Earnhardt ready to see famed No. 3 car on track

“There’s definitely a lot of things happening at RCR with the one Cup team going away,” Harvick said. “We’re adding three Nationwide teams and a Truck team so obviously there’s going to be some personnel changes and I think if we had gone out and won a championship you’d say you probably don’t need to do anything.

“But if we sit on our hands and don’t evaluate everybody’s position at this particular point I think we’d be fools. I would anticipate some changes.”

Childress has often swapped teams among his drivers as a way to shake up the organization, and there’s been speculation he’ll give Harvick the team Bowyer had used and crew chief Shane Wilson.

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VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: Joe Gibbs Racing is ending the season with yet another disappointing Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, as neither Kyle Busch nor Denny Hamlin contended for the title.

Hamlin said he wasn’t sure what kind of changes it could lead to at JGR, but once again indicated he’s very comfortable with crew chief Mike Ford.

“I think me and Mike have had a lot of success together,” Hamlin said. “There are not many drivers and crew chiefs that have done better than us throughout our six-year run together. There’s something to be said about that.”

Hamlin has been paired with Ford since his 2006 rookie season, has won 17 races and finished second to Jimmie Johnson in last year’s championship race.

“When I look at our relationship, it’s pretty deep,” Hamlin said. “I feel like, with Mike, he’s helped me win a lot of races. It’s hard to sit there and point out anyone in the garage that I feel like can do a better job than him.”

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QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: “I never thought that I’d say this, but I’m rooting for Tony Stewart,” Kurt Busch on the championship race between Stewart and Carl Edwards.

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