HAMPTON, G.A. (July 7, 2023) – After a weekend of making history on the winding streets of downtown Chicago, NASCAR is getting back to its standard oval track racing. The Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets are heading back to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second time this season, the fourth superspeedway race in 2023.
While last weekend was a weekend of firsts for the NASCAR industry and fans alike, this weekend is just as big for the RCR family. Richard Childress has been named grand marshal for Sunday night’s Cup Series race and will give the command from the cockpit of the No. 29 Chevrolet that Kevin Harvick drove to victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2001.
“To be the grand marshal for Atlanta, one of my favorite racetracks as a driver and a car owner, is an honor,” said Childress. Childress will also lead the field during pace laps on Sunday in the No. 29 Chevrolet.
As one could imagine, after sitting in the Richard Childress Racing Museum for over 20 years, the No. 29 Chevrolet took some attention and hard work to get it racetrack ready. Royce McGee, shop foreman at Richard Childress Racing, is one of many employees who contributed to the restoration process.
“There have been almost 40 RCR shop men and women who have touched this car in some way to make it ready for the race in Atlanta and have it set to make this storybook lap,” said McGee.
McGee says many of the hands who are helping to restore the No. 29 car, are also the ones who had a hand in the No. 29 Kevin Harvick win back in 2001.
“Some of the long-time road guys that are now shop guys are saying, ‘Hey, I remember when we did this,’ or ‘Oh gosh, how do we do this now?’. The motor is completely different, there’s a different exhaust on the car than what we run today. It’s pretty cool. It makes everybody start talking about what we did 20 or 21 years ago.”
Richard Childress Racing’s history and impeccable performance at the 1.54 mile quad-oval runs deep, especially with current Xfinity Series driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet, Austin Hill. Hill has won two of the last three races he ran in the Xfinity Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet, and barely missed clinching the third win with a second-place finish.
Austin Hill and Bennett Transportation and Logistics both consider Atlanta Motor Speedway their home track. Hill is from Winston, Georgia while Bennett Transportation and Logistics is based out of McDonough, Georgia, both a 30-minute drive to and from Atlanta. The relationship between this driver-partner duo runs deep, as the wins in Atlanta are hometown victories for all.
“The expectation is nothing short of winning. Our team has been preparing for this race and we know how to get the job done there. Hopefully, Sheldon Creed and I will be able to work together throughout the entire race and battle it out in the end,” said Hill.
Hill isn’t the only Austin at RCR with a big weekend ahead. Driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet, Austin Dillon, will drive a patriotic scheme to honor over 2,000 U.S. military veterans and active-duty military members on his Dow primary, another key partner with RCR whose history goes back many years.
This season marks the ninth consecutive year that Dow has partnered with RCR to honor the U.S. Military veterans. The program began with just over 350 veteran’s names printed on the paint scheme in 2015. This year marks a record with the amount of names featured.
“Dow’s emphasis on supporting their employee veterans is a shared core value that directly correlates to the patriotism of everyone at RCR and within NASCAR,” said Dillon. “It’s been amazing to see the spiderweb-like growth of the Dow Salutes Veterans program. The names on the car grow each year, as does the impact, and scope this program has on Dow employees worldwide. It means a lot to me, personally, to meet a lot of the veterans who are featured on the car each year and to have a chance to honor our Nation’s true heroes – veterans and active-duty military – for their service and dedication.”
Each Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet will sport a patriotic scheme this weekend. Kyle Busch and his No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen crew are looking for their fourth Cup Series win this season. Busch finished top-ten earlier in the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Another RCR driver looking to bring home a checkered flag, and his first in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, is driver of the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, Sheldon Creed. Creed has one pole win, six top-ten and two top-five’s so far this season. He is on a roll and looking to make his first victory burnout and bring home the checkered flag.
Catch all the action at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend beginning with qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, July 8, at 4 p.m. ET on USA Network, followed by Cup Series qualifying at 5:30 p.m. ET. The Alsco Uniforms 250 race is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday with Sunday’s Cup Series race set to start at 7 p.m. ET, only on USA Network.
