2015 Sprint Cup Series Preview: Richard Childress Racing and Austin Dillon Hoping to Wins
2014 was a transition year for Richard Childress Racing. They promoted Austin Dillon to the Sprint Cup series and he ran for Rookie of the year honors. They brought in Ryan Newman to repalce Jeff Burton, and they ran a car once again for Paul Menard. They team failed to win a race last year, but Newman did advance all the way to the Championship round of the Chase for the Championship.
The team hopes to put Dillon into position to win races, to have another solid effort for Newman and Menard, and to use a part time fourth car to further develop their young talent of Ty Dillon and Brian Scott.
#3 Austin Dillon- Dillon found out how tough competition at the Sprint Cup level really is. After winning titles in NASCAR two lesser National Series Dillon came up a little short in his bid for Sprint Cup rookie of the year honors and struggled a bit last year. He only had one top five finish and just four top 10 finishes. The team returns in tact with Gil Martin calling the shot from the pit box.
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#27 Paul Menard- Even though he won one of the NASCAR Crown Jewel races the biggest asset that Menard brings to the team is the sponsorship of his father's chain of stores. That might sound a little harsh but Menard has consistently underperformed in his NASCAR career. However his 13 top ten finished in 2014 were a career high. RCR has moved Slugger Labbe into a R&D role and Justin Alexander took over the pit box last October and continues in that role for 2015.
#31 Ryan Newman- The most consistent RCR driver from a year ago came up a tad short of his pursuit for a title. He made it all the ay to the final race of the 2014 season with a chance to win the title at Homestead last fall. 5 top five and 16 top ten finishes earned him the final spot in the Chase field and the team responded during the four rounds of the chase. Luke Lambert return to lead the team from the pit box.
#33 Brian Scott/Ty Dillon- RCR will use their fourth car to run part time and get their younger drivers some seat time in the Sprint Cup Series. The exact plan is still unknown put Ty will run the car at Daytona with sponsorship from Cheerios and Kroger, The goal here is to develop the younger talent and see who is more ready to possible start a fourth RCR team in 2016.
