What’s Happening?

This has not been an ideal season for Richard Childress Racing, a team that used to compete for wins every week now struggles for top-tens. But with Austin Dillon winning this past Sunday, what could this mean for RCR?

• Richard Childress has fielded a car in the NASCAR Cup Series every season since 1976. Since then, he has won two Daytona 500s and six Cup Series titles, fielding drivers like Rickey Rudd, Dale Earnhardt, and Kevin Harvick. However, RCR has fallen on hard times lately; this includes a stretch from 2014 to 2017 when RCR did not win a race.
• Austin Dillon has raced for RCR in the iconic No. 3 since 2014. Dillon, the grandson of Childress, was once a top prospect in NASCAR, having won both an Xfinity and Truck Series championship during his development. Despite his Daytona 500 win in 2017, Dillon has struggled as a Cup Series driver.
• Kyle Busch is one of the most significant drivers of the 21st century. Having won two Cup Series titles with Joe Gibbs Racing, an Xfinity Series title, and is the winningest driver in the Xfinity and Truck Series. Busch signed with RCR last season; after a hot start, the pair have slipped down the field, struggling to find traction.

On track struggles

While problems have been present for some time, the team’s performance on track best demonstrates its dramatic fall.

Austin Dillon has struggled since his 11th-place points finish in 2022. Before Richmond, he had one top-five finish in the past two seasons. These poor results led to former Crew Chief Justin Alexander returning to No. 3 eight races into the season.

In the next 15 races after Alexander’s return, Dillon would have only six top-20 finishes, including Sunday’s win in Richmond. This season, his average finish has been 23.5, ranking 30th out of 34 full-time drivers in that stat. Now locked into the playoffs, Dillon entered Richmond 32nd in points, bumping himself up to 26th afterward.

However, an underdog win may have never seen such backlash, with Dillon wrecking Joey Logano and perhaps accidentally wrecking Denny Hamlin on his way to the flag.

His teammate Kyle Busch has not had the season he had hoped for. Busch, who won three races last year, has seen an extreme fall-off.

When Busch signed with RCR, it seemed a good fit for the team and the driver. One of the most polarizing drivers since Dale Earnhardt, paired with the team that the Intimidator took to the top.

Busch, a driver who had done it all except the Daytona 500, nearly got his first in his first race with RCR. However, the team wouldn’t have to wait long, winning at Auto Club the next week and then Talladega and Gateway, making for a successful first half of the season.

However, Busch fell off a bit after Gateway, with only a few top-fives to highlight what had been a great season. This culminated in a second-round playoff elimination for Rowdy.

Busch has fallen off tremendously this season, with an average finish of 19.3, a loss of five from last season, and only two top-fives. The former champion, ranked 18th in points, looks out of the playoffs with just a few races to go in the regular season.

What about off-track?

RCR’s off-track problems can be traced back to 2022, when Tyler Reddick, a two-time Xfinity Series Champion and the future of RCR, shocked the world and signed to drive the No.45 for 23XI in 2023.

In what would be a three-win season for RCR and Reddick, it turned out to be a dagger for the team that filled that spot with Busch. Reddick, now a contender week in and out with 23XI, looks to have made the right move.

This season, other off-track notables include Childress’s appearance at Donald Trump’s rally in North Carolina. While Childress and Trump have a history, including Trump sitting on the box with Childress at Charlotte in May, this was a strictly political moment.

The anger from fans came less from the political nature but more from the fact that Childress was doing this while his cars were struggling on track.

Another off-track moment happened yesterday when Childress denied that Dillon was told over the radio to wreck Joey Logano. Audio of the incident had been posted on X.

When confronted with this, Childress denied it and suggested that it was fake, claiming, “You know how the internet goes?”

After being told that it was Dillon’s Spotter, Childress deflected it, claiming, “Well, if he did, he did a damn good job at it; he won the race.”

This saw Childress take heat on the internet for his denial of the incident from fans online, including media members who had to show him the footage and audio.

Now that the drama of Sunday is gone, is it a new day for RCR?

What does tomorrow look like?

In other forms of motorsports, the season would be over for Busch and Dillon. Now Dillon, at least, has a chance to keep going. Though in two playoff attempts, Dillon has exited at 11th twice.

Dillon was in line for a win at Richmond before the last-lap incident, but only a late yellow stood in his way. Having shown speed all weekend at Richmond, running up front was no fluke.

Dillon is now in the playoffs and has shown he can race at the front. Busch is known to be able to run at the front, even at times this season. The next three races, Michigan, Daytona, and Darlington, have all been won by Busch before. Maybe Rowdy can pull off a late miracle like William Byron did in 2020.

It’s not too late for RCR, but now, more than ever, the clock is ticking on 2024.

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