Richard Childress Racing makes deal to keep No. 33 car running

When the season began, Richard Childress Racing had just five races scheduled for the No. 33 Cup car—the Daytona 500 with Elliott Sadler and then the next four with Brendan Gaughan.

The car, locked into the first five races thanks to a 13th-place finish in 2011 with Clint Bowyer behind the wheel, has remained in the top 35 in owner points, the cutoff for a guaranteed spot.

Team owner Richard Childress didn’t have enough sponsorship to run Bowyer, but he obviously would like to have the car available if grandson Austin Dillon is ready for Cup in 2013.

So he has made a deal to keep the car running. Last week, Hermie Sadler drove the car at Martinsville with mostly mechanics from Hillman Racing working on the car.

Hillman co-owner Joe Falk, a former Cup owner, is reportedly looking to operate the car. Falk told The (Newport News) Daily Press that Sadler, Dillon and his nephew, C.E. Falk, likely would get starts in the car.

All Childress would say last week is that the car will continue to run with Elliott Sadler behind the wheel at times.

“Elliott may race it—we’re probably going to (race) it the rest of the year, bringing in some different people to run it," Childress said. Sporting News