Richard Childress Racing’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series History at ISM Raceway … Team owner Richard Childress has six victories at ISM Raceway, ranking him third on the all-time car owner victories list at the Avondale, Ariz. facility. This includes wins with Ryan Newman in March 2017, along with Kevin Harvick in Nov. 2013, Nov. 2012 and March and Nov. 2006. Prior to that, Dale Earnhardt won the Checker 500 on Nov. 4, 1990. In 119 starts at ISM Raceway, the Welcome, North Carolina based organization boasts 19 top-five and 43 top-10 finishes.
RCR in the MENCS … In 2,926 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts dating back to 1969, RCR has amassed 48 pole awards,108 wins, 488 top-five finishes and 1,067 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 17.8 and an average finishing position of 16.2. RCR has earned 15 total championships (six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships with Earnhardt in 1986, ’87, ’90, ’91, ’93 and ’94, six NASCAR Xfinity Series titles, two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series titles and one ARCA Menards Series title) and was the first organization to win titles in NASCAR’s three national series.
#RCR50 … Richard Childress Racing celebrates it’s 50th Anniversary in 2019. Follow our social channels season-long to join in the celebration.
Interactive RCR … For up-to-date news and exclusive content, visit RCR’s corporate Twitter page – @RCRracing – along with the RCR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team Twitter page – @RCRCup, and driver Twitter pages @austindillon3, @TylerReddick and @DanielHemric. Information about the 15-time championship winning organization can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardChildressRacing and at www.RCRracing.com along with official driver pages – http://www.facebook.com/austindillon3 and www.facebook.com/DanielHemric.
eNASCAR Heat Pro League … ISM Raceway will host the inaugural 2019 eNASCAR Heat Pro League Draft on March 10 at 8:45 a.m. MST. The eNASCAR Heat Pro League, a collaboration between 704Games, RTA, and NASCAR, is the first-ever NASCAR esports league on consoles. The newly formed esports league will feature 14 teams and 28 drivers, each owned and operated by prominent NASCAR race teams. RCR has the 12th draft pick for Xbox and 3rd position for PS4. Once the draft is completed, teams will compete in a 16-race season beginning in spring 2019 and culminating during the 2019 NASCAR Playoffs. All eNASCAR Heat Pro League races will be live streamed online at NASCAR.com and Motorsport.com. For more information, players can visit eNASCARHeatProLeague.com.
Catch the Action … The Ticket Guardian 500 will be televised live Sunday, March 10 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This Week’s Dow Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at ISM Raceway … Dillon has 10 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at ISM Raceway to his credit, earning two top-10 finishes. He earned his best finish of eighth at the track in November 2018.
Dow brings a science and engineering crew who is driven by limitless curiosity to the RCR Team … Austin Dillon and the RCR team are again supported by Dow’s materials science expertise and technologies this season. Backed by the power of data analysis and virtual modeling, Dow develops and manufactures high-performance components and materials custom-made for the No. 3 car. Dow and RCR’s partnership has expedited innovation and shortened testing time in the automotive industry by recreating in the lab one of the most extreme environments – the racetrack. After 5 years of collaboration, Dow scientists and RCR engineers are continuing to work together to make the No. 3 car faster, safer and more precise. Stay up to date with Dow’s exciting developments at www.dow.com/sports and follow us on Twitter @DowRacing, @DowSports & @DowChemical
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
How much does this new package change things, in particular at a track like ISM Raceway?
“This new package changes a lot. We’re guessing a little bit on the balance of the racecar. We feel like we know what we’re going to do and what is going to happen, but there is a little bit of toss up involved. Whatever the balance of your racecar is, it’s going to intensify a lot around other cars. We’ll do our job to try and adjust on it. There’s still a little bit of an unknown. We’re starting from scratch again and building an entire new notebook. You can look back at some Truck Series stuff and some Xfinity Series stuff but, in reality, we are creating an entire new notebook in order to figure out what the car needs in traffic and out front. It’s a game changer at all tracks, including ISM Raceway.”
Does your dirt racing background help you adjust to this new package?
“I think it’s slightly similar to that, with the difference being that we had so much power in those dirt cars. The similarity is finding that line, chasing that line, which is key.”
Do you feel like RCR is in better shape now than they were at the end of last year?
“I feel like RCR has done a great job with this package and really put the effort into it. The credit goes to our competition department, Eric Warren and Andy Petree. They’re really pushing it together. And then our crew chiefs, Danny Stockman and Luke Lambert, who are working together as well. At Atlanta, we had one car running really well and our car was not as strong. That was RCR trying to maximize that first race to see which direction we needed to go with our cars. I felt like we found that direction with the No. 8 (Daniel Hemric). The biggest thing is game planning. I’ve been vocal on the radio the last two weeks because I feel like the potential is there for us to get one of these races early. So, the stress level is a little bit high because we’ve got the speed and executing with that sometimes can raise the stress level. I’m trying to harp on our guys as best we can to create less margin of error when we get out there. The No. 3 and the No. 8 team are going to be able to push each other all year. Daniel is a great driver, and to have him over there with me working together, I feel like we can accomplish some good things. We’ve got some really smart people at RCR.”
What do you think of the flip-flop of the start/finish line at ISM Raceway? That change was made last year, but how might it play out with the new package this year, especially on restarts?
“Restart-wise, I feel like it was definitely interesting when you’re in the corner having to get going in that banked end. I did enjoy going in the new Turn 1 more than I liked the banking. So, I thought that was nice. It changed the outcome of the exit of Turn 2 a little bit. I like that end being the start end. I thought that was a good change. It made it more interesting and gave you more options. Like the old Turn 1, I felt like the option was for you to just stay and stay with the guy who is beside you. I feel like the new Turn 1 you have options to move around a little bit more and make moves with the throttle pedal to be more aggressive.”
This Week’s Okuma Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at ISM Raceway … Hemric will be making his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at ISM Raceway but has starts in both the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at the 1-mile track. He had an average start of 14.5 and an average finish of 5.0 in the Xfinity Series, including a runner-up finish in November 2018. He also has an average start of 14.0 and an average finish of 15.7 in the Truck Series.
Review Mirror: Las Vegas … Hemric and the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 showed a lot of speed with the new aerodynamic package throughout practice and qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Once the race got underway, Hemric battled to find the right handling of the car throughout the opening stages of the event. Crew chief Luke Lambert continually worked on making changes and the car came to life in the final stage. In the end, Hemric and the No. 8 team ended the day in the 23rd position.
About Okuma … Okuma is the U.S.-based sales and service affiliate of Okuma Corporation, a world leader in CNC (computer numeric control) machine tools, founded in 1898 in Nagoya, Japan. The company is the industry’s only single-source provider, with the CNC machine, drive, motors, encoders, and spindle all manufactured by Okuma. The company also designs their own CNC controls to integrate seamlessly with each machine tool’s functionality. In 2014 Okuma launched the Okuma App Store, the industry’s only centralized online marketplace for machine tool apps and related content. Along with its extensive distribution network (largest in the Americas), and Partners in THINC, Okuma is committed to helping users gain competitive advantage through the open possibilities of machine tools, today and into the future. For more information, visit okuma.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter @OkumaAmerica.
Meet the Driver … Hemric is scheduled to sign autographs at the RCR merchandise hauler in the ISM Raceway fan midway on Friday, March 8, starting at 2:45 p.m. local time.
DANIEL HEMRIC QUOTES:
Do you consider ISM Raceway a short track?
“I never got to run the old Phoenix where it was slick and worn out and all that stuff. I look at it and I’m not a huge fan of smashing the gas pedal as soon as you get back to throttle, but over time I’ve found that when the place gets really hot it does drive like a short track in the sense that your car is moving around. You can chase the things you grew up racing with balance wise and changes to the cars and it can help you and you can apply it to how you race Phoenix. I’m still on the fence a little bit on how I feel about it, but in the grand scheme of things it drives like a short track.”
The Start/Finish Line was moved to a different location on the track for the November race at ISM Raceway. How did that impact the racing at Phoenix?
“For sure the restarts are incredibly different. Turn 1, now if you get down in there everybody is funneling back up onto the regular track from the flat. That changes the whole dynamic. You’ve got to be so aware of where everybody is at or if that guy behind you smokes down in there a little too hard and gets in hot, you then have to give him room. There are a lot of variables there. In the past, everybody always said with the old layout if you could get through (Turns) 1 and 2 that you would have a good lap. Well, now you’ve got to get through there twice, your coming-up-to-speed lap and your out-lap, to make raw speed. A lot of different visuals there with pit road. A lot of things are different all at the same racetrack, it’s crazy to think it’s the exact same.”
Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at ISM Raceway … In 84 Series starts at the one-mile paved oval, RCR has captured three victories with drivers Kevin Harvick (2006), Clint Bowyer (2007) and Elliott Sadler (2012). The Welcome, North Carolina, organization has accumulated two pole awards, 27 top-five finishes, 48 top-10 finishes, led 591 laps and averages a starting position of 12.0 and finishing position of 11.8. RCR has completed 16,425 laps of the 16,747 (98.1 percent) that they have competed.
Las Vegas Review … Tyler Reddick finished 14th in Saturday’s Las Vegas 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Reddick dominated Stage 2 of the race, picking up the stage win, and led a total of 62 laps before getting caught up in a late-race wreck while racing hard for the win.
The Points … Reddick is currently third in the Xfinity Series driver standings.
Social Media … To keep up with the latest updates from RCR’s Xfinity Series teams, follow @RCRracing and @RCRNXS on Twitter. Updates can also be found via RCR’s Facebook Page and Instagram (@RCRracing).
Catch the Action … Coverage of this week’s ISM Raceway 200 at ISM Raceway will be televised live on Saturday, March 9, beginning at 4 p.m. ET on FS1. It will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
This Week’s Hurdl Chevrolet Camaro at ISM Raceway … Tyler Reddick has three previous NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at ISM Raceway, earning two top-10 finishes at the track during last year’s races. Reddick also has three previous starts at the track in NASCAR’s Truck Series, collecting one top-five and two top-10 finishes at the milelong speedway.
Text ‘TYLER’ to 770022 … Thanks to Hurdl, fans have the unique opportunity to gain access to exclusive RCR giveaways and opportunities to meet Reddick throughout the next two race weekends when they text ‘TYLER’ to 770022. Message and data rates may apply.
About Hurdl … Hurdl is a new kind of experiential SMS ad tech platform connecting fans with their favorite teams, drivers, artists, and brands through the familiarity and immediacy of personalized messaging. Hurdl believe that memorable experiences are the most powerful opportunities to forge relationships, which is why more fans opt-in to participate in Hurdl-powered events than any other technology platform.
Meet Tyler … Fans looking to meet Reddick have the opportunity to see him participate in a Q&A session Saturday morning at ISM Raceway’s Infield stage at 9:15 a.m. local time. Fans can also meet Reddick at a special Hurdl Fan meet and greet at the track on Saturday prior to the green flag. In order to get time and location of the meet and greet, text ‘TYLER’ to 770022.
TYLER REDDICK QUOTE:
What are your thoughts on the new layout at ISM Raceway now that you have one race there with the new configuration?
“I like the new layout at ISM Raceway. The new location of the start-finish line is good for me since you have to run the high line of Turns 1 and 2 to get a good run of speed, and the high line is my preferred line. You can also kind of play games now with your entry and how much speed you carry to set up a good launch off of the corner coming off of Turn 4. I like the new layout better. It makes the restarts more exciting. In my mind, it has been a win so far with just the one race weekend. Phoenix has always been fun for me, but now I’m having even more fun out there.”