NASCAR Cup

Childress, Hamlin conference wrap-up

Richard Childress, car owner of the 29 of Kevin Harvick, the 30 of Jeff Green and the 31 driven by Robby Gordon, says the plan at RCR in 2002 is that they are "basically trying to have one team with three drivers." Despite problems last year between ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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Richard Childress, car owner of the 29 of Kevin Harvick, the 30 of Jeff Green and the 31 driven by Robby Gordon, says the plan at RCR in 2002 is that they are "basically trying to have one team with three drivers." Despite problems last year between all three during both Busch and Cup events, Childress says "So far, the unity is good. The drivers have worked real well together."

"If we're winning races, I can handle the personalities. They're dedicated to winning. When you've got drivers like Green and Harvick and Gordon that are that dedicated, they have to have a personality. You can't just take a nice guy and a guy that's happy-go-lucky and win races every day with him."

Although many questioned his move after he hired Robby Gordon to join the 31, Childress knows it was the right decision. "When I went to Indy last year and did the deal with AJ (Foyt), I watched a different Robby Gordon than I saw five years ago and even when he was here with the other teams. I've seen how he handles the media and the race fans and I think he's going to be great for Winston Cup racing."

Riding high from a stellar 2001 rookie season, Kevin Harvick was expected to pick continue where he left off. So far, his performance has been less than expected. Childress says not to count him out just yet. "Everything is great with Kevin Harvick. We had great Daytona 500 other than the crash, and I feel that was out of his control. At Rockingham, we were a little too loose at qualifying and got behind early in the race. Once we got in a (better) position, we had a second or third-place car all day. It was similar situation out at Las Vegas (last weekend). We pitted and two laps later the caution came out. It's very competitive right now. It's tough - especially with the Chevrolet."

Harvick's crew chief Kevin Hamlin echoes Childress' feelings about the Chevys being at a disadvantage. "with track position as important as it is, and the way aerodynamics play into today's racing, maybe the whole aerodynamic thing needs to be reevaluated for everybody - not just one make - to try to make the race better. But I do feel that Chevrolet is at a big of a disadvantage aerodynamically right now."

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