It’s hard to believe it’s been over 2 months since William Byron and Christopher Bell waited with bated breath after that Martinsville race. The Xfinity 500 was marred by race manipulation tactics, an accidental wall ride, and a lot of fines. One of the drivers involved in this situation was Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress. Dillon was part of the Chevrolet blockade that stopped anyone from passing Byron in the final laps. Covering all this drama on his podcast was Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Childress wasn’t too pleased with what the former had to say.

Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse Racing, and 23XI Racing were among the teams fined $100,000 each, along with each driver. RCR was also docked 50 points and initially indicated they would appeal, however, the appeal was later withdrawn. That large fine to go with a points docking in an already tumultuous season for RCR felt like a death sentence. So when an already agitated Richard Childress heard what Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to say about his team, he made his feelings known the very next week.

Richard Childress was fuming at Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently invited Richard Childress, on the Dale Jr. Download. The owner duo recalled how Childress turned mad at Jr. because of his comments on race manipulation at Martinsville. “Sometimes things happen in the sport, and I don’t get to choose whether I get to talk about it or not. I mean, if it’s going on in the sport, it’s something we have to damn cover. Right?” Dale Jr. said. “And, last year, the Martinsville stuff went down, and I had some comments about that. And, I knew that you probably weren’t real happy with it.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. then recounted the confrontation, which happened right before a landmark night for JR Motorsports.

It was at the Xfinity championship race in Phoenix. Dale Jr. was representing JR Motorsports as co-owner with their driver (and eventual champion), Justin Allgaier, in the race for a championship. It was before the race that Richard Childress crossed Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s path and Junior recalled this incident and said, “I was like, ‘Hey, Richard’. Because I thought we were gonna say, ‘Hey, man. Good luck. Have fun’. And you stopped, and you basically tuned my a–.” He further added, “You were madder than hell. You grabbed me and walked me over away from everybody and said, ‘I don’t appreciate what you said about that Martinsville stuff.’”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had pointed out earlier on the podcast his views on how RCR doesn’t stand a potential chance of winning the argument for their appeal raised against the penalty charged. “We’re getting ready to race for the Xfinity championship, and you saw me, and you were like, I got a bone to pick with you.” Jr. further stated at the Dirty Mo Media. 

However, as per the situation, Dale Jr. wasn’t wrong as the conversation over the team’s radio cited the suspicious dealings between the drivers and across-team. But the impact was high on the owners. Childress said, “I don’t even remember what you said, I don’t even remember what I said. I can remember seeing you and talking to you, but I don’t remember.” The RCR owner admitted was so heated that he didn’t remember what he said to Jr. but opened up about another fine his team had to pay in 2024, which is something he could never forget.

“Those two things and I’ll never get over Richmond. Of all the things that’s ever happened in our career, the Richmond Race, I’ll never get over that one, because I’ve seen it happen so many times. So many times, I’ve seen those things happen, and the same two guys that was involved in it [Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin], the two biggest culprits. But it come down to who had the most power that could get in NASCAR’s ear the hardest… And, it just disappoints me.” Austin Dillon won the Richmond Race in 2024, and for a moment, he was through to the playoffs, until NASCAR brought down the hammer, and for good reason.

Richard Childress Racing had been through hard times in the 2024 season. Despite Austin Dillon winning the Cook Out 400 at the Richmond Raceway, it later turned into a controversial victory as he spun Joey Logano and hooked Denny Hamlin, who were jostling for the lead in the final lap, to win the race himself. NASCAR penalized Austin 25 points, dropping him from the 26th to 31st in the driver standings and revoked his playoff berth. Moreover, the fine charged was the highest in NASCAR’s history; “It’s over a million dollars to us. The largest fine ever in NASCAR. I’m just disappointed, disappointed, disappointed. That’s all I can say.” Said Richard. 

The 2024 season didn’t bring any peace to the RCR, with millions paid in penalties and not many wins to show for it. That wasn’t where it ended, as the race manipulation allegation further suspended their team executive, Keith Rodden, crew chief Justin Alexander, and spotter Brandon Benesch for the last race at the Phoenix. However, there was more; this is just one part of it; another penalty came for the No.8 Kyle Busch under the safety level violation on account of the separation of the tires from the vehicle during the Xfinity 500 race. That resulted in the suspension of crew members Josh Sobecki and Michael Russell for the two NASCAR Cup Series Championship points events, including the Clash at Bowman Gray. 

Indeed, the series of such events was not at all in favor of Richard Childress’s racing team, and it somewhere also questioned the performance of the team overall. With the end of such a heartbreaking season, the bottom line for 2025 will be to avoid any such incidents again.

Richard Childress Racing had a disappointing start to 2025

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After a year of setbacks for the Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch, this season feels very pivotal for his career at RCR. Rowdy will be full of determination to mark a win this season, as he is all set to race his 20th Daytona 500. The last time he was close to winning the Great American Race was racing for JGR #18 in 2019, but Denny Hamlin secured the win that night, and Busch had to settle for the runner-up position. The Daytona 500 is still the one race that Busch hasn’t won in his 200+ wins across all NASCAR series.

The return of Rowdy at the Bowman Gray Clash captivated all the headlines building around his impactful performance at the heat race 1, which qualified him for the main race, finishing in 4th place. However, he had a caution early in the main race as Daniel Suarez’s car bumped into Noah Gragson’s car, made contact with #8, making it spin, and then later took off to the pit road. Though the minor wreck came a bit early in the race, and Busch didn’t get to show much of his performance at the quarter-mile track, finishing 15th.

Well, Busch is not the only hope for Richard Childress Racing, as Austin Dillon looks up to the 2025 season optimistically after the chaotic 2024. In the offseason, the team implemented numerous structural changes. Where Keith Rodden transitioned into the Vice President of competition role, followed by John Klausmeier, who took up the charge as Technical Director of RCR. And Austin got his new crew chief, Richard Boswell. However, the Bowman Gray Clash didn’t work out for Austin because the tussle with his brother, Ty Dillon, resulted in Austin not qualifying for the main event.

Well, the end of 2024 wasn’t bright, and neither has the start of 2025 been for Richard Childress Racing. The team is desperate for a redemption arc after being under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons last year. With Bowman Gray out of the way, RCR can focus on the biggest race of the season coming up in a week. Can Kyle Busch break his duck and secure a win at Daytona? Or will RCR have to settle with a mid-pack finish?