RCR President: Richard Childress ‘deserves to have a better NASCAR effort’

The last two seasons have not been ideal for Richard Childress Racing. With a long and storied history, does RC deserve better? President of the NASCAR organization, Mike Verlander, believes that is the case.

Before Kyle Busch took over in the No. 8 car, Tyler Reddick had RCR looking legit. He more or less improved each season he was racing for Richard Childress. That 2022 season included three wins: Road America, Indy Road Course, and Texas.

Then, Busch took over in 2023. He fired off three quick wins. Now, he hasn’t had a win since Gateway that year. Even when Austin Dillon won at Richmond last year, that was mostly taken away from RCR.

“Richard deserves to have a better NASCAR effort,” Verlander said to ClayToday. “That’s not a knock at anybody. They’ve done a great job weathering the storm.

“Let’s focus on returning it to where he deserves it. I’ve told Richard and all our drivers, that’s where it was when I came here. ‘Guys, we’ve got to remember, this is like Novocain. It’s not going to take immediately. We’re going to have to be consistent and disciplined, and in time, we’re going to look up and realize we’re a lot better.'”

Richard Childress has a lot of faith in Verlander. He is hoping that his leadership is what it takes to get his team winning races and competing for championships. You have the last prime years of Kyle Busch, after all; do something with them!

Richard Childress has to help Kyle Busch more

The early part of this season has been a little up and down for Kyle Busch. He looked like he had a chance to win at COTA until a late caution let Christopher Bell and others back into the race.

At Homestead, the team was back to their old ways from 2024 and looked pitiful from the start. Martinsville was slightly better, but only a P17 finish. Darlington, a track that Busch almost won at last fall, is next up on the schedule.

Whenever these Richard Childress Racing cars come to the track, I look for practice speed, qualifying speed, anything. If there isn’t much of a pulse when it comes to those two sessions on Saturday, then Sunday isn’t likely to be all that great.

Things have to change. Mike Verlander is doing his best to make it. But it might not be enough if the problems with this RCR organization run deeper than meets the eye.