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Come Fan with UsWednesday, June 24, 2026

After Talladega, Richard Childress Chastises Opponents For Dropping To Back

After a very mixed day at Talladega Superspeedway for Richard Childress Racing – the team won the race with Clint Bowyer but saw championship contender Kevin Harvick get caught in a wreck – owner Richard Childress chided his rivals for their race strategy.

Because wrecks are likely at Talladega and drivers can use two-car drafts to easily soar back through the field, some drivers choose to hang back until the end of the race.

Harvick and Childress decided to race for the lead most of the day, and that’s ultimately what got Harvick caught in a wreck. And it may have ruined his Sprint Cup Series title hopes.

“These fans pay a lot of money,” Childress said. “I hate it for Kevin, but he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. All of our RCR cars race to give these fans a show. We didn’t sit in the back and ride til the last minute – our cars ran all day long.

“We don’t get paid to ride in the back. I’m proud of every one of ‘em.”

Even though the strategy “may have cost us the championship,” Childress still said he’d have Harvick do the same thing again.

“We may have been able to ride in the back and wait it out – but that wasn’t what Kevin wanted to do,” Childress said. “We had all of our sponsors here today. That just isn’t what we wanted to do.”

Race winner Clint Bowyer echoed Childress’ thoughts and said drivers should race hard for the entire event.

“These fans pay a ton of money to watch these races, and we owe it to them to put on a show from rag to rag.”

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