As soon as Clint Bowyer was penalized by NASCAR following the New Hampshire race, the whispers started: If Bowyer had a car that was pushing the limits, maybe that will affect Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton’s teams, too.
Jeff Burton Carries Torch As Defiant Richard Childress Racing Marches On
It made some sense: If one RCR car had been close to the borderline all year long (as Denny Hamlin claimed), maybe the other RCR cars were in the same boat – and the performance would decline after Bowyer was caught.
But after Burton went out and finished second at Dover – with Harvick also recording a top-15 finish – RCR may have proven there won’t be any dropoff in results.
Bowyer crew chief Shane Wilson, who will have his team’s appeal heard by NASCAR this week, said he felt the entire organization was boosted by some solid performances (his own driver’s day was messed up when the No. 33 made contact with the wall and later sped on pit road).
"Burton had a good day and they had a good, clean race with no issues," Wilson said. "And Kevin was up there, although I don't know what happened to him toward the end. And I think we would have been up toward the top 10 without a few mistakes."
Not everyone wanted to use Burton's performance as a reason to celebrate, though. Asked if he was proud of what Burton was able to do in helping the organization bounce back from the controversy, Harvick scoffed.
“Bounced back? What the hell you talking about?” Harvick said sharply. “We’ve been fuckin’ right there all year.”
So he wasn’t happy that Burton was able to silence some of the naysayers?
“Who gives a fuck about that shit?” Harvick said before walking away (Harvick never commented on his incident with Hamlin).
Mike Dillon, Bowyer’s spotter and RCR’s vice president of competition, was a bit more diplomatic.
“The (NASCAR) decision that was made there was silly,” he said. “Our cars are good. Our cars are still fast. They haven’t hurt us at all.”
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