“These Other Countries Don’t Like Us”: Richard Childress on What Makes America Truly Great

Richard Childress is a symbol of the American success story. When the racing bug first bit him, he was just a child selling popcorn at the Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina. But at 78 years of age today, he helms one of the most successful racing franchises in the world. Though it is hard work that catalyzed his journey, Childress owes much to the opportunities that this land gave him and he hasn’t forgotten that.

Talking to Jason Stein of Cars and Culture, Childress underlined how in no other country could someone from his background have reached such heights. He said, “We’re all so fortunate to live in a country like we do known as America. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve seen a communist country. I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that and boy! When you see what we have here… That’s the reason these other countries don’t like us. It is because we have freedom.”

Living the American dream is what inspires many across the globe to work harder and spend that one extra minute perfecting whatever it is that they do. In a case of more hard work than luck, Childress stands tall as one of the best examples for millions to follow. During his Hall of Fame induction, Childress began his speech by saying, “Only in America..”, and continued how it was only in America that a kid who bought an old 1947 Plymouth for $20 could end up on the NASCAR Hall of Fame stage.

Today, over 300 people work for Childress toward his team’s operations in the Cup and Xfinity Series. Though he has already cemented his position in the books of history, he can still be seen at the race track every week working towards what’s next.

The results of the union between Richard Childress’s hard work and America’s opportunities

History is that Childress often worked more than 20 hours a day to fund his racing journey and slept at the race track in the back of his truck. Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR journey began in 1972 and Childress drove for a decade as its sole driver, managing to bring in 6 top-5 finishes and 76 top-10 finishes.

By 1981, Childress realized that he needed to focus more on team ownership than driving and retired himself from the wheel. What followed over the next two decades was the rise of the Dale Earnhardt-Richard Childress combo. It won 6 championships and 67 races between 1984 and 2000.

Though his team’s crown jewel is still the Earnhardt name, Childress was the first team owner to take home championships in all three tiers of NASCAR. He has accumulated 14 championships in NASCAR thus far.