No NASCAR race team revolves around one man -- and no matter how much impact a Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush, Richard Childress or Joe Gibbs might have -- neither does an organization.

But a man can make a significant impact, given the proper array of weapons and, most significantly; a group of teammates who've bought into the same goal.

Scott Miller was Jeff Burton's crew chief, before being promoted to RCR competition director.

“

Scott's taken his position and run with it and done a great job -- a phenomenal job. Richard has given him the latitude to do that.

”

-- JEFF BURTON

Richard Childress Racing's in that position in 2010, following a 2009 campaign that was the organization's worst in four years.

RCR failed to put a single car into the Chase for the Sprint Cup -- they were 0-for-4 -- after locking all three of its cars into the playoffs each of the two previous years, and two-of-three in 2006.

The 2010 Sprint Cup season has 16 races to go before "put up or shut up" time -- the Chase -- begins for the seventh time.

And RCR appears to be back on track. Team leader Kevin Harvick, who had the most abysmal 2009 of his three current teammates, has been consistently competitive. Based off a win, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 10 races, he leads the standings.

His teammates, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer, are statistically a little behind where they were a year ago at this time; but like Harvick, they've been running better -- particularly if you listen to Burton's crew chief, Todd Berrier, tell it.

"We've been in position to win five races this year," Berrier said. "And we could have won two or three races last year, at the end of the year."

There was a reason for that.

Richard Childress is an involved owner -- and he's not shy about pulling the trigger. Such was the case last fall when, with five races remaining in the season, he mixed up his personnel roster and moved Burton's crew chief, Scott Miller, to competition director.

In Burton and Berrier's case particularly, but now in 2010 across the board, Miller and the rest of the RCR clan appear to have bought into the package.

Stats can be spun to tell anything, but chew on this one. After 10 races this season -- less than a third of the season -- the three RCR cars have almost half as many total wins, top-five and top-10 finishes as they totaled in all 36 2009 races.

Burton likes the atmosphere, and he credits Miller for a lot of it -- of course, after he acknowledges Childress giving Miller a green light.

"Scott's taken his position and run with it and done a great job -- a phenomenal job," Burton said. "Richard has given him the latitude to do that. That's something that is kind of out of character for Richard because Richard wants to be involved in every single thing."

But give credit to Childress for realizing his expanding responsibilities, which includes a winery, a charitable foundation and monitoring four divisions worth of race teams -- which directly involves his family members in the persons of son-in-law and vice president of competition Mike Dillon and his sons, Childress' grandsons Austin and Ty Dillon -- meant he had to relax his iron grip.

"Richard has given Scott a lot of latitude to go off and do things that have really impacted our company in a positive way," Burton said. "He hasn't had many rookie mistakes in his position. That structure and that foundation have really benefited our company a great deal." (Continued)