NASCAR’s origins are deeply rooted in moonshining, the illegal production and transportation of liquor during the ‘Prohibition’ era and beyond. Many of the sport’s earliest stars, including Junior Johnson, were former moonshiners who used their highly modified cars to outrun law enforcement. Even NASCAR’s founding was shaped by bootleggers who mastered the art of building fast, durable cars for backroad runs. Richard Childress was no stranger to these runs.

Among the many legends linked to this bootlegging past, a shocking new revelation has surfaced from Richard Childress, the multimillionaire NASCAR team owner, who recently confessed to running illegal activities during his youth.

Richard Childress’ bombshell confession

During a recent episode of Dale Jr. Download podcast, Richard Childress openly admitted that he was once involved in delivering illegal liquor to underground drinking houses. In a raw exchange with Dale Earnhardt Jr., the NASCAR Hall of Famer detailed his experiences working with bootleggers as a teenager.

“Well, it’s a long story… but yes.” – Richard Childress replied when asked if he had run moonshine illegally. Childress described how, at 16 or 17 years old, he worked at a service station overnight while moonshiners parked their cars and handed him delivery instructions. His job was to transport cases of liquor to underground drink houses, where people gathered to party all night.

“These Bootleggers would park the car, come in there, give me some addresses—you know, where to go, these drink houses. You deliver this there, you deliver this here, and you deliver there, and I would do that,” Childress explained.

When asked about how came about to leave it forever, he replied: “It was the k——”. The drink houses were located in the roughest parts of town, often sites of violence and crime, which ultimately led Childress to abandon his illegal work. “I was in the right room; I heard the gun go off, and I ran so damn fast,” the veteran team owner revealed.

Though Childress only briefly dabbled in the world of moonshining, his realization through bootlegging places him among the many NASCAR figures who honed their driving skills through illegal activities before finding a legitimate vision in racing.

From bootlegging to building the Childress Racing empire

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Despite his early encounters with illegal activity, Richard Childress pivoted to racing and business, eventually becoming one of the most successful team owners in NASCAR history. His racing career began humbly, he started out as a driver but soon realized his true talent was in building and managing teams rather than racing himself.

Using his earnings from short-track racing, he purchased his first car for $20 and laid the foundation for what would become Richard Childress Racing (RCR). While his driving career never reached elite levels, his decision to step back and focus on team ownership proved to be one of the most pivotal moment in NASCAR history.

His defining moment came in 1981, when he made a monumental decision, he stepped out of the driver’s seat and hired Dale Earnhardt, who would go on to bring RCR to a never seen before kind of dominance. Together, they won 6 Cup Series championships (1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994), making RCR the most dominant team of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

With Earnhardt behind the wheel of the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet, RCR became a powerhouse in stock car racing, rivaling teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. Even after Earnhardt’s tragic passing in 2001, Childress continued to push RCR forward, securing championships with Kevin Harvick in 2001 (Busch Series) and 2006 (Xfinity Series) and staying competitive in the Cup Series.

Today, Richard Childress is worth an estimated $250 million, and his impact on NASCAR is immeasurable. From his humble beginnings in bootlegging to leading one of the sport’s most successful racing teams, he came a long way in living the American dream.

So what do you think, was Childress’ humble beginnings the reason for his dominance today? Let us know in the comments.