Richard Childress

Richard Childress
Born	September 21, 1945 (1945-09-21) Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Awards	1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship car owner 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 NASCAR Busch Series championship car owner 1995 (series' inagural season),2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship truck owner 2011 ARCA Racing Series championship car owner
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
285 races run over 12 years
Best finish	5th - 1975 Winston Cup Series season
First race	1969 Talladega 500 (Talladega)
Last race	1981 Winston Western 500 (Riverside)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 76 0

Richard Childress (born September 21, 1945) is a former NASCAR driver and the current team owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. As a business entrepreneur, Childress became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina. A 2003/2004 business venture was the opening of a vineyard in the Yadkin Valley AVA, an American Viticultural Area located in North Carolina. Childress was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Driving career

Childress' career in NASCAR's top levels started auspiciously as a drivers' strike at Talladega Superspeedway left NASCAR President William France Sr. looking for replacement drivers. Childress was such a driver, and started his first race as a replacement.

By 1971, Childress began racing on the top level as an independent driver, using the number 96. He changed to number 3 in 1976 as a tribute to Junior Johnson's past as a driver. Although he never won as a driver, he proved to be average behind the wheel registering six top-5, seventy-six top-10 finishes, with a career-best of third in 1978.

Ownership of Richard Childress Racing

Main article: Richard Childress Racing

Childress working the pits in 1986

He retired from driving in 1981 after Rod Osterlund sold his NASCAR team to J.D. Stacy, and Osterlund's driver, Dale Earnhardt, did not want to drive for Stacy. Childress, with recommendations from R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, chose to retire and put Earnhardt behind the wheel of his #3 car, complete with Wrangler Jeans sponsorship.

That first alliance lasted for the season. Ricky Rudd was hired in 1982 and drove for two years, giving Childress his first career victory in June 1983 at Riverside. Earnhardt returned for the 1984 season, and together with Childress formed one of the most potent combinations in NASCAR history. They won championships in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994.

In the mid-1990s, Childress began expanding his racing empire, fielding entries in the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series. The team won the 1995 Craftsman Truck Series championship with driver Mike Skinner in the series' first season. He also expanded to a two-car operation in what is now known as the Sprint Cup, with driver Skinner driving the #31. In the first part of the 2000s, he expanded to three cars, with the #30 car driven by Jeff Green.

Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Childress promoted Busch driver Kevin Harvick to drive the renumbered #29. Harvick would win in only his third start, at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With Harvick having won the Busch Series championship in 2001 and 2006, RCR became the first team in NASCAR history to win all three of NASCAR's national championship series. RCR also won the Busch Series owners championships in 2003 with Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter and in 2007 with Scott Wimmer and Jeff Burton.

Most recently, RCR won the 2008 Nationwide Series Championship with Clint Bowyer piloting the #2.

Childress in Davidson County

Richard Childress currently resides in one of the largest mansions in northwestern Davidson County, North Carolina. The Richard Childress Racing Museum is located in nearby Welcome, along with numerous racing maintenance shops. The Childress Vineyards winery is located a few miles south of the museum in Lexington at the US 52/US 64 interchange. Childress remains active in his current county of residence, attending fundrasiers and supporting local candidates for office.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy

On June 4, 2011 Childress was involved in a physical altercation with fellow Camping World Truck Series owner and current Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch. Media reports state that Childress was upset after Busch purposely bumped into one of Childress's trucks on the cool-down lap.

Joey Coulter, driver of Childress's #22 Chevrolet Silverado battled tightly for position with the #18 Toyota Tundra of Kyle Busch. Coulter would eventually hold off Busch, taking the 5th spot in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250. Once the race had concluded, Childress reportedly approached Busch in the garage area, took off his jewelery then proceeded to punch Busch in the face. The fight was broken up and insults were exchanged before Childress put Busch in a headlock and hit him again.

On Monday June 6, NASCAR fined Childress $150,000 and placed him on probation through the end of the year. Kyle Busch was not fined or disciplined. NASCAR President Mike Helton stated that "[Busch] did nothing that would have warranted the actions of Richard Childress."

Current Sprint Cup drivers

• 27 - Paul Menard
• 29 - Kevin Harvick
• 31 - Jeff Burton

Current Nationwide Series drivers

• 2 - Elliot Sadler
• 3 - Austin Dillon
• 33 - Paul Menard
• 33 - Kevin Harvick
• 33 - Tony Stewart
• 33 - Brendan Gaughan

Current Camping World Truck Series driver

• 2 - Tim George, Jr.
• 2 - Brendan Gaughan
• 3 - Ty Dillon (R)
• 22 - Joey Coulter

Current Arca Re/Max Series Driver

• 31 - Tim George Jr

Former Sprint Cup drivers

• 3 - Dale Earnhardt
• 3 - Ricky Rudd
• 07 - Dave Blaney
• 07 - Casey Mears
• 30 - Jeff Green
• 30 - Steve Park
• 31 - Mike Skinner
• 31 - Robby Gordon
• 30 - Johnny Sauter
• 30 - Dave Blaney
• 33 - Clint Bowyer

See also

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
• Childress Vineyards

References

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/7189656/richard-childress-takes-no-3-back-full-time-nationwide

External links

• Richard Childress owner statistics at Racing Reference (owner)
• Richard Childress at Racing Reference (driver)