RCR's last five Cup wins, going back to November of 2012, have all been provided by Harvick. The last driver other than Harvick to win a Cup race for Childress is Clint Bowyer at the 2011 Talladega fall race. With Harvick arguably being RCR's top driver during most of his tenure there, can they visit victory lane this year without him?
The same question was in many people's minds in 2001 after the death of Dale Earnhardt; they didn't know if any other driver could win with Childress. But Harvick, Earnhardt's replacement, answered that question by winning just three weeks later at Atlanta. Robby Gordon, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard also won races for Childress as Harvick's teammates. And even Harvick had his low points, like a three-year winless streak between the 2007 Daytona 500 and the 2010 Aaron's 499. In 2008 only Burton and Bowyer won for RCR in Cup, while in 2009 the team went winless in the series.
RCR started off on a promising note when Austin Dillon, a rookie, Childress's grandson and Harvick's replacement, won the Daytona 500 pole, but he led just one lap, and has not done as well in most of the races since then. Menard and Newman have also had both ups and downs during the season. Newman is the winningest and most experienced of the current RCR lineup, but only Menard has won for the team out of the trio. Basically, RCR has knocked on the door to victory lane a couple of times this season, but never been let in. Will they finally get there? There are still 22 races left.
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