Year in Review — RCR supported teams

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 Sprint Cup season brought the ultimate high for JTG Daugherty Racing and struggles for Furniture Row Racing.

Richard Childress Racing provided support to JTG Daugherty, Furniture Row, Tommy Baldwin Racing, Germain Racing and Circle Sport Racing. Beyond The Flag looks back on the 2014 season by the RCR supported teams and a quick look ahead to what they will see in 2015.

JTG Daugherty — 2014 was a first for the team. The first berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and the first time A.J. Allmendinger found Victory Lane in the Sprint Cup series. In their first year working with RCR, the #47 car was more competitive and finished 13th in the points standings. It was the first Top-15 finish for JTG Daugherty and Allmendinger. The team scored two top-five finishes and five top-10 finishes in 2014. The team showed growth this season and working with RCR support, JTG Daugherty could become a Chase fixture with Allmendinger’s road course racing ability. The key to 2015 is how JTG Daugherty and Allmendinger fare on the ovals.

Furniture Row Racing — The 2014 season is one to forget for FRR and its driver Martin Truex Jr. The team had its one highlight when they qualified on the outside of the front row for the Daytona 500. Truex wound up wrecking in the Duels and blew an engine in the Great American Race. The entire season was a struggle for a team that was thought to be on the rise when Kurt Busch made the Chase in 2013. With a new crew chief in Cole Pearn, Truex hopes that 2014 was just a bad dream and Furniture Row will rebound in 2015.

Tommy Baldwin Racing — This is one team that this BTF writer would love to see succeed. Baldwin has done things the right way. He didn’t do the start and park just to make a few bucks. He has run two cars toward the back of the field, but they ran every lap possible. Michael Annett and Reed Sorenson finished 32nd and 33rd respectively in 2014. Don’t expect much more than that in 2015, but it sure would be nice.

Germain Racing — Casey Mears had a respectable 2014. He finished 26th in points. The good news is that he finished higher in points than Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Danica Patrick. The bad news is that he finished one spot behind Tony Stewart who didn’t race three weeks in 2014. Mears had showed flashes of talent when he drove for Ganassi and Hendrick, but expect nothing more than mid-pack performances in 2015.

Circle Sport Racing — Little Joe Falk’s team is basically a fourth team for Childress when sponsorship is available and a back marker team when it isn’t. The #33 saw Childress drivers Brian Scott and Ty Dillon behind the wheel, but it also saw drivers like Timmy Hill, David Stremme and Alex Kennedy behind the wheel, the 33 was in the middle of controversy when 72-year-old Morgan Shepherd was involved in a crash with Joey Logano at New Hampshire. Expect more of the same in 2015 with multiple drivers. Ty Dillon will drive the 33 at Daytona. Circle Sport partners with Mike Hillman Jr. to put the #40 car of Landon Cassill on the track. Cassill finished in the top-15 in the Daytona 500, but finished mid-pack and beyond on tracks that didn’t feature the restrictor plate. Don’t expect anything more from the #40 car.

Next in our year in review series… RoushFenway Racing.