Arguably, NASCAR is not a place for docile athletes. Throttling at full speed on high-banked racetracks with constant chances of contacts and crashes does demand at least some amount of impetuosity. However, there is a man who is not a driver and yet, is scarier than most of them. That man is none other than Richard Childress.
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Childress believes in the age-old “an eye for an eye” philosophy and lives by that belief whenever he is on the racetrack. And perhaps very few people know that better than Kevin Harvick, who drove for Childress for 13 years before moving to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.
In a recent episode of Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, the veteran racer shed light on the villainous demeanor of his ex-boss.
“People don’t realize how wild and crazy Richard Childress is. He loves to have s*t stirred up,” admitted Harvick. “He’s going to punch you in the mouth. He at the racetrack is as intense a dude as you’re ever gonna meet. He is a guy that is going to ask you to hold his watch so he can punch you in the mouth. It is like that with everything and he expects you to have that fire and enthusiasm about winning or losing. It is an eye for an eye.”
"He is a guy that is going to ask you to hold his watch so he can punch you in the mouth." @KevinHarvick says Richard Childress is INTENSE. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/i4RTY2yl2j
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) March 30, 2024
“If somebody runs you over, he expects you to run him back over ASAP. And he is going to encourage it. He always had your back. And everybody on that team had that same mentality,” he added.
Back when Richard Childress beat up Kyle Busch
Even though it may sound unbelievable to those who don’t know, but even someone as Rowdy as Kyle Busch could get beaten up. Certainly, that sounds unbelievable. But racing fans who have been following the sport for quite some time now know that there was a time when Richard Childress walked up to Busch, and brutally thrashed him. Of course, NASCAR did fine him $150,000, but did he care? Probably not. So what happened that day?
Throwback to a Truck Series race at Kansas in 2011. Childress wasn’t happy with the way Busch raced the then-RCR driver, Joey Coulter, on the cool-down lap right after the race. He immediately confronted Busch, and things escalated quickly, leading to Childress holding Busch in a headlock and punching him several times before the latter fell to the ground.
After knowing all of that, it’s rather funny to realize that today, Busch is the front face of Richard Childress Racing.
