Shake up for #31 RCR crew.

With the 2000 Winston Cup now well into its second half, many teams are moving to settle their plans for the 2001 campaign and talk of various driver/sponsor/chassis and personnel changes are rife in the NASCAR garage.

One team seemingly caught up in the middle of this is the #31 Richard Childress team of Mike Skinner which has been the subject of much speculation after Crew-Chief Larry McReynolds announced that he would be taking up a full-time position as a television analyst next year. McReynolds, many believed, had been the driving force behind the team after Childress swapped him from the Dale Earnhardt squad to Skinner's team in mid-1998, and questions were raised about the future of the 1997 Reybestos Rookie of the Year, in the car.

In the eyes of many, Skinner has under-performed this year after finishing tenth in the points last year. Although he currently sits twelfth in the points standings, Skinner has only one top five finish to his credit and has not been the consistent race winning threat that he was predicted to be. There have been flashes of brilliance and he was desperately unlucky not to score his maiden victory in Atlanta earlier this year but despite a run of eight top ten finishes in the last 13 races he is still more than 200 points shy of a place inside the top ten.

However talk of him moving to another team was quashed last week by team-owner Childress who said, "Mike Skinner is going to be in that (#31) car for two more years....Lowe's are happy, I'm happy. Everybody is happy."

The team have also been dealing with the news that McReynolds will be leaving at the end of the year and have been weighing up their options concerning his replacement, finally announcing that the current assistant Crew-Chief, Royce McGee will take over the role in 2001.

McGee will work alongside McReynolds for the rest of the year which will allow him to gain valuable experience with both the driver and pit-crew. McGee spent a season and a half as Crew-Chief for the Butch Mock/Rick Mast outfit in 1996/1997 before joining RCR where he has remained ever since.

"I don't think I could go out and hand-pick a better choice for my replacement than Royce McGee," said the out-going McReynolds who will join Darrell Waltrip in the FOX studio for the 2001 season. "Royce has helped me and been a big part of my support group for the past two years."

McReynolds has also stressed that the split between him and RCR is completely amicable and that it was a very tough choice to announce that he was leaving right in the middle of the season. "They (FOX) made me a heck of an offer and I had to make up my mind real quick," he added.

McReynolds is recognised as one of the best Crew Chiefs in the Winston Cup and was calling the shots as Dale Earnhardt swept to his emotional Daytona 500 win in 1998. The 41 year old has been a Crew Chief in the Winston Cup since 1985 and has been winning races regularly since 1987. Occasional turns as a pit-lane reporter for American TV have gained rave reviews and many good things are expected from the Waltrip/McReynolds commentary duo in the coming seasons.