Monday, July 18 'What If' Question

As the saying goes, sometimes less is more.

In NASCAR that also holds true when it comes to the number of cars a team puts out on track. Not just in the sense of how many NASCAR caps them at, being four, but in terms how all of them can succeed under the same banner. For years it has always appeared that the fourth car was the odd man out. In 2009 that was Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports when teammates Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon won races and finished 1-3 in points.

At Roush-Fenway Racing it used to be David Ragan, until his turnaround this season as all four cars are finally performing to standard. In the case of Penske Racing they cut down from three to two teams after Sam Hornish Jr. not only failed to perform but lost sponsorship. Penske has won races with both his drivers this season.

For Richard Childress Racing they might want to go back to having less. Originally a team with four cars, RCR cut down to three for the 2010 season where all three of their drivers qualified for the Chase and two of the three won races. It appeared that RCR was a company that was perfect for three cars and drivers to succeed together. Then the announcement was made that in 2011 they were going to expand back to four cars.

The last time the company had fours they all struggled and speculation ran wild that one driver, Kevin Harvick, might be on his way to another team. Questions now began whether going back to four cars was the right move and so far it has proven not to be. Only one of the RCR drivers, Harvick, has won a race this season. He's always the only one currently in the top 10 in points.

While Bowyer and Menard have had their share of competitive nature, the same can't be said for Jeff Burton. This time around it seems that Burton and the No. 31 Catapillar team are the odd ones out. After 19 races Burton has zeros across the board: no wins, no poles, no top fives and no 10s and he sits 25th in points.

Sometimes, they aren't even close when at the track and it has everyone shaking their head. This past weekend in New Hampshire things were finally looking up for Burton as he ran in the top five for much of the ran. Again though the team came up empty and they finished 16th. Going forward the team will look to carry over their performance from Sunday while trying to improve on their finishes.

But ...

What if Jeff Burton continues to struggle this season, can a case be made that RCR is better suited & should go back to 3 teams? #NASCAR

@ConwellClark They should all go back to 3 teams and stop the big money monopoly and give some not so rich owners a shot

@Lady31RCR I could go on and on..but I am going to stick with Clint has not been resigned, shame bc he is better than Menard!! I do look for a CC change for the #31 team...poss with the #33 team!!

@cruetten absolutely. the 4th car has now twice hexed RCR. but w/ menards $,theyll give it some more time b4 thinking of going back to 3