he said, “I just decided this was the best for our organization. ‘All want what is best for RCR’, that’s the comments I got back from crew chiefs and drivers.”
He said he’d been thinking about the change for several weeks and decided to make a move now because he doesn’t want to wait so long that the teams won’t make the cut for the Chase. He pointed out that the road to the Chase is almost a third gone.
“A lot of it is driven by the points system and making the Chase,” he said. “It’ll take two or there races to really get this thing working. You can’t afford to lose 50, 75 or 100 points each race.”
He said that he’s made changes before, with good results.
“It’s always worked for us in the past,” he said. “You can’t sit here and accept the way we’ve run the last four races. Let things stay stale too long it will hurt your entire organization.”
He compared the working relations that sometimes sour between driver and crew chief to that of a husband and wife whose marriage deteriorates to the point of divorce.
“Both think they’re giving 100 percent,” Childress said. “Then the first thing she wants to do is get in tanning bed and lose 30 pounds. And he goes and gets rid of his gut and gets a sports car.”
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