From a 1999 Nationwide debut to the 2025 title with Jesse Love, RCR's Xfinity programme has used its No. 2, 3, 21 and 33 to develop drivers who went on to Cup careers.
Richard Childress Racing has run in the Xfinity Series since its 1999 move from the trucks, and has won six series titles. Its current cars are the No. 2, No. 3, No. 21 and No. 33 Chevrolets.
RCR Enterprises, doing business as Richard Childress Racing, runs in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series from its base in Welcome, North Carolina. Owned and operated by former driver Richard Childress, the team has won six series championships. In 2026 the lineup was Jesse Love in the No. 2, Austin Dillon in the part-time No. 3, Austin Hill in the No. 21 and Garrett Mitchell in the part-time No. 33.
How did RCR enter the Nationwide Series?
RCR began in the series in the fall of 1999 at the North Carolina Speedway race, moving its whole operation over from the Craftsman Truck Series. Its early cars carried the numbers that later became central to the team's identity, starting with the No. 2 and the No. 21.
The team's programme has changed shape many times since, with full-time, part-time and development entries in different seasons. Each number has a separate line of drivers, and the sections below follow the cars that have had the most impact.
A Welcome, North Carolina Xfinity team with six titles that used its numbers to train drivers, from Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer to Austin Hill and Jesse Love.
What happened with the No. 2 in its early years?
Kevin Harvick was the first driver of the No. 2 AC Delco Chevrolet. He won three races, won Rookie of the Year and finished third in points, despite missing the spring race at North Carolina Speedway. He won the Busch Series championship in 2001 while also running full-time in the Winston Cup Series.
Johnny Sauter won at Chicagoland in 2002 and finished 14th in points. The following year Ron Hornaday Jr. drove the car full-time, winning once and finishing third in points. He won again the year after and dropped to fourth, but he was not re-signed for 2005.
How did Clint Bowyer's seasons in the No. 2 go?
In 2005 Clint Bowyer took the wheel in a programme led by veteran crew chief Gil Martin. He won at Nashville Speedway and Memphis Motorsports Park and finished second in points. Bowyer was back in the car in 2006 with crew chief Dan Deeringhoff, and he finished third in points with a win at Dover.
2006 was the final year for longtime sponsor AC Delco, and BB&T came on for 2007. Bowyer ran 21 races that year. In 2008 he returned full-time, scoring eighteen top 10s in the first 21 races, including a win at Bristol, and he won the 2008 Nationwide Series title.
The No. 2 team ran a partial schedule in 2009, with Sean Caisse and Austin Dillon sharing the ride, and then shut down.
How did Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott change the No. 2?
In late 2011 Kevin Harvick sold his KHI organisation, and the Nationwide team and equipment went to RCR. Elliott Sadler, the driver of KHI's No. 2, and OneMain Financial moved over with it. Sadler finished second in the 2012 championship standings, for the second year in a row, to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He won four races that season.
Sadler turned down an extension offered by Childress and moved to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013. Brian Scott, a former Gibbs driver, took over the No. 2 under a multi-year contract, with sponsorship from Shore Lodge and Whitetail Club. The team's consistency improved, and Scott finished seventh in points with three top fives and thirteen top 10s.
Scott's best run came at Richmond in September 2013. He won the pole and led 229 laps, but was passed on the restart by Brad Keselowski with 11 laps to go and finished second. The team protested the restart, and Scott said afterwards that his team deserved to win that race.
In 2014 Scott set career bests with six top fives, 23 top 10s and a fourth-place points finish that missed third only on a numerical tiebreaker with Sadler. He left for Richard Petty Motorsports in the Cup Series after the 2015 season.
Who drove the No. 2 from 2016 to 2021?
In 2016 the No. 2 ran a changing list of drivers, including Austin Dillon and Paul Menard, with Rheem and Menards as sponsors. Dillon and Menard ran 27 races between them. Sam Hornish Jr. won the spring Iowa race, and Michael McDowell took his first NASCAR win at Road America. The team finished sixth in owners' points.
In 2017 Dillon and Menard continued, but neither won a race. The car's best finish was second at the Lilly Diabetes 250 with Menard behind the wheel. Matt Tifft was named the No. 2 driver for 2018, with a championship target.
Tyler Reddick joined the team for 2019, having just won the Xfinity championship, and he won a second title that year. He had won the 2018 title for JR Motorsports, which made it the first back-to-back championship won while driving for two different teams. Myatt Snider took over the car full-time in 2021 and picked up his first career win in the Contender Boats 250.
What did Sheldon Creed and Jesse Love do with the No. 2?
Sheldon Creed replaced Snider in 2022. On 12 April 2022 crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz was suspended for four races, after a ballast came loose at Martinsville. At Darlington in September, Creed scored a career-best second after a three-way fight with the winner and Kyle Larson over the closing laps.
Creed started 2023 with a 34th-place DNF at Daytona. He made the playoffs without a win, and in October he announced he would not return in 2024.
Jesse Love was announced for the No. 2 in October 2023. He started 2024 with a 20th at Daytona and scored his first career win at Talladega on 20 April. In 2025 he won at Daytona to open the season. Two months later he won at Rockingham but was disqualified after post-race inspection, which made Sammy Smith the winner. Love went on to win the championship by winning at Phoenix.
Love started 2026 with a ninth at Daytona. He led late at Phoenix but was passed by Justin Allgaier with ten laps to go. He earned a place in the playoffs and won at Gateway. On 26 August 2026 RCR announced that Carson Brown would drive the No. 2 full-time in 2027, replacing Love.
How did the No. 3 return to the Xfinity Series?
The No. 3 car was first run by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in the then-Busch Series from 1989. Earnhardt Jr. won back-to-back championships in the car in 1998 and 1999 for DEI. The No. 3 made its debut in the RCR stable in 2002 at the Daytona race, where Earnhardt Jr. won, although he finished 36th at Charlotte after a crash.
The car returned for one race in 2010 at Daytona with Wrangler sponsorship, in a joint venture between RCR, JR Motorsports and DEI. Earnhardt Jr. drove it in a paint scheme resembling the one his father used, and he won, his first win in 87 starts in the series. He said beforehand that it would probably be his last drive in the No. 3.
What did Austin Dillon do in the No. 3?
In 2012 the team moved to full-time status with Childress's grandson, Austin Dillon, driving and Danny Stockman as crew chief. AdvoCare sponsored 20 races, and Bass Pro Shops and American Ethanol covered the rest. Dillon swept both Kentucky races and easily won Rookie of the Year. He finished third in points behind teammate Elliott Sadler and champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
In 2013 AdvoCare backed Dillon for the whole season. The No. 3 team scored five consecutive poles midway through the year and seven in total, but it did not win a race. Dillon still beat Sam Hornish Jr. for the championship, the first title won without a victory. He moved up to the Cup Series in 2014.
What did Ty Dillon achieve in the No. 3?
Ty Dillon took over the No. 3 for 2014, with Yuengling, Bass Pro Shops and WESCO as sponsors. He won the pole in the third race at Las Vegas and scored his first career win at Indianapolis after leading 24 laps. He was one of only three rookies to win in 2014.
Dillon earned three poles, seven top fives and 24 top 10s that season and finished fifth in points, losing the rookie award to Chase Elliott. He had a career-best third in points for 2015 and fifth in 2016, without winning in either year.
In 2017 Ty ran 27 of the 33 races in the No. 3 alongside his Cup rookie campaign. In 2018 he shared the car with his brother Austin, Jeb Burton and Shane Lee, and Brendan Gaughan also drove it that year.
Who has driven the No. 3 in recent years?
The No. 3 returned for one race in 2022, driven by Jeffrey Earnhardt, who finished second, his career best. Ty Dillon drove it part-time in 2023, with Ferris sponsoring. Austin Dillon drove the car for the BetMGM 300 in 2025 with Boot Barn sponsorship, and returned to it at Texas in April 2026 with Boot Barn again on the car.
How did the No. 21 car develop?
The No. 21 debuted in 2000 with Rockwell Automation as sponsor and Mike Dillon, Childress's son-in-law, driving. Dillon had two top 10s and finished 23rd in points. Six races into 2001 he was injured at Bristol and was out for the rest of the season. Mike Skinner, Jeff Purvis and Robby Gordon all drove the car that year.
In 2002 Jeff Green won twice at Bristol and Charlotte, and Jay Sauter finished fourth at Nashville. In 2003 the team set out to win the Busch owners' championship with PayDay sponsoring. Kevin Harvick drove 15 of the 34 races, and Johnny Sauter drove the rest. Harvick ended up in nineteen races, with three wins, and RCR became the first team to win an owners' title with two drivers.
In 2006 Harvick and Jeff Burton split the car, with the U.S. Coast Guard as sponsor. Burton won at Atlanta, and Harvick won three more races and built a lead of more than 700 points with five races to go. AutoZone sponsored the car in 2007, with Harvick and development driver Timothy Peters, and Peters was later replaced by Tim McCreadie.
In 2008 Bobby Labonte drove 15 races in the car. In May the team shut down because of financial problems, but it returned at the Emerson Radio 250 with Austin Dillon as the new driver. In 2010 John Wes Townley was pulled from the car after a practice crash at Phoenix, and Clint Bowyer, Scott Riggs and Morgan Shepherd drove it. Shepherd ran the rest of the year under Shepherd Racing Ventures, and RCR then shut the 21 team down.
What was the story of Austin Hill in the No. 21?
In 2022 RCR fielded two full-time cars again, with Austin Hill driving the second and taking the No. 21. Hill began the season by winning at Daytona and then at Atlanta. He was eliminated after the Round of 8, and he finished sixth in points and won the 2022 Rookie of the Year honours.
Hill won his second straight season opener at Daytona in 2023, and he won at Las Vegas, Atlanta and Pocono that year. In 2024 he won his third straight Daytona opener, then won at Atlanta and Homestead to make the Championship 4.
In 2025 Hill won at Atlanta, Martinsville and Talladega, and he was suspended for one race after an incident at Indianapolis. He won at Talladega again later in the year. He opened 2026 with another Daytona win and won at the inaugural race at Naval Base Coronado. On 26 August 2026 RCR announced that Chandler Smith would drive the No. 21 full-time in 2027.
What happened with the No. 29 in the 2000s?
The No. 29 first appeared in 2002 with Kevin Harvick, who ran four races with GM Goodwrench sponsorship. Jim Sauter made his last career start at the Milwaukee Mile, and in 2003 Johnny Sauter drove the car at Homestead as a thank you for his work with the No. 21 team.
In 2005 the car ran at Bristol as part of a Reese's promotion, with the two cars painted for chocolate and peanut butter lovers. The entries were switched because qualifying was rained out, so Harvick drove the No. 29 and won the race.
In 2006 Holiday Inn sponsored the car for ten races with Jeff Burton. He finished in the top 10 seven of the ten times the car raced, and he won at Dover in June. In 2007 the car went full-time with Burton and Scott Wimmer, and Burton won five times, including the Homestead finale.
In 2009 Burton, Clint Bowyer and Stephen Leicht shared the car, and Bowyer scored its only two wins. After the season RCR shut the team down when Holiday Inn pulled its sponsorship.
How did the No. 33 and No. 62 perform?
In 2012 the No. 33 car was transferred to RCR to run for the owners' championship. Tony Stewart drove it at the Daytona season opener. Kevin Harvick was the only driver to win in the No. 33 that year, at Richmond and Texas.
In 2013 Harvick and Ty Dillon drove the car mainly, and Harvick won at Atlanta. In 2015 Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Brandon Jones shared the ride, and Menard won at Road America in his native Wisconsin, holding off Ryan Blaney.
Brandon Jones ran full-time in 2016 for Rookie of the Year, with Menards and Nexteer Automotive sponsoring. He finished 10th in points with 13 top 10s. He regressed in 2017, missing the playoffs with three top 10s, and RCR shut the 33 and 62 teams after that season.
Brendan Gaughan drove the No. 62 from 2014 to 2017 with his family's South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa as sponsor. He won at Road America in June 2014, a race he dedicated to his late grandfather Jackie Gaughan, and he won again at Kentucky. He finished eighth in points that season.
How did the No. 33 come back in recent years?
On 20 May 2024 RCR entered the No. 33 for Kyle Busch at Charlotte, and he finished sixth. In 2025 Kasey Kahne made a return to NASCAR in the car at Rockingham. In March 2026 Garrett Mitchell was announced for three races in the No. 33, starting at Rockingham, where he finished 32nd.
