Richard Childress Racing is off to a strong start this season. All three of the organization's NASCAR Sprint Cup teams are in championship contention, and one has already been to Victory Lane.

Still, its drivers are trying to continue to build their teams to find out more about NASCAR's new car so they can contend every week. Jeff Burton has a win and the lead in the standings. Kevin Harvick has four top-10 finishes and is fifth in the standings. Clint Bowyer, coming off a second-place finish at Phoenix, has five top-10s and is eighth.

One would think the teams would be pleased with their start, one of the strongest in the organization's history. But they are far from content. They are hungry for more.

Still, the RCR drivers recognize how far this team has come in a few short years. After winning six championships with driver Dale Earnhardt, RCR endured some tough years.

RCR finished ninth in the standings with Harvick in 2001. But after that, the group struggled, with Harvick working with a variety of teammates. He finished fifth in the standings in 2003, the organization's top effort that season. Late the next season, with the team floundering at times, Burton joined the organization and helped guide it toward more of a team approach.

Working well with Harvick, then later with Bowyer (who joined the team full time in 2006), the group moved into the top tier of Cup competition, with all three teams contending for the championship last season.

The drivers credit Burton for a lot of that, but he points to a multitude of improvements within the organization when looking at its recent turnaround.

"He's been a huge help for me," Harvick said. "Before Jeff got there it was myself and Robby Gordon, and I don't even know who the other one was at that particular time. ... We didn't really have that elder statesman, I guess you could say. Not saying that Jeff's old, I'm just saying Jeff's been there and done that.

"Jeff is very smart, he's been around the sport and he knows about particular situations, where you need to say something, don't need to say something. For me, I always wanted to say something about everything and I have an opinion, but sometimes when you watch Jeff, it's better to let things go and approach it in a different way.

"It's a great balance for myself and Jeff and Clint because we cover all aspects of it — with Clint coming in and being green and a rookie the last couple of years, and I'm kind of in the middle, where I have both of them to lean on from the younger generation to the older generation. I'm kind of like the middle child here and have a lot to lean on, so I look at that as an advantage for myself and for Clint. I don't know what we bring for Jeff, but we do lean on him a lot."

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