] although what would be his 11th championship eluded him, all 4 of his teams had wins and made the chase, after he correctly predicted that they would. The team also scored a milestone 200th career victory in 2012. Hendrick's predicts that they will all make the chase again this year.
] QUOTE "I'm still very proud of this team and the effort everyone put in," "It's a special year for us for what we did accomplish even though we weren't able to win the championship."
] #5 Kasey Kahne, FINISHED 4th last season, returns with crew chief Kenny Francis
] slow start to season but turned it around to finish season a career best 4th in points with 2 WINS, 19 top 10s, 4 poles
] KAHNE "As a team, our greatest accomplishment was battling back from a poor start and making the Chase," "I have to thank Kenny for his vision and his preparation of our race cars. He and I and a lot of guys on the 5 team have been a lot of different places in recent years, but we've stuck together and, through hard work, were able to have a great season." I’ve been here a year now, and it’s an unbelievable place, and everyone knows the opportunity Mr. H gives us, so we want to take full advantage of that,“”
] #24 Jeff Gordon, FINISHED 10th last season, returns with crew chief Alan Gustafson
] with 2 WINS, 18 top 10s, 2 poles
] GORDON - “I know we wanted to race again the next week,” said Gordon about the confidence in his team after winning the Homestead finale. “I just never got a good feel for [the Car of Tomorrow]. It was better over the last couple years, but it just never fit me well. This new car – now that’s a race car.” ”
] #48 Jimmie Johnson, FINISHED 3rd last year, returns with crew chief Chad Knaus
] with 5 WINS, 24 top 10s, 4 poles, Johnson was in contention for a 6th championship until the las race at homestead where mechanical problems plagued him. ALSO scored Hendricks 200th career victory,
] JOHNSON - "I feel like through those five years there was some pressure on me that I didn’t know existed until the streak ended,” “Starting the 2011 season, I was aware of that and kind of a clean sheet of paper. Time to start a new streak if I can or turn a page to what’s next.” "
] #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr, FINISHED 12th last year, returns with crew chief Steve Letarte
] with 1 WIN @ Michigan (ending a long drought of 4 years), 20 top 10's, 1 pole - Jr had 1 of his best seasons in a long time ... UNTIL a late season injury(concussion) left him out of the car for 2 races, ultimately ending his chance at any kind of championship run.
] EARNHARDT JR - "I really enjoy being at the track and driving cars," he said. "It's been a good year, but this should be par for the course. It's been a good year, but we want to be a lot better than this. I'm not ready to stop trying to be better." " I can be confident going into next year with the confidence that we’re going to put good cars on the track and enjoy the races,” he said. “I think the first 10 races of the season are the most important as far as making the Chase. It’s about putting down a good foundation. “If you end up eighth or ninth or 10th (after 10 races), that’s kind of where you wind up fighting all year long. That kind of mental battle wears on the teams and drivers that are in those positions. It’s nice to get out there and get out front early and stay there.”
1140, 2013-02-14-ARTICLE-UPDATE-RCR-team-Preview
ARTICLE by Dave @MotorsportsAnalytics, new competition director Dr Eric Warren @ RCR
] ARTICLE - BY David Smith @motorsportsAnalytics - provides a little more insight into the behind the scenes activity at RCR. Sayin that basically RCR is 3 seperate teams under 1 roof with 3 seperate sets of "notes". Previously (2011) their competition director (Scott Miller, now @ MWR) tried to get all 3 teams working together(they all made chase in 2011) and after his departure it appears as if they went back to their old ways(hence the 2012 results). New director is trying to get them back on track.
