This is part three in the series, looking at how Cup teams fared in 2008, and where they are headed in 2009. Each post will feature two teams and we will iron out details for the upcoming season and give our own projection for what to expect in ‘09.
Richard Childress Racing
After a very strong 2007 campaign that saw all the RCR cars in the Chase but fall short of the championship, the three teams were looking to again reach the Chase in 2008 and contend for the title.
Kevin Harvick came into this year looking to improve on a strong 2007 season and be a title contender. But even though he was the highest finishing RCR driver in the Chase (fourth), Harvick never really got going in ‘08. He was winless for the first time since the 2004 season.
Since joining Childress part way through the 2004 season, Jeff Burton’s career has been resurrected. Including 2008, Burton has now made the Chase three straight seasons. After it appeared he may be a strong title contender following his win at the fall Charlotte race, Burton faded late and finished sixth in the Chase.
Coming off a sophomore season that saw Clint Bowyer finish 3rd in the Chase, I believe many thought 2008 would be a great year for the driver from Kansas. But Bowyer’s stats show ‘08 was very similar to ‘07. He did finish fifth in the final standings, but was never really a contender.
Heading into 2009, RCR as an organization will undergo several major changes, and could be stronger then ever.
Because of Sprint’s contract with NASCAR, AT&T could not go on as sponsor of Jeff Burton’s #31 past 2008. But it was announced part way through the season that Caterpillar would move from Bill Davis Racing to take over as the primary sponsor for the team. Beyond that, there are no other significant changes coming to this team. I would expect more of the same from Burton and Co. in 2009. He will win one to three races and make the Chase, but real title contention will be out of reach.
Starting next season, RCR will finally make the jump to four full time Cup teams. The fourth car will be #33 and has full backing from Betty Crocker and BB&T. Clint Bowyer will jump from the #07 to this car and will be joined by veteran crew chief Shane Wilson. Wilson has been with RCR since ‘06 and has a Busch Series Championship on his resume. With Wilson’s knowledge and Bowyer’s talent, I would not be surprised to see Bowyer have a very good 2009. I think three to five wins isn’t out of the question, and this team may challenge Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson for the ‘09 title.
With Bowyer vacating the #07, Childress signed Casey Mears to replace him, who himself was displaced at Hendrick Motorsports by Mark Martin. Mears will have Jack Daniels on the hood and will be paired with crew chief Gil Martin. I don’t expect much out of this team next year, as Mears is an average driver at best. A top 20 points finish would be the most we could hope for this team in ‘09.
Kevin Harvick’s #29 team is the only group at RCR that will remain relatively unchanged for next season with Shell/Pennzoil returning along with crew chief Todd Berrier. Harvick hasn’t won since the 2007 Daytona 500, and it appeared he hadn’t quite figured out how to put the COT in victory lane. But he was better in the second half of ‘08 and I believe this team will be back next season. Look for a couple of wins, a fourth straight Chase appearance, and an outside shot at the title.
Stewart-Haas Racing
Even though both Haas CNC Racing cars began 2008 in the top 35 in owners points, only one would finish that way. Scott Riggs had a forgettable season in the #66, missing two races and finishing 31st in the final standings. The other Haas car, the #70, finished 43rd in the standings after it missed five races and was shared by six different drivers.
With the team’s owner, Gene Haas, starting a two year prison term for tax evasion in January, those in control knew something had to be done to save this team from utter collapse. After being one of the worst kept secrets of 2008, it was finally announced in July that Haas would give 50% of the team to Cup Champion Tony Stewart. They knew his talent, ownership experience, and name would bring prominence and the all important sponsorship dollars to the fading organization.
Starting in 2009, Haas CNC Racing will become Stewart-Haas Racing. Along with that, the #70 will become the #14, and the #66 will become the #39. Tony Stewart will drive the #14 with sponsorship from Office Depot and Old Spice. The team will be led by former Hendrick crew chief and engineer Darian Grubb. The #39 will be driven by the former Penske driver Ryan Newman, and taking over as crew chief will be former DEI employee, Tony Gibson. As of this post, Newman’s team only has a partial sponsor in the U.S. Army, and needs funding for about 15 more races.
Besides the moves made for driver and crew chiefs, Tony Stewart also brought in veteran motorsports boss Bobby Hutchens to be the company’s General Manager.
The outlook for 2009 for this organization could really go either way. Haas hasn’t exactly been a powerhouse team in the past, and it may be tough for Stewart and his management team to turn that around. But a big boost for this team will be the support of Hendrick Motorsports. Haas had been getting help from HMS before this deal, but expect that flow of equipment and information to intensify, as this gives Rick Hendrick two more championship caliber drivers to work with. I’m going to predict top 20 points finishes for both cars, with maybe a win or two between them. But I think the Chase, and ultimately title contention, are still a few years away for SHR.
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on Dec 19th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Stewart-Hass Racing-Tony Stewart is a very talented driver, has that grit, determination and red-mist attitude to compete in both open wheeled and tin-top cars, but will ultimately struggle (to put it mildly) as a car owner. Tony’s future has AJ Foyt written all over it.
I can just see Tony fielding questions to young fans when asked about his Team and partner Gene Haas.”Oh, he would be at the track, but he is in prison today”. There’s a role model for fans. I heard this Madoff crook on Wallstreet will field a team w/ outside investment coin. Just kidding.
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Sign of the times? I received a bunch of brand new “2009″ Fastenal calenders at my office today. Pretty cool stuff w/ each page displaying colorful action photos of the beautiful Blue and white Fastenal sponsored car. Only problem is, the cars are all #40, the cars are all Dodge Chargers and the drivers are either Dario Franchitti and Bryan Clausen. Oh yea, there all Ganassi-Sabates racing. What’s wrong w/ this picture for 2009???
I did learn one interesing tidbit from the calender though. Former President Jimmy Carter once worked as ticket taker at the Atlanta Motor Speedway (AIR in those days).
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I think RCR will be pretty tough this year & am picking Harvick or Burton to win the championship.
I’m glad to see your optimism for the #33 team T.C. but I have a horrible feeling about that whole deal. From what I’ve read, Clint’s going to be racing in the cup series with an entire Busch league crew, not to mention the threat of not qualifying during the first five races. I think this season will be a make or break season for Clint. Either he will show that he truly is a kick ass driver & he can overcome the adversity of taking the step back of going to RCR’s R&D ride or he will flounder due to the circumstances of going to a new team or not gelling with the c.c. & show the world that his success was a product of the equipment he drove.
Shane Wilson may have had a lot of success as a c.c. in the Busch series, but that’s just it, he’s a Busch series c.c. & there’s a reason he still was up to this point.
RC’s decision to yank Clint from the #07 with no points or crew going with him from the team either shows Childress’ complete, 100%, I’ve got your back, confidence & trust in Clint that is up to the challenge or there’s trouble between Clint & RCR & this might be the catalyst that leads them to part ways.
As far as Stewart Haas, I think Tony ended his career in NASCAR. I’ve been hearing about all this support Hendrick gives to Haas for a while now, but come on, where does all this “support” show in the weekly results. The only thing Haas had going for it was Bootie Barker & he’s now gone. Jimmie Johnson & Jeff Gordon as drivers for this organization couldn’t get them into the top 20 in the standings.
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
NEON:I am just curious WHY you think Stewart will struggle as a car owner? Just curious.
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I also do not understand WHY Bowyer is moving to the 33. I just don’t understand the reasoning.
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
There’s no way that Childress would cut off his nose to spite his face. If he wants Bowyer gone, he’ll be gone. He’s not going to waste money messing around so that Bowyer quits. Childress is a savvy businessman (although the Mears pick belies that a bit eh?)
Bowyer will struggle a litte but he seems to be the kind of driver who can overcome adversity. Don’t worry, Licker: He’ll qualify just fine, especially with the scrubs who will be showing up next year.
As for Stewart, he’s toast. He’s an excellent driver but he’s just too volatile to be a good manager.
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Amy,
Why didn’t they just swap #’s & sponsors since Betty Crocker didn’t want Mears driving for them. I think that Clint is the way better choice for the #33. It will finish better in the standings than if Mears was driving it in the same situation. It just seems that Clint got the short end of this whole deal & Casey is getting all Clint’s “stuff.”
Too bad Bobby Labonte wasn’t available earlier. Him in the #33 would have been the perfect scenario. If Bobby was there, RCR would be looking mighty tough for 2009.
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Amy-Glad you asked about Stewart as a team owner. Ross has already answered for me. Like AJ Foyt, Tony will drive personnel away when the going gets tough. Tony’s NASCAR career has been successful in spite of Tony. Joe Gibbs has shielded Tony to date through his grace. Now don’t get me wrong here. Tony is one of the top 3-5 drivers in Cup and I would hire him in a New York minute to drive, and only drive. That,,,,,he is good at. Owner some sprint car teams, in a lotttt different than a multi-car cup army. You think Tony has had issues w/ NASCAR from a driver’s perspective? Wait until he ads on an owner’s consideration.
Tony said early on that he is in NASCAR for the money and that never really changed. He really enjoys sprints, Grand Am and open wheelers.
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Neon… If Tony was still in it for the money, I don’t think he would have taken the Haas deal and he would have stayed with Joe Gibbs Racing. He’s passionate about racing period and yes, NASCAR may not be where his heart is, if he didn’t find something thrilling about it, enough so to help rebuild a team with part ownership, he wouldn’t be doing it.
What Gene Haas did has NOTHING to do with Tony Stewart the man or racer. That was before Tony was ever involved with Haas Racing. While I could give a rat’s patootie about Gene Haas, he is not the only owner in NASCAR to be arrested or convicted of fraud.
Does Rick Hendrick ring a bell? Ding Ding.
As for my feeling about Tony’s new team… I knew he would leave Gibbs when they announced they were going to Toyota’s. I remember being in class that day, rushed back to the newspaper office to watch it on television and I just knew so I’ve been expecting it for a while. It didn’t come to a shock for me.
I think they might win a race or two next year, but I’m not counting on a championship right out of the box. I think Tony’s going in the right direction with the crews, especially with keeping Matt Borland (hello Ryan Newman?!?) and bringing Darian Grubb. I question the Tony Gibson move but who am I to judge?
on Dec 19th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Karah-Leigh. I like your style and you actually support my theory w/ your comments on Tony’s future as an owner/driver. Here’s why: Tony came into NASCAR from the IRL for two reasons. Money and a chance to race week in and week out against the likes of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt. Had Jeff Gordon gone to Indy cars or F1, rest assured Tony would not have taken a second look at NASCAR and persued that route as well. At the time, Indy cars (CART) had split into CART and Tony George’s IRL. Tony’s dream of winning INDY rested soley on the IRL and their oval only series where the early seasons consisted of sparse schedules, mostly unknown drivers, outdated back-up cars and novice-level teams. Pay-out was not great and Tony wanted to compete against some talent each week and make a very good living doing it. Tony made what he’s made by driving well and often. Put him in a Sprint, Grand Am or formula car for the same amount of money (as long as there is sustainable competition and schedule) and adios to Cup. Problem is, Cup is the only place for Tony to really make BIG money driving.
You’ve probably heard the question: How do you make a small fortune in racing….start with a large fortune! I see that on the horizon for Stewart. Hope he proves me wrong.
About Hendrick? It doesn’t hurt to have a Presidential Pardon from Slick Willy Clinton.
I have seen a lot of silly seasons in racing, but this year seems sillier (Hmmm?) than ever!
on Dec 20th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I’m confused how Casey Mears keeps getting rides with top tier teams. He has done absolutely nothing worthwhile with any team he’s been with. Is it just his name that keeps the job offers coming in?
As for Harvick I wish he would just go away. I have hated him since his first cup race. I admit at first it’s because he was in the Goodwrench car, but his attitude quickly made me see my first instinct was correct. He is a whiny little bi@%h and always will be.
Bowyer is truly getting a raw deal here. I look for him to leave RCR at the first chance just to save some respect. To lose his ride to Casey Mears must have been infuriating, especially after making the chase for the last 2 years. I know what Richard’s plan is but to think that Mears will step into that ride and make the chase is about as likely as me landing a date with Heidi Klum.
Jeff Burton is a great driver and a great man. I feel he got a raw deal at Roush racing. No sponsorship money was just an excuse to get Carl Edwards into the car. Who would have thought at the time it was the best career move he could have made. Lets not forget Dale Sr. wanted Jeff Burton to take over the Goodwrench car upon his retirement, sadly that plan was cut short.
Theres nothing I’d like better than to see Jeff Burton and Mark Martin running toe to toe for the cup this year. With Mark coming back full time my interest in Nascar will be renewed on the 09 season.