It’s been quite a journey for Richard Childress. The North Carolina native gambled it all to live life in the fast lane, being forced to make several hard decisions to pursue a career as a racer. While most know him as the owner of Richard Childress Racing, one of the most successful Cup Series teams in the sport, he was also a former NASCAR driver who competed in the Cup Series and Grand National East Series in the 1970s.

Reflecting on his lackluster racing career, Richard Childress highlighted the underlying reasons behind his retirement in 1981. The decision was a big one and prompted him to fully focus on team ownership and management.

Results helped Richard Childress make a career-defining decision

It all began in his home garage. Richard Childress had a single-minded objective, to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he made that dream a reality in 1969 by competing at the Talladega 500. Despite 16 drivers boycotting the event because of track safety issues, the Winston-Salem native only managed to finish 23rd on his debut. Childress went on to make 285 Cup Series appearances over 12 years, securing 76 top-10 finishes. He also took part in 17 races in the Grand National East Series, getting three top-ten finishes during a two-year-long period.

Looking back at his reason for retirement, Richard Childress candidly said on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, “Why I got out of it was I could see, I was ready to have a business. I was feeding my family, we were living off what I could make racing. I could see, I could have some top-ten finishes, run pretty good and then get a top five. When Warner Hodgdon, Harry Ranier, Osterlund, all these people started coming in with money, RCR just kept going backward. I wasn’t happy running top 15 and I said, ‘Man, if I don’t do something soon, I got to get out of this car.’”

Eventually, Childress retired in 1981 to fully focus on his racing team. The decision was a wise one, as the racer had not achieved much success on the track that motivated him to keep going. Recognizing the potential of Richard Childress Racing, the Winston-Salem native knew that it would be more rewarding to dedicate his time outside the driver’s seat, which is when he began focusing on securing sponsorship deals, hiring talent, and improving the equipment.

The decision proved to be the right one. Richard Childress’ long-term goal of building a championship-caliber team eventually became a reality, fielding drivers such as Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Tyler Reddick, and Kyle Busch over the years. The North Carolina native may not have a single win as a Cup Series driver, but his team has secured over 200 triumphs and 16 championships in over 50 years.

Childress made a big sacrifice to start his motorsports journey

Richard Childress had luck on his side. The North Carolina native got his big break in NASCAR when the sanctioning body’s president William France Sr. was looking for replacement drivers for the Talladega 500 following a drivers’ strike. The 24-year-old jumped at the opportunity and made his debut in the Grand National Series for the first and only time that year. It paved the way for future appearances in the competition with Garn Racing and Faustina Racing during the 1971 season.

Recalling the events that led up to his debut, Childress said on the ‘Coffee With Kyle’ podcast, “Back in the 60s, I worked for Douglas Battery. Never will forget when I went and asked Mr. Douglas, ‘Mr. Douglas, I’ve got a car, I want to go race at Daytona. I need two weeks off.’ He said, ‘Well, if you take that time off, we can’t let you off work, we got too much going on.’ “I said, well, I’m gonna take off’, he says ‘if you do that, you’re out of work’ and so that started my racing career. I didn’t have a job then. I told him you made my decision for me and I just left.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Richard Childress’ determination and long-term vision helped him develop one of the most successful NASCAR teams in history. Signing Dale Earnhardt in 1981 proved to be the turning point for his team, one which altered the trajectory of RCR forever. The team may have fallen off their standards in recent times, particularly in 2024, but they will look to bounce back stronger than ever in the upcoming campaign, with Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon eager to get back to winning ways once again.