Richard Childress promises big reboot in 2013
Richard Childress isn't prepared to reveal the personnel and structural shake-up planned for his Sprint Cup teams, but he's ready to forecast the results.
"Write this down: Next year we'll be very competitive in Cup," Childress told USA TODAY Sports.
"If you get behind, sometimes you go down a wrong path. I've been in this sport long enough to know it's like a roller-coaster ride. Boy, you sure like when that thing stalls out on the top. It makes life a lot easier."
The 2012 season has been a trying one for Richard Childress Racing, which is in danger of going winless in NASCAR's premier series for the first time in three years. Kevin Harvick has been the team's lead performer, ranked 10th in points with 11 top-10s in 30 starts, while teammates Paul Menard (16th in points, seven top-10s) and Jeff Burton (19th, six top-10s) are only a spot higher in the standings than where they finished in 2011.
Though Harvick made the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he also has been vocal about the need for improvement. When asked at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend about where changes were needed, Harvick said he "didn't' have enough time" but identified competition director as a good starting spot.
RCR has been trying to fill the void since Scott Miller vacated that role last fall to join Michael Waltrip Racing.
"That definitely would be the key piece to start at," Harvick said. "A lot of it comes with that piece falling into place. When you don't have that guy in there, it just didn't pan out the way that we all thought it would and really have things run like they needed to. It just kind of became a little bit more disruptive than I think everybody had anticipated."
Meanwhile, Harvick and wife DeLana have been acclimating to parenthood after welcoming their first child -- son Keelan -- in July.
As Harvick prepared to kick off the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, he reflected on how his season has evolved as Keelan has gotten older.
"It's one of those things that everyday it gets a little better. ... We've been able to start to enjoy it and get back into the swing of things and doing things just outside of taking care of Keelan," the driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet said.
DeLana has long been one of the more visible wives at the track and on social media. She tweets updates of Harvick's progress during races and Keelan's progress at home to followers.
"It's made us closer. It's let me let go of things a little easier because you're excited to go home and see them and really see what's changed and how much he's grown," Harvick said. "Between the race teams and them at home, I've been able to let go of things a lot easier this year and relax a little more."
Perhaps that's helped Harvick acclimate to the disappointing results so far at RCR. Both owner and driver have shown before that they can bounce right back.
Childress engineered his last major overhaul of the team after RCR's four teams missed the Chase in 2009. It resulted in Harvick finishing a career-best third in the 2010 points (which he backed up last year).
That strategy seems similar for 2013, dovetailing with the introduction of a new chassis and a relaxed testing policy that might provide more opportunity for playing catch up.
"We have a lot of changes coming next year," Childress said. "Some of it hasn't been finalized, but it's getting close. You don't want to change up in the middle of the Chase. And this new car (for 2013) with NASCAR setting better guidelines, I think it'll be better."