The cheating allegations will not hinder Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton's performance, in fact, it may just light a fire under them.
If you thought that Richard Childress Racing drivers Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton were dangerous before, the recent allegations by SPEED TV reporter Bob Dilner and former disgruntled employee may have just lit additional fire under both championship contenders.
In case you missed it, Dilner reported that the 31 and 29 teams illegally enhanced their performance by laser cutting their rims to release air pressure. The report was deemed as 'false' and 'misleading' by NASCAR's very own Jim Hunter.
But that wasn't the last attempt to drag Richard Childress Racing into the mud.
Anthony Corrente, who was fired from his position as assistant manager for engine research and development for RCR this year, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against his former employer and proceeded to accuse Richard Childress Racing designed engines which defeated NASCAR rules and regulations.
In fact, the lawsuit reads "Inserts were placed in the four outside corners of the cylinder head where the manifold is attached."
This maneuver would allow air to flow between the intake manifold and cylinder head, which would ultimately add power.
Childress denied the allegations, but even he would admit that this was the worst possible time for this to new issue to materialize.
The Childress operation has vastly improved from the previous few years, thanks to hard work and determination, but now their integrity will be in question as a result of these rumors.
Will it have an effect on the performance of Harvick and Burton in these remaining nine races? Sure, but I think it will motivate these drivers even more.
Harvick already drives with profound fortitude, but this may put him over the edge.
Harvick's response to last week's report was simple, "I think based on Chris Long's reports this week and what he said, I think it's pretty obvious that they don't want to believe the truth. They want to keep the reports going on their shows."
Burton's comments regarding these accusations display his fiery side.
"If anyone thinks our success or our lack of success in the next nine races is due to a story that was created about our wheels - and by the way I wish we were smart enough to create such a thing - (that) is someone that believes that NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing have conspired against the rest of the field to create an advantage for RCR," he said. "If you believe that, you're best served leaving the sport. You're best served not being part of it because if our sport doesn't have credibility, if our sport doesn't have respect, if our sport doesn't have the ability to separate fact from fiction then our sport is in major, major trouble."
Yeah, I would say that these guys are fired up.
As for this Corrente guy, this may just be an example of a disgruntled ex-employee. I guess we'll see how it all plays out.
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