Richard Childress Racing will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2019 in a season that will see Daniel Hemric join its Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series lineup.
Hemric will make the move up to the Cup Series to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet. He replaces Ryan Newman and will be teammates with Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet. RCR will also field a third entry for the Daytona 500 with Tyler Reddick, who will compete for the Xfinity Series championship for the team.
“RCR obviously has a family atmosphere to it, but the history of winning is also key,” Dillon said. “They’ve got seven championships and in the 50th year we want to bring more to that. I think everybody at RCR is pumped up this year with the addition of Daniel, we’ve got two young guys that are going to have fire out on the track each and every weekend.”
Dillon, who heads into his sixth full-time season in Cup and as the defending winner of the Daytona 500, will be reunited with crew chief Danny Stockman. The pair won the 2011 Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship and the 2013 Xfinity Series title together and are looking for more in the Cup Series.
“I’m linking back up with a guy that I had a lot of confidence in,” Dillon said. “We won two championships together and we are only missing the third one. Our goal is to go out there and to do what we can to get to Homestead for a chance to win a championship.”
This year will feature a new rules package and Dillon was able to test it, along with 13 other Cup Series drivers, last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“It really reminded me of my truck (series) days, and I always felt like the trucks always raced really well,” Dillon said. “Restarts are going to be really aggressive, and I thought we stayed together pretty good. We’ve still got a lot to learn and still haven’t hit the balance we’d like in a race car, but it showed some pretty good speed.:
Hemric made two Cup starts last season in the No. 8 and is looking forward to having a number that has history behind it. Fellow Kannapolis, N.C. native Dale Earnhardt Jr. last put the No. 8 in Victory Lane in 2006.
“There’s history with a ton of different numbers in all forms of sports,” Hemric said. “I’m honored to be the guy to strap into the No. 8. With that number on the side of the car it’s incredible to know where it’s been, but it’s also cool to know what we have the potential to do with it and make it our own.”
Audio: NASCAR Live 2019 Season Preview
Hemric’s rookie campaign will see him paired up with crew chief Luke Lambert. The two have spent time in simulation in the offseason to prepare for 2019.
“His thought process, being an engineer-style mindset has really opened my eyes to a lot of things,” Hemric said. “In the simulation stuff that we have done together it has allowed us to kind of get on the same page pretty quickly and we all have adjusted well. Now it’s ready to do the real thing.”
The real thing will begin with Hemric’s first start in the Daytona 500.
“It’s crazy to even think that I’ll get to participate in it, especially my first one,” Hemric said. “I have a lot of family and friends and people that have invested emotionally and financially along this journey with me and they’ll be down there to kind of celebrate hopefully the beginning of something that’s long term. It will be an all new experience for me and I look forward to just enjoying the weekend.”
To start the 50th anniversary season, RCR will have special gold paint schemes on the No. 3 and No. 8 Chevrolets for the Daytona 500. In addition, Dillon will drive a gold Bass Pro Shops paint scheme in the Advance Auto Parts Clash that resembles the car Dale Earnhardt drove in the 1998 All-Star Race.
View 2019 Cup Series Paint Schemes
“I remember being in Charlotte for those races and seeing that gold car on the track was like ‘wow’ it just stood out among everything,” Dillon said. “I think it’s great with the 50th logo being gold and starting off at Daytona I think it all ties together really well.”
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