Childress trio hopes New Hampshire 'falls' their way

If ever there was a time when Richard Childress Racing needed fall to come early to New England, it's this weekend.

For some reason, most of RCR's success has come in the fall race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and this year finds two of his three drivers -- Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick -- struggling of late and sitting on the bubble as the 10-race "Race to the Chase" begins Sunday with the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (12:30 p.m. ET, TNT).

Fast facts

What	LENOX Industrial Tools 301
When	Green, 2:16 p.m. ET Sunday
TV	TNT, 12:30 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 1:30 ET

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Those are the same two drivers who won the past two fall races in Loudon.

"We had a lot of success at New Hampshire last season," said Harvick, who fell out of the top 12 last week for the first time since the first race of the season. "We enjoy the racetrack since they put the progressive banking in. You can race side-by-side and pass people and do the things you need to do to get toward the front."

Harvick is 13th in the standings, two points behind Matt Kenseth for the final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Bowyer finished fourth last week at Infineon to snap a run of five consecutive finishes outside the top 10, including four in a row 25th or worse. He enters Sunday's race 10th in points, 34 points ahead of Harvick.

"It certainly is exciting going back there," Bowyer said. "It is where I got my first win; we were very good."

Bowyer won from the pole last fall, leading 222 laps. The win made him an instant -- and a surprising -- contender for the Chase championship, and he finished third behind Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Bowyer is realistic about Sunday's race. He doesn't expect to dominate this time around as he did last September.

"A lot of things have changed; a lot of people have really worked hard and focused on [the new car]," he said. "Last year, you had both cars to work on. I think everybody stepped up their game with this car, so it will be a little bit different. I know that has typically been a good track for us in the past, and I can't wait until I get back there."

Harvick's win was almost as dominant. He led 196 of 300 laps on his way to victory in 2006. Eight weeks later, he dominated another flat track, picking up his second win at Phoenix, leading 252 of 312 laps.

"Our flat-track program has been really good over the past few years," Harvick said. "Richmond, Loudon and Phoenix have been places that have been really good to us."

The third Childress driver, Jeff Burton, has enjoyed the most success at New Hampshire. He holds the track record with four wins, although all came when he was driving for Jack Roush. In 2000, he led all 300 laps in the fall race. Since joining RCR, Burton has four top-10s in seven races.

"I certainly have high hopes going there," said Burton, who turns 41 Sunday. "I'm real comfortable with the racetrack, but at the same time, we haven't won a race there in years, and we haven't had the success that we need to have there."

Unlike his teammates, Burton is solidly in the top 12. He is second, 103 points behind Kyle Busch, and has yet to finish a race outside the top 15. He can afford to take a longer view of the Race to the Chase.

"Obviously as the races get closer to two or three to go before the last 10, we've got a tremendous amount of emphasis put on it," Burton said. "However, we can't forget that they pay the same amount of points for the third race of the year as they do for the 25th race of the year. So all the work that we've done up to this point is what matters and every race by itself matters a great deal.

"At the end of the day, it's an accumulation of all the points you gained in the first 26, so it really doesn't make that race any more important than any other."