The CARS Tour series saw a major addition to their managerial roster recently after Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, and the others onboarded a new Executive Director. This fresh acquisition came in the form of Kip Childress, who is a third-generation NASCAR official. Having spent fourteen years in the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and several regional series, Childress comes to the CARS Tour with fresh insight and experienced leadership capability.
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Recently, while at Hickory Motor Speedway, Flo Racing caught up with Childress, where he opened up on how he into this role. Childress also spoke about his overall plans for the series, considering his experience with the NASCAR-sanctioned series in the past.
Kip Childress on how Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the others got him to CARS Tour
Childress detailed, “Well, I was approached by Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Burton, and Justin Marks about taking a look at possibly joining the tour. You know, I’ve been working in the racing industry for half my life almost.”
“And so when they came and asked me if I will take a look at this consider being a part of the group. And I’ve had to take a hard look at it and so far, so good. It’s been an exciting journey so far.”
Looking forward to what lies ahead at the @CARSTour and how we can all work together to benefit Late Model racing community. https://t.co/mVJPAgciWB
— Kip Childress (@KipChildress) August 11, 2023
The owners apparently plan to convert the CARS Tour into Southeast’s highest-rated asphalt-based Late Model racing Series and bringing in someone as experienced as Childress might just be the perfect thing.
What plans does Childress have for the CARS Tour?
As the conversation progressed, Childress was asked about transferring his learnings from NASCAR to this racing series. He replied, “Well, you know, I’ve been a part of so many different levels of racing. From the weekly racing arena when I first got started at Caraway Speedway back in the 90s, all the way up to the K&N series.”
“The XFINITY series I worked with the Truck Series a little bit. And then the last five years with the Cup Series. So you know, there’s a whole lot that has been done at each level that we can apply some degree to what we do here at the CARS Tour.”
Dale Jr., Harvick, and others hope that under the guidance of Childress the CARS Tour can grow further, perhaps even slowly becoming the most prominent late-model racing series across the country. There’s still a lot of work to do, but if top talents like Childress joins the project, the sky is no limit as to what they can achieve.
