RCR’s
No. 29 and No. 31 Teams to Swap Crew Chiefs/Crews
WELCOME, N.C. (May 29, 2002) — The faces
remain the same but the uniforms they wear and the drivers they
work with will change.
Richard Childress Racing (RCR) crew chief Kevin
Hamlin and many current members of the No. 29 Goodwrench Service
NASCAR Winston Cup team will swap places with fellow RCR crew chief
Gil Martin and many current members of the No. 31 Cingular Wireless
team starting at next weekend’s Pocono 500 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
In essence, Hamlin and his group will become the Cingular Wireless
crew for driver Robby Gordon while Martin and his group will become
the GM Goodwrench Service crew for driver Kevin Harvick.
"We’re making this move to help the
GM Goodwrench Service and Cingular Wireless teams and all of RCR,"
said Richard Childress, President and CEO of Richard Childress Racing
Enterprises, Inc. "The results of our performances this season
have not been up to expectations. Jeff Green and the America Online
team have had the best results so far and are showing a lot of promise
for the second half of the year so we’re not going to change what
they have been building on. But the 29 and 31 teams are down enough
in the points right now that it makes the most sense to make some
changes between the two. Kevin (Hamlin), Gil and all of the guys
in the shop haven’t forgotten how to build and prepare race cars
and Kevin (Harvick) and Robby still know how to win races so it’s
just a matter of getting the right people in the right places. We’ve
made changes like this before and it’s worked out and we’re confident
that it will again."
Through the May 26 Coca-Cola Racing Family 600,
the No 30 America Online team is 23rd in points, the No. 31 Cingular
Wireless team is 29th and the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service team
is 33rd.
Hamlin is actually moving back to where he began
at RCR. He was the No. 31 team’s crew chief during its inaugural
NASCAR Winston Cup season in 1997 until midway through the 1998
season when he swapped places with former RCR crew chief Larry McReynolds.
Hamlin has earned seven NASCAR Winston
Cup victories in 273 races (1994-Present), five with the late Dale
Earnhardt (three in 1999, two in 2000) and two with Harvick (2001).
Martin has earned one NASCAR Winston Cup victory (Nov. 23, 2001,
with Gordon) in 87 races (54 from 1993-97, 33 from 2000-Present).
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