The late Dale Earnhardt captured six of his seven NASCAR titles with Richard Childress Racing. However, Earnhardt’s final championship came in 1994 and Childress – whose six titles tie for second-most – hasn’t won the top prize since.
“I think when you have a lot of success and then you don’t have it, it’s harder than if you never had it,” driver Jeff Burton said on a conference call Tuesday.
Burton, a veteran from the Roush Racing stables, succeeded Robbie Gordon in Childress’ No. 31 Chevrolet at the start of this season. Despite Childress’ championship drought, Burton said he and teammates Kevin Harvick and Dave Blaney are equipped just as well or better than the five- car Roush Racing team, which has won the past two Cup crowns.
“I think that Richard Childress Racing has a persona of being out in the middle of nowhere doing things the way things were done when Dale Earnhardt was at his peak,” Burton said.
“People don’t understand the amount of technology and the amount of engineering, support and the amount of tools that we have to work with in comparison to our competitors.
“We have (opposing team) employees come to visit us, and they always leave saying, ‘My goodness, I had no idea this was going on up here.’ They’re always surprised about how much stuff we do have.”
Still, a Childress car has won just one of 10 races this season and none of the three drivers is among the top 10 in the point standings. Harvick, who won the Bristol, Tenn., race April 3, is 11th in the points on the strength of three top-10 finishes. Burton and Blaney are 16th and 22nd in points, respectively, with a combined three top-10s.
“I’ve tried to instill that we can win, that we can be successful,” said Burton, who drove for Roush from 1996 to 2004. “I’ve tried to let everybody know that just because Richard Childress Racing hasn’t won a championship in the last (10) years doesn’t mean that we can’t … It’s just a matter of bringing confidence back to everybody.”
Roush and Hendrick Motorsports finished first and second in the 2004 owners points and have combined to win all but one race this year.
Roush has won five times and drivers Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch are third and fourth in the point standings. Hendrick has won three times and is first and second in the points with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
Best venue?
Burton grew up near Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, host of Saturday night’s Chevy American Revolution 400. But that’s not why the three-quarter-mile track is his favorite.
“It’s such a cool racetrack because we all grew up racing on short tracks,” Burton said. “I just think it’s the best compromise of all things, speed, competition, being close to the action.”
Saturday’s race will begin at 5:35 p.m. MDT.
Footnote
Richmond, which seats 107,097 spectators, is sold out for the 27th consecutive time for Cup events. More than 2.3 million fans have attended Nextel Cup races since the streak began in 1992.
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
