Childress takes owners' title, ensures split

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- While the NASCAR Busch Series drivers' championship is far from decided, Richard Childress Racing clinched the owners' championship Saturday with a 14th-place finish by Kevin Harvick.

	Richard Childress

Childress' No. 21 team won the title with Harvick and Johnny Sauter splitting driving duties this season. Harvick won three times and posted 16 top-10 finishes in 17 races, while Sauter chipped in with seven top-10s in 16 races.

Interestingly, the only time Harvick didn't finish in the top 10 was the race in which he clinched it for RCR, Saturday's Target House 200 at North Carolina Speedway.

"It's great to win the championship, but it kinda upsets you when your cars don't run to the caliber they are," Childress said. "I'm still frustrated about that today."

But looking at the bigger picture, Childress isn't that frustrated. Not since 1963 has the drivers' and owners' championship been split in NASCAR.

	Kevin Harvick

"It's pretty exciting," Childress said. "We set that goal, and the reason was no one had done it. To be able to do it in the modern era is pretty special. We like to do things that are different. It complicates NASCAR, like it needs complication."

Part of the complication is how to honor both Childress and the drivers' champion at the Busch Series awards banquet at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, Fla. on Nov. 21. NASCAR has said there will be two "head tables," one for Childress and one for the champion driver.

"I'm going to be very uncomfortable -- very, very uncomfortable -- if they ask me to sit up there with a different driver," Childress said. "I'll say that publicly right now."

NASCAR spokesperson Kate Davis said the "wheels are in motion" within the sanctioning body as to how to honor both champions.

	Johnny Sauter

"The neatest thing is watching NASCAR squirm around," Childress said.

In 1963, Joe Weatherly won the drivers' championship in the Grand National division, while the Wood Brothers won the owners' title. Nine years earlier, it was split again, with Lee Petty getting the drivers' trophy and Herb Thomas winning the owners' championship.

It is believed this is the first time the Busch championships were split.

"I'm sure a lot of emphasis will be put on the drivers' championship, but to us and our sponsors, to win a championship at any level, it says a lot for the team," Childress said. "We're just happy to be here and to have won it."

Teams have tried using two drivers before, but not at the same success level as RCR this season.

"It's a lot of work for the whole team," Childress said. "The seats are different, different things that each driver likes. ... (Crew chief) Butch Hylton and his crew did a great job. With two really good race drivers like Kenny and Johnny made it easy, too because both of them give great feedback."