Richard Childress Racing in the Cup Series: Six Titles, Three Daytona 500s and a Family Number

RCR Enterprises, doing business as Richard Childress Racing, is an American stock car team based in Welcome, North Carolina. It competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and it is owned and run by former driver Richard Childress. The team has won six Cup championships, all with Dale Earnhardt, and three Daytona 500s.

Who owns Richard Childress Racing and where is it based?

Richard Childress owns and operates the team from Welcome, North Carolina. He built the organisation around his own former car, the No. 3, before expanding into a multi-car operation. The team's Cup line-up in 2026 included the No. 3 for Austin Dillon and the No. 33 for Austin Hill.

The company's history runs through several car numbers, each with its own driver story. Some numbers were tied to sponsors, others were test cars, and a few were short-lived entries.

A Welcome, North Carolina team whose numbers, from the No. 3 to the No. 33, carry Earnhardt's titles and a long line of drivers.

How did the No. 7 and No. 8 cars take shape?

When AOL left as sponsor, Childress needed to fill two voids. He rehired Dave Blaney for the No. 07 and signed Jack Daniel's, which made the car one of the first hard liquor sponsorships in NASCAR's history. The team used the number to echo the brand's "Ol' No. 7" slogan. Blaney posted two top tens in 2005 and finished 26th in points.

Clint Bowyer took over the No. 07 in 2006. He won the first race for this team at Loudon, finished third in the 2007 standings, and won again at Richmond in 2008, finishing fifth in points. Casey Mears joined for 2009, but Jack Daniel's left at the end of that year, and Childress released Mears.

The No. 8 first ran in 1981 at Texas World Speedway, with Kirk Shelmerdine driving a McDonald's Pontiac to 33rd. It returned in 2018 with Daniel Hemric in part-time races, and in 2019 the team renumbered the No. 31 entry to the No. 8 for a full schedule. Hemric's best result that year was a fifth at the spring Talladega race.

Tyler Reddick drove the No. 8 from 2020 to 2022. The car made nine top 10s in 2020, and in 2022 Reddick won at Road America and the Indianapolis road course. He had signed with 23XI Racing for 2024, and Kyle Busch took over the No. 8 in 2023.

What was Kyle Busch's time in the No. 8 like?

Busch began 2023 with a 19th-place finish at the Daytona 500. A week later he won at Fontana, his first win for RCR and his 61st career victory, and he later won at Talladega and Gateway. In 2024 he missed the playoffs, the first time he had done so since 2012, and he went winless for the first time in his full-time career.

The 2025 season was also a struggle. Busch led the most laps at Circuit of the Americas before finishing fifth, but he collected only two top fives and seven top 10s and missed the playoffs again. He began 2026 with a 15th at Daytona, and crew chief Jim Pohlman was replaced by Andy Street after ten races.

Busch died on 21 May 2026. The No. 8 was suspended and the team renumbered the car to the No. 33 from the Coca-Cola 600, with Austin Hill driving. RCR said the No. 8 would be reserved for Busch's son Brexton, should he pursue a NASCAR career.

How did Paul Menard's No. 27 run?

Paul Menard was signed on 11 August 2010 for the fourth RCR car, having left the struggling Richard Petty Motorsports. The car was numbered 27, and MENARDS Home Improvement, owned by his father John Menard Jr., came on as a multi-year sponsor. Tom Pumpelly was listed as owner, and owner's points from a car that finished thirty-fifth in the standings guaranteed a spot in the first five races.

The No. 27 opened 2011 with a ninth at the Daytona 500. Menard won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis on 31 July, using a fuel mileage gamble. It was his first and only Cup win, and it made him eligible for the Sprint Summer Showdown. He finished 17th in points that year.

In 2012 and 2013 the results were similar, with nine top 10s in each season and finishes of 16th and 17th in points. In the 2013 finale at Homestead a wheel fire, caused by rubber wrapped around the rear axle, sent the car's day up in smoke on pit road. Menard left RCR for Wood Brothers Racing for 2018, and the No. 27 closed after 2017.

What happened with the No. 30 in the early 2000s?

In 2001 RCR fielded the No. 30 AOL-sponsored Chevrolet, with Jeff Green named to drive it after Kevin Harvick moved into the primary car following Dale Earnhardt's death. Green made his debut at Fontana in April and took a pole at Bristol in August, then ran the full 2002 season. He had six top 10s and finished 17th in points.

In 2003 Green was fired after the first race at Richmond, following a clash with teammate Kevin Harvick. Steve Park took the car in a trade between organisations, with Green moving to Park's old ride at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Park scored a pole at Daytona and finished 32nd in points.

In 2004 Childress promoted Johnny Sauter, a Busch Series driver who had helped secure the 2003 Busch owner's championship for RCR. Sauter failed to score a top 10 and was released after 13 races. Dave Blaney drove the car for the rest of the season until Jeff Burton became available after leaving Roush Racing. Burton drove the car from Michigan in August, and when Robby Gordon left to start his own team, Burton moved to the No. 31.

How did the No. 31 become a Childress R&D car?

For more than a decade the No. 31 was Childress's R&D car. It debuted in 1978 at Rockingham with Bobby Wawak driving, finishing 27th. It returned in 1993 with Neil Bonnett driving at Talladega, and Bonnett later died while testing for the 1994 Daytona 500.

In 1996 the car ran with Mike Skinner and Realtree sponsorship in four of its five races. It ran full-time from 1997, with Lowe's signing a five-year deal, which made RCR a multi-car operation for the first time. Skinner won the Daytona pole in both races that year and took Rookie of the Year honours. With crew chief Larry McReynolds in 1999 he won the pole twice and finished tenth in points. In 2000 he finished 12th in points, earning his best career finish of second at Talladega.

Robby Gordon took over in 2001 after Skinner suffered a concussion and a broken ankle at Chicagoland. Gordon struggled early, but in 2001 he earned his first career victory at New Hampshire, in a finish that remained controversial. Armed with Cingular Wireless sponsorship in 2002, he had five top 10s and finished 20th in points. In 2003 he swept both road course events and finished 16th. He left after 2004 to start his own team.

How did Jeff Burton's years in the No. 31 unfold?

Jeff Burton's first full year at RCR was 2005, when he had six top 10s and three top fives, including a third at Phoenix and a second at Bristol. In 2006 he won four poles, at the Daytona 500, Chicagoland, Indianapolis and Michigan, bringing his career pole total to six. His best finish that year was second at Chicagoland, and he led the most laps at Indianapolis and Bristol.

In the Busch Series he won at Atlanta and Dover, breaking a four-year winless streak in any series. Dover gave him the points lead, but a flat tire at Talladega while he ran in the top five and an engine failure at Martinsville ended his title hopes.

Burton won the 2007 Samsung 500 at Texas on 15 April, passing Matt Kenseth on the final lap. He finished tied for seventh in the 2007 standings and finished the year eighth. He came close to winning the 50th Daytona 500, qualifying 36th and leading before the final caution, but he finished 13th.

In 2008 Burton won the Food City 500 at Bristol, completing a podium sweep for RCR, and the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte, where he held off Jimmie Johnson in the final pit stops. He moved up to sixth in points that year. His 2009 season produced two second-place finishes at Phoenix and Homestead.

In 2010 he finished second at both Dover races and was in contention at Martinsville, but a flat tire with 15 laps to go gave Denny Hamlin the win. He finished 12th in points. In 2011 he won the second Gatorade Duel, but a blown engine ended his Daytona 500 and a late restart spun him out at Charlotte.

In 2012 Burton gained Wheaties, BB&T and EnerSys sponsorship, and crew chief Drew Blickensderfer was later replaced by Luke Lambert. Burton reached his 1,000th career start at Phoenix. RCR announced on 4 September 2013 that he would not return in 2014.

What did Ryan Newman bring to the No. 31?

Newman arrived in 2014 with Quicken Loans sponsoring him for 12 races, after Burton announced that he would leave the team. In 2015 the team was penalised for altering tires after the Auto Club 400. Key members of the crew, including Lambert, were suspended for six races and fined $75,000, and the team lost 75 driver and owner points. Newman's appeal reduced the penalty slightly, but the suspensions stood.

Newman had ten top 10s and two top fives in 2016. He finished 11th at the Daytona 500 that year, an improvement on a 38th in 2015. In 2017 he won at Phoenix on 19 March, ending a four-year winless streak for himself and a nine-year drought for the No. 31. He left RCR after the 2018 season.

How did the No. 33 evolve?

In 2004 Kerry Earnhardt drove the No. 33 in five races, with Bass Pro Shops sponsoring. Mike Skinner ran the car in the Daytona 500 and finished 22nd. Clint Bowyer made his Cup debut in the car at Phoenix in April 2005, sponsored by Sylvania.

RCR expanded to four full-time Cup teams in 2009. Clint Bowyer drove the No. 33 General Mills Chevrolet, with Cheerios and Hamburger Helper sponsoring, and he finished fourth in the Daytona 500 in his first race in the car. The Hartford joined as an additional sponsor in 2010. In 2011 consistency faltered, and when Bowyer left for Michael Waltrip Racing for 2012, General Mills moved to the No. 31 and left the No. 33 with no driver or sponsor.

In April 2012 Childress sold the No. 33 to Joe Falk and Mike Hillman Sr., and the team took the name Circle Sport. RCR still ran the car on selected dates, and Austin Dillon raced it under the RCR banner with American Ethanol sponsorship. Brian Scott made his Cup debut in an RCR car at the 2013 Bank of America 500.

In 2014 Scott drove the car in the first races of the season and won the pole at the spring Talladega race, which was his first career Cup pole. Bobby Labonte also drove it at the summer Daytona race, running fourth in qualifying before a big crash. In 2015 Ty Dillon drove the 2015 Daytona 500 in the car and finished 28th.

In 2022 Austin Hill made his Cup debut in the No. 33 at Michigan and finished 18th. In 2023 Brodie Kostecki made his debut at the Indianapolis road course. In 2025 Hill and Jesse Love shared the car, and Hill scored his first top 10 in the Cup Series with a ninth at the Chicago street race. On 24 August 2026 RCR announced that Hill would drive the No. 33 full-time from 2027.

What were the Other cars that RCR ran?

RCR also ran numbers that were short-lived or purely experimental. Bill Seifert drove the No. 03 in two races in 1977. Rodney Combs drove the No. 22 at Rockingham in 1988 and finished last. John Andretti drove the No. 90 at the fall Talladega race in 2003, a car numbered for marketing rather than as a regular team entry.

Childress himself ran the No. 96 for fourteen races in 1972. Austin Dillon made his Cup debut at Kansas in October 2011 in the No. 98, with Camping World as sponsor, a fifth-car arrangement that NASCAR allowed for rookies.

What is the No. 3 story at RCR now?

The No. 3 remained the team's signature number, and Austin Dillon drove it through the 2020s. The number's history with Dale Earnhardt gave it a weight that still shapes how the team is remembered.