55 years of legacy in NASCAR is no mean feat. Richard Childress established his team in humble proportions in 1969 and currently is one of the few powerhouse teams in the Cup Series. Richard Childress Racing has clinched over 200 race victories, 67 of which came under Dale Earnhardt. However, you cannot guess what Childress did before he embarked on his legendary motorsports career.

NASCAR is a stock car racing series that originated in the heart of North Carolina, where moonshine runners fled from the police. Accordingly, most racers had a rough-and-tumble approach to life – and so did Richard Childress. He did not hesitate to engage in nerve-racking jobs just to put food on the table – as he revealed recently.

Richard Childress confesses about a reckless pursuit

Coming from a grassroots background makes for grand stories. Richard Childress has a treasure trove of such tales to tell, as his childhood was particularly rough. Having lost his father at five years of age, Childress was hustling from a very young age. At school, he cleaned the lunch room and swept the hallways from first grade onwards just to afford free lunches.

He also hawked Cokes and peanuts at his local track, the Bowman Gray Stadium  – where he honed his racing passion by watching Junior Johnson and Curtis Turner. That was just the beginning. Although he debuted in NASCAR in 1969, Childress kept undertaking several profitable ventures.

But what enthralled Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a recent episode of ‘The Dale Jr. Download’ was something thrilling. Richard Childress worked as a stuntman and put forth his reason for this career: “To pay the bills, really – anything I could do…They said, who wants to wreck his car? I raised my hand. Stan Barrett started driving for Hal Needham…Nobody would get around him or draft. I said, come on out, I’ll draft with you. We became friends and then he got to tell me about doing some stunt work. When I had time during the week, I’d take off and go somewhere.” 

Hal Needham, once the highest-paid stuntman, was also a Hollywood director. Striking a friendship with Needham also prompted another escapade. Richard Childress mimicked actor Burt Reynolds once. “Hell, I doubled Burt Reynolds at one time. I put on his wig, his sweatshirt, and wrecked a motorcycle,” he said. Yet what still figures on Childress’ mind as his craziest venture was something else. The lure of the money was all he needed: “Probably the dumbest thing I’ve done is, I slid a motorcycle down in front of a 182 plane that was landing. They said, who’ll do this? Hell, they paid $400-$500 to do it. That was big money back in the day.”

Even Dale Earnhardt was indirectly part of a reckless venture once. Richard Childress solidified his faith in the Intimidator even then.

Cutting some slack for an Earnhardt fan

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Richard Childress and Dale Earnhardt probably made the most iconic duo in NASCAR. They first united in 1981, when Childress was struggling financially. That is why when Earnhardt wrecked the No. 3 car and burned a $75,000 hole in Childress’ pocket, the latter had to wait. At the end of 1983, Childress was ready to rope in Earnhardt again, and the two embarked on a racing adventure hallowed in NASCAR history. They went on to pick up 67 Cup Series race wins, including the 1998 Daytona 500. Earnhardt also secured six Cup Series championships for RCR – which elevated Childress’ racing dream to nowhere as before.

Richard Childress had faith in Earnhardt even before the latter won races for him. That was evident when Childress did a stunt with 18-time NASCAR race winner Neil Bonnett. He recalled the story where the two played a prank on an Earnhardt fan. “Neil Bonnett and I, we were playing policemen…So we pulled this lady over, she had an Earnhardt license on the front of her car, and she had a Camaro…We’re out there, walking around, looking at everything… Neil asked her about the thing in front of her car…He said, Well if you’re an Earnhardt fan, we’re going to let you go for this.”

Feel like listening to Richard Childress’ treasure trove of stories all day long, right? The prestigious team owner’s tale of success is truly something legendary.