On the rise: Ryan Newman salvaged 2014 for RCR with late run

By Jeff Hammond
Published

All in all, Richard Childress Racing had a pretty decent year this season.

Sure, they didn't win a race, but Ryan Newman in his first year with the organization not only made the Chase for the Sprint Cup but finished second overall in the season-ending points. On top of that, they made a huge splash at the start of the season with their rookie driver, Austin Dillon, winning the pole for the Daytona 500 in the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet that they brought back to the Sprint Cup Series. 

A lot like what I mentioned about the Toyota's on Thursday, I think RCR showed a lot of folks that they were starting to put it all together and their performance increased. Obviously that is some really positive momentum for their teams as they look forward to 2015. 

What we saw from Ryan Newman at Homestead a couple weeks ago is the type of level that RCR needs to be racing at if they want to compete week in and week out with Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing. Those organizations are extremely strong and I know that Richard Childress is making some changes within his company to hopefully get them consistently at that higher level.

Again, Homestead proved they can do it. But now they have to prove they can do it consistently. 

That's the thing I have always admired about Richard Childress. Whenever there is a period when he finds the organization a little behind the others, he's not afraid to make the tough decisions and go outside the box to make improvements.

I also think having a year of experience under his belt will pay dividends for Austin Dillon in 2015. So RCR has a strong driver lineup and I think with a few changes here and there they can ride that season-ending wave of momentum right into 2015.

They almost always have a really strong superspeedway program, so to come out of Homestead on such a high note to end the year and to start 2015 at Daytona has to be pretty exciting for them.

VIDEO: Ryan Newman talks about finishing second at Homestead -- and in the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup