“My life is full of concerns, but I try not to worry,” Richard Childress once said. Owning a NASCAR team is never easy. Dealing with the pressure of not succeeding at times, especially in the current Next-Gen era, Childress takes it head on. The racer turned team-owner faced plenty of trouble in NASCAR but that never stopped him. Perhaps it was this attitude that became one of the most defining moments in NASCAR history, one that spawned Dale Earnhardt’s racing legend.

While Richard Childress Racing’s racing success is well-known, there was a time when the driver-turned-team owner was told not to pursue the NASCAR dream, and Childress simply ignored it.

Richard Childress reveals disappointing advice from former boss

Back in 1948, when William France first came together with drivers to organize efforts to better facilitate payments made to teams as well as the racers. He understood the importance of a permanent race track for NASCAR to visit every year. First, he commissioned the Daytona International Speedway in 1956, and the track would host its first race in 1959. 10 years later, Richard Childress received his golden opportunity to race in NASCAR.

After the Talladega International Speedway was built in 1969, there was a massive uproar from drivers, who demanded time from Goodyear and Firestone to build tires suitable for the track. They asked for the race to be postponed until suitable tires were made, and began a strike. Facing a shortage of drivers, France Sr looked for alternate driver options, paying them to race as independent drivers, with Richard Childress making the cut. However, it was this offer that earned Richard Childress a terrible warning from his boss.

During ‘Kevin Harvick‘s Happy Hour’, Richard Childress revealed his struggle to choose between racing and his Douglas Battery job. It was a decision that shaped the future of NASCAR. “What it did is Bill Senior [France] paid us some money to come back. Then we got deal money and I left there that day. I had an old 54 Ford truck with a car on the back of it, had a Camaro. And we’d run that and they’d pay you some in cash back then and Mary Brunner would write you a check.  I got back home and I said man, I had never seen this much money in my life. It was like $3000 or $2000. So I bought a piece of land, built a garage, and started working on cars and building wrecked cars and and racing on the weekends. I worked at Douglas Battery, building batteries back in ’69. I told him I wanted to go to Daytona Racing and I never forget, Mr. Douglas said. The biggest mistake you’ll ever make. Here we are today.” 

At the time, the figure France Sr paid (equivalent to roughly $25,000) a hefty amount to get on board. This was the seed money Childress needed to pursue his passion for race cars. Ignoring his former boss’ advice, Richard Childress invested the money into buying land in the heart of NASCAR country, in North Carolina. Off Highway 109 in Davidson County, Childress created his first race shop in his hometown. It was the complete racing center as an independent racer.

He was driving with the #96 in his car, racking up over seventy top 10 finishes over the course of 10 years. With a decade long career that paid him well, Richard Childress proved Mr Douglas wrong. He had a racing deal that paid him and he built a self-sustaining team. He even adopted the #3 in honor of Jimmie Johnson. That was enough for his NASCAR legacy, right? Childress came into the picture when things looked poor for NASCAR and took a chance with the Talladega debut. Except for Childress, a mixture of luck and wit sparked off one of the greatest racing dynasties.

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Although he never won races, his points finishes and several top-five finishes had created a large impact on the NASCAR world. When Dale Earnhardt parted ways with Rod Osterlund, a meeting with Childress took place. In a shock move, Dale Earnhardt jumped in the #3 car of Childress in 1981,

In a brief stint, Earnhardt and the team managed to get two top-five finishes. However, the team-up ended soon after Childress realized he didn’t have the right equipment for a driver of Earnhardt’s calibre. Richard Childress even encouraged Earnhardt to explore other teams. Meanwhile, RCR got Ricky Rudd on board, finding immediate success in the ’82 and ’83 seasons. Rudd got his first win with the team at the Riverside International Raceway in California. It was this kind of team that attracted Earnhardt back to the team in ’86.

Dale Earnahrdt’s return in 1986 was the recipe for success. With 6 championship titles by the end of the 20th century, Richard Childress announced his time as a team owner in incredible fashion. Not only was the team winning titles, but they would do so with such flair, taking 11 out of 27 wins in one season. Unfortunately, the dream partnership that defined an incredible NASCAR era came to an abrupt end in 2001. The Daytona International Speedway that once set up NASCAR for success saw Dale Earnhardt lose his life in an unfortunate accident. The iconic black #3 car’s crash into the outside wall brought heartbreak to Americans. Its impact echoes throughout the sport even today, as NASCAR continues to bring safety incidents to avoid tragedies such as this one.

Richard Childress Racing, on the other hand, carried on. With championships under its belt, it continues to this day, although in very poor shape in recent years. Despite Kyle Busch’s prolific signing, their struggles in the Next-Gen era remain apparent. Their last wins came in 2023, and the current season is a drought that may end with the difficult choice of layoffs. One thing is for sure. Had Richard Childress taken the advice of his former boss and not tried his luck in NASCAR, the sport’s legacy would be completely different.