Richard Childress Reveals His Dangerous Double Life Before NASCAR Glory

Richard Childress recalled his dangerous life during his teenage years before finding success as a team owner in NASCAR.

Richard Childress Reveals His Dangerous Double Life Before NASCAR Glory

Richard Childress (via Getty)

Richard Childress only found success in his life following his entry into NASCAR as a team owner. Before his motorsport career took off, he had a very normal but shady life. Childress recounted his childhood days and how his focus was never on studies. This landed him into unethical methods to make money, one of which left him scarred for life.

In a recent podcast appearance with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard Childress pondered over one incident that changed his life forever. The mega successful RCR team owner was once a clueless teenager, like many others, who did not have a set direction in his life. At a very young age, Childress dropped out of school and found a job at an all-night gas station at around 16 years of age.

Though the job was enough for him as a kid, it could never have helped him achieve success like he has today. Richard Childress recalled that bootleggers who would transport liquor and other goods up and down from Wilkes County would often park their cars at his gas station. This meant that Childress was paid to deliver the liquor cases to illegal drinking houses, which he did with some hesitation.

Following Richard Childress’ liquor delivery, the bootleggers collected money from the retailers, which often went south very quickly. Childress recounted one such incident where he witnessed a murder right in front of him.

He recalled that he heard the gun go off and instinctively ran out of the room. Though it has been more than seven decades since this incident, he still saw images and visions of that one dreaded night in his life.

There was a killing, and I was in the right room. I heard the gun go off, and I ran. So, that’s drink houses back up there on Old Patterson Avenue — the roughest part of town. It was something. I can still see some of that.

Richard Childress said on the Dale Jr. Download.

Richard Childress reveals why he quit NASCAR as a driver

Richard Childress wasn’t the best of the drivers when it came to stock-car racing. Although the RCR owner can lead a team pretty well, his racing skills were subpar compared to his rivals at the time. Childress participated in NASCAR as a driver from 1969 to 1976, going up against the likes of Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and many others.

Austin Dillon and Richard Childress (via Getty)
Austin Dillon and Richard Childress (via Getty)

However, Richard Childress recalled that he was running NASCAR as a business, despite being a driver, and hence found difficulties feeding his family. He was the sole breadwinner for the house, and his on-track results weren’t enough at some point.

Childress noted that he did not want to keep racing among the midfield and not have race wins and ultimately decided it was better to lead a team than to simply race for it.

I was running it as a business. I was feeding my family, and all of us were living off what I could make racing. I could see I could have some top-10 finishes, run pretty good, and every now and then get a top five. I wasn’t happy running in the top 15, and I said, ‘Man, if I don’t do something soon, I’ve got to get out of this car.’

Richard Childress noted

In hindsight, it is probably for the best that Richard Childress quit NASCAR as a driver and joined as a team owner. Despite initial difficulties, RCR is one of the better teams on the grid and has the support of a dominant driver like Kyle Busch. Though the Rowdy is having some difficult years in the sport, he will certainly bounce back well with the support of Childress right behind him.

Read More: Mark Martin Blasts NASCAR Over “Alienating All the Core Fans”