Richard Childress

About

Richard Reed Childress (born September 21, 1945) is an American former race car driver in NASCAR. Childress is the owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR). In 2004, he opened a vineyard in the Yadkin Valley AVA near Lexington, North Carolina. Childress sat on the board of directors at the National Rifle Association until 2019. Childress has been a co-owner of the Professional Bull Riders’ Carolina Cowboys team since 2022.

Childress’s career in NASCAR started in 1969 when a drivers’ strike at Talladega Superspeedway left NASCAR president Bill France Sr. looking for replacement drivers. By 1971, Childress was racing as an independent driver, using the No. 96. He changed to No. 3 in 1976 as a tribute to Junior Johnson. Although he never won as a driver, he nonetheless proved to be capable and consistent behind the wheel, registering six top-5 finishes, seventy-six top-ten finishes, and five top-ten point finishes, with a career-best ranking of fifth in 1975. He did, however, win the unofficial invitational Metrolina 200 in 1974.

He retired from driving in 1981 after Rod Osterlund sold his NASCAR team to Jim Stacy, and Osterlund…