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"We don't like to suck," says Menard's new crew chief

Well so far, Richard Childress Racing certainly isn't 'sucking' at Pocono.

Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Action Sports Photography

Danny Stockman, crew chief for Paul Menard
Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Earlier this week, RCR made some personnel changes that included the promotion of Danny Stockman to crew chief for Paul Menard.

So far, the change seems to have paid off with Menard topping the speed charts in the opening practice session of the weekend. They backed it up in qualifying, clocking in as the fastest Chevrolet in third -- His best starting position since Talladega in May, 2014.

"Definitely, a little bit surprised," Stockman said of the practice result. "I knew that we were headed in the right direction. RCR, as a whole, we don’t like to suck.

"We have been really digging hard as a company to not suck. It’s not fun. Your people get beat down and Eric (Warren) and Richard (Childress) and everybody at the shop, we have all the tools to do this right. Well we have got some new stuff that we have been working on as a company and everything it’s never ending. We’ve got to stay ahead of that curve.

Jumping in mid-week

Stockman has been hard at work in his new role, focussed on improving the program from its current position of 23rd in the championship standings.

“Well, definitely not much time to prepare and all that stuff.

"We kind of just had a couple of days at the shop to get ready to come to Pocono. To be quite honest with you, it was more about dealing with the people this week and making sure that the people were pumped up and excited and ready to go compete. It’s important that the people are behind you from the start and it’s important that they are 100 percent ready to go to battle as Eric Warren talks to us about.  We need to take this No. 27 team and get them uplifted, get them really pumped up and we need to make a difference this second half of the season. That is what the last three days has been.

"Obviously, I’m very excited for the opportunity that everybody has given me and everything," he added. "It’s been fun. We are looking forward to making a difference in the performance side of things and we will see how it fairs here.”

Putting people first

In a press conference at the track Friday, Stockman underscored the value of people and preparation.

“You really have to believe in your people first off at the shop. With everybody being on the road so much, you can’t go to the wind tunnel every week. You can’t be at every single pit practice; you can’t do a lot of things that are going on at the shop right now. But, one thing you can do is listen to your people and listen to what they have to tell you in the areas to work in.

"If you believe in your people and you believe in the direction that the company is headed and you do those things with the information they are providing you and you perfect those little things you are going to make speed. You can’t leave one ‘I’ un-dotted and one ‘T’ uncrossed. It has to be all of it from start to finish from your team being prepared from the splitter being bolted on the car right to two tenths of air pressure. Everything has to be perfect at this level to compete with these guys. I feel with the people I have around me I feel that we can do it.”

Brake issues

One recurring issue for the Childress team has been brakes, but RCR has pushed to rectify those problems.

“I think a lot of, as Danny said, you are trying to get every little piece of performance out of it," explained Dr. Warren.

"A lot of things you are trying to work on like rotational weights and things like that. Earlier in the year we were probably pushing the weight of the rotors a little too much honestly. We have been looking, as you always do, at different companies, different technologies, who has the lightest weight, we has the best.  The downforce is less than last year, so the braking requirements at some of these tracks, I think is continuing to surprise some people.

"It really was a combination of trying to push too hard on taking too much weight out of the rotors, but it bit us multiple times actually.”

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