The goal of the PayDay team entering the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series season was to win the Owners Championship for Richard Childress. That goal was achieved, as the team clinched the 2003 Busch Series Owners Championship at North Carolina Speedway. In doing so, the team etched its name in the NASCAR record book, becoming the first team in Busch Series history to win the team title with two drivers. Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter shared duties at the helm of the #21 car this season. There is still one race left in the season, but the PayDay Racing team clinched the OwnersChampionship Saturday by virtue of Harvicks 14th-place finish.
“This was a goal we set at the beginning of the season for our Busch program at RCR, to win the Owners Championship with two different drivers, Childress said. Butch Hylton and the entire PayDay team worked very hard week in and week out to achieve this goal with Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter. The #21 team has been a top performer throughout the year, and are well deserving of this championship. I’m extremely happy for Hershey Foods and the PayDay brand. It’s their first year as a primary sponsor with RCR, so to be able to win the Owners Championship is an incredible accomplishment. We’re really looking forward to celebrating our OwnersChampionship in Homestead next week.”
En route to its championship, the PayDay team garnered three wins, one each at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. The team collected 16 top-five finishes and 23 top-10 finishes.
The PayDay teams success also comes from the crew, led by crew chief Butch Hylton. Hylton began his crew chief career in 1998, but quickly moved to the Winston Cup Series. He was the car chief of Bobby Labontes 2000 Winston Cup Championship team. That expertise no doubt helped him lead the PayDay team to this title. The members of the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series Owners Championship team also include: Chris Chase, Daniel Blizzard, Dan Deeringhoff, Dennis Gammons, Greg Dahl, Jake Lind, Jim Stugart, Karen McNew, Paul Flury, Phil Gould, P.J. Bryant, Ronald Jones, Steve Brown, Stephen Ellis and Will Lind.(Keystone Marketing PR)(11-10-2003)
