Richard Childress Racing Team
RCR Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Richard Childress Racing, is a NASCAR team based in Welcome, North Carolina and is owned and operated by former driver now businessman Richard Childress. The team currently fields the #29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick, the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for Jeff Burton, and the #33 General Mills/BB&T Chevrolet for Clint Bowyer in the Sprint Cup Series as well as the #29 Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express Chevy for Burton and Bowyer and will field John Wes Townley in the #21 Zaxby's Chevrolet Impala in the Nationwide Series, and the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Silverado for Childress's grandson, Austin Dillon in the Camping World Truck Series. RCR has fielded cars for legends such as Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, and Neil Bonnett. RCR has had at least one car in every cup race since late 1972, the longest such active streak.
RCR has fielded this entry in the Nationwide Series since the fall North Carolina Speedway race in 1999, moving the entire team from the Craftsman Truck Series. Kevin Harvick was the first driver of the #2 AC Delco Chevy, winning three races and winning Rookie of the Year, despite missing the spring race at North Carolina Speedway. He went on to win the championship in the Busch Series in 2001 while running full time in Winston Cup as well. In 2002, rookie driver Johnny Sauter won at Chicagoland, and finished 14th in points. The next year, Ron Hornaday drove the car full-time, winning once and posting a third place finish in points. Hornaday followed up that performance with another win and a drop to 4th in points the following year. In 2005, Clint Bowyer took the reins, in a program headed up by veteran crew chief Gil Martin, winning at Nashville Speedway and Memphis Motorsports Park, finishing second in points.
Bowyer was back in the #2 car in 2006 with crew chief Dan Deeringhoff, while Martin moved up to run the 07 Jack Daniels program. Bowyer ran the full Nextel Cup schedule for RCR in the #07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet, also running the full BGN season with the #2 car where he finished 3rd in points. 2006 was the final year for AC Delco, as the 2007 sponsor for the #2 will be BB&T. Bowyer will run about 17 races in the #2 for the 2007 season and he will run full-time in 2008 season. Kenny Wallace drove for the team in a one-race deal at Gateway International Raceway, sponsored by sandwich chain Jimmy John's. In 2008, Bowyer won the NASCAR Nationwide Series Drivers Championship. In 2009 this car will run a partial schedule and will be shared between Sean Caisse and Austin Dillon.
Following the 2007 Daytona 500 win, Harvick's winning car infuriated NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco. The car's large Shell logos on the car and team uniforms violated NASCAR's ban on fuel sponsorships, in the opinion of Sunoco, which has exclusive fuel rights. The Shell logo has since shrunk on the car, while the Shell name remains on the side of the car and its Pennzoil brand appears more.
AT&T has repeatedly requested that NASCAR allow them to advertise the AT&T Mobility brand on the #31 car, but NASCAR refuses to allow it, citing the Sprint Nextel contract. After trying and failing to get NASCAR to approve the addition of the globe logo to the rear of the car, AT&T filed a lawsuit against NASCAR on March 16, 2007. On May 18, a federal judge ruled that AT&T should be allowed to replace the Cingular logos with AT&T logos, and said that AT&T was likely to win the lawsuit. The AT&T logo ran on the #31 at the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup All-Star Challenge on May 19 and so far ever since then until NASCAR ordered the sponsorship off before the 2007 Sharpie 500. A settlement before the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 was made where AT&T Mobility could sponsor the car until the end of 2008.
Richard Childress Racing Team Video
