“We’ve found the scapegoat”: Fans react as Richard Childress Racing announces major Andy Petree news

Richard Childress Racing competition executive Andy Petree has announced his retirement, effective immediately, after 30 years with the team, and Keith Rodden will take over as the interim competition director. The news has sparked a range of reactions from fans.

During his tenure, Andy Petree started as a crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Sr., and won NASCAR Cup Series championships with him in 1993 and 1994. He later worked as the executive vice president at RCR, helping the team win 26 races and securing the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. Petree was instrumental in the development of the Next Gen Chevrolet as well.

However, the team's performance has dipped to a great extent of late. Despite having a driver like Kyle Busch in their team, Richard Childress' racing team has not been performing well. The three drivers of the team- Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Will Brown currently stand at P17, P32, and P41 in the Cup standings table, respectively.

It has led to some fans speculating that Andy Petree’s abrupt retirement might be connected to the team’s underwhelming performance.

"We've found the scapegoat," one fan said believing that Andy Petree could be retiring because he might have been announced as the culprit for RCR's miserable season.

A few other comments read:

"Retired "immediately"?🤔" said a fan.

"Talk about jumping off the sinking ship captain 🤦🏼‍♂️," commented another fan who blamed Petree for leaving the team during hard times.

"Damn, you know times are tuff when Petree gets retired," said one fan.

"I like Andy but you can’t apply old school knowledge to these next gen cars. It simply doesn’t carry over. Not saying he couldn’t figure it out but like it or not these cars require advanced engineering. I think it’s destroying racing but that’s the game now," said one fan who believed there was a need for new engineers and a team for RCR to be successful again.

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What did Andy Petree and Richard Childress say while making the announcement?

Andy Petree, who first joined RCR as Dale Earnhardt's crew chief in 1993, at the age of 35, played an important role in helping him win his sixth and seventh series championships. After a term running his own race team and a break from RCR, he returned to lead the competition team as executive vice president.

Reflected on his long-standing relationship with Richard Childress Racing, here's what Andy Petree said while announcing his retirement (via NBC Sports):

“I’m incredibly grateful to Richard Childress for the impact he has had on my career, as well as the wonderful memories and on-track success we have enjoyed together. Although my day-to-day involvement with RCR is changing, I will always be a fan and supporter of everyone in Welcome, North Carolina. I wish RCR the best for the rest of this season and beyond.”

Richard Childress spoke highly of Andy Petree as he addressed the latter's departure [via NBC Sports]:

“Andy Petree has been a tremendous supporter of RCR for many years and we wish him success in the future. Our organization won two championships with Andy during his first stint at RCR, and we have made the NASCAR Playoffs and won races with him during his most recent tenure. I am grateful for his contributions to the team, leadership, and friendship over the years."

As Petree steps down, both the cars of Richard Childress Racing’s Cup find themselves outside the playoff positions. However, in the Xfinity Series, RCR drivers Austin Hill and Jesse Love have clinched playoff spots, with the former winning two races and the latter one.