“I was in debt $75000 more”: When Richard Childress disclosed his desperation to put “everything on the line” for Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Richard Childress once recalled a life-changing gamble when he put "everything on the line" to field a NASCAR stock car with the legendary driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. behind the wheel. In an interview with NBC in 2019, Childress mentioned that the Intimitador was already a Cup Series champion before joining RCR, so he couldn't afford to fail himself and the driver, who would win six Cup Series championships with the North Carolina-based outfit.

Incorporated in 1969, RCR is one of the oldest active NASCAR teams, with 16 championships and 200 victories across the Cup, Xfinity, and the Truck Series.

However, the team got its major recognition after collaborating with Dale Sr. The iconic partnership of Senior and Richard Childress clinched six championships and 67 Cup wins.

Senior might've never joined RCR if not for his circumstances. His previous team, Osterlund Racing, was sold to Jim Stacy and rebadged to Jim Stacy Racing. Dale seemingly wasn't Stacy's fan and wanted out.

That's when he discussed his future with Richard Childress. The duo struck a mid-season deal for the final 10 races. Childress expressed that Dale Sr. was champion material and failing him would mean failing it all, so he put everything on the line to field an entry with him.

"I went out and borrowed everything I could back then to make that work in the end. I put everything on the line...I knew we had to run good and here I have a champion who was gonna be a star, he was already but he was coming to really be a star and I knew if I failed at that I'd probably failed it all, so I just put everything on the line," Richard Childress said via Motorsports on NBC (10:45).

Childress then recalled that his gamble increased his debt by $75000 (around $260,000 in today's value) and how he repaid a big chunk of it.

"When 1981 was over, I was in debt $75000 more, that's a lot of money in 1981. But I threw everything in engines and everything I could possibly get. I went over to Mr. Bowman (who) was with Wrangler and he gave me a cheque to pay $50,000 of that. So it took me a while to pay the $25000 but that's how that went down."

Dale Earnhardt and Childress claimed their first Cup Series title together in 1986.

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"He said, I want you to keep running the three": When Richard Childress revealed why he didn't forfeit Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s legendary #3

During the 2000 Daytona weekend, Dale Sr. and Richard Childress chatted about the former's retirement from NACAR. The latter wanted to release the #3 but had no choice but to retain it, as Senior insisted he keep running the number.

Childress retained that number for over a decade waiting for the right heir -either Dale Earnhardt's successor or family member. Since Dale Jr. inked a deal with Hendrick Motorsports, he couldn't field his father's iconic #3 RCR Chevy. Even though Junior piloted the #3 Chevy three times and won two Daytona races, he never fielded it full-time.

Thus, the number resurrected when Richard Childress' grandson Austin Dillon embarked on his rookie Cup Series campaign in 2014. Speaking about why he didn't release the #3, Childress recalled his conversation with Earnhardt Sr. and said (via Autoweek):

“I think this was probably 2000 in Daytona. It was raining, and Dale and I were sitting there talking about his retirement and what he was gonna do. He told me, ‘I want you to keep running this car. I want you to keep running the three, and I want you to be able to win races and win championships.’ There was no option to retire it, so it needed to stay in the family," Childress recalled.

Dillon would score a pole on his debut run in the #3 RCR Chevy and wrapped the season-opener Daytona 500 in ninth place.