RCR’s strong season start

Two races might not be the best barometer for what’s in store for Richard Childress Racing this season, but they’ve been strong out of the box.

photo credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

All three drivers sit inside the top-5 in the point standings heading into the third race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.

“We worked hard to get to this point,” Kevin Harvick said. “But you can’t stop. With the three of us running good, it pushes us to fine-tune our stuff and really get the best out of our cars week in and week out.”

Harvick leads the standings by 19 points over 2nd place driver and teammate, Clint Bowyer. Jeff Burton is currently holding down the fifth points position, 31 points out of 1st. Considering all 3 drivers failed to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last year, it’s a positive start to the new season.

“It’s still really early in the season but you have to feel optimistic when you see us running the way we have so far,” team owner Richard Childress said. “We ended the 2009 season running good and we worked hard during the off-season to make sure we could carry it over into this season. We have a lot of challenges ahead of us, with the new spoiler and some other things, but we have to take them one at a time and do the best we can.”

The Pro:

Harvick won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona and then went on to post a 7th place finish in the Daytona 500 and 2nd at Auto Club Speedway last weekend. It’s the first time Harvick has lead the point standings since he won the Daytona 500 in 2007.

Bowyer finished 4th in the Daytona 500 and 8th at Auto Club Speedway while Burton finished 11th and 3rd.

“Jeff, Kevin and I had cars capable of winning at both Daytona and Fontana,” Bowyer said. “Our engines are performing better and our cars’ handling definitely improved. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do right out of the gate and we’re confident those solid runs will continue.”

The Con:

Harvick’s winless streak is currently at 109 races while it’s 64 races for Bowyer and 43 for Burton.

“I really feel good about the personnel changes we made last year,” Childress said about his company’s recent restructuring. “I feel really good about the direction we’re headed but this sport can humble you real quick so you can’t get too high on your horse or, before you know it, you’ve fallen off.”

Is this RCR’s comeback year? We’ll soon find out.

Do you think RCR might end up being the team to beat this season?