“I left with more money than I’d ever seen”: When Richard Childress reminisced how Bill France’s ‘boycott’ payback built RCR’s ‘first garage’

Richard Childress Racing is a veteran NASCAR organization that houses 16 championships, and over 200 victories, including three Daytona 500 wins and three Brickyard 400 triumphs. In an interview in 2019, Richard Childress opened up on how the seed money used to build RCR's first garage was given by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.

The story dates back to 1969 when the newly built Talladega Superspeedway was about to host its first Cup race. However, tire issues became a massive concern, plaguing the notion of hosting the Cup race on the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

Even though NASCAR's founder himself rode the track to prove optimal safety, the Professional Driver Association (PDA), led by Richard Petty said the race should be postponed. France didn't buy into the backlash and denied the request. As a result, the PDA members boycotted the race.

Richard Childress had recently left his job to pursue NASCAR and accepted France's initial offer to race on a road course, preceding the Talladega race.

"Bill Sr. gave us four five hundred bucks to come and race. That first race on the road course was on Saturday, so we did that and the race was over. But when it was over, we knew the other guys were boycotting Bill France Sr.," Childress said via Motorsports on NBC (4:05).

Despite the PDA driver pulling out, Bill France was hell-bent on hosting the race and lured drivers to race at Talladega by offering lucrative incentives.

"He said, 'Look, I'll pay each one of you so much money,' it might have been another 500 bucks plus what you win. And back then money was hell, you're 500 bucks with real money. So we stayed in the race and ran the race...I won another $1500 (approx)," Childress said (4:55).

The RCR owner then outlined the money he generated in one week which helped him build his first garage.

"I left Talladega that Sunday evening with more money than I'd ever seen in my life, probably 3000, 2500, whatever it was...so I took that money, come back about a little piece of land, built my first garage."

France poured $5 million into the project but the backlash was so severe that the NASCAR founder was forced to pay drivers to run at Talladega.

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Exploring for how long Richard Childress raced in NASCAR

Before becoming a boss, Richard Childress was a driver in NASCAR's Xfinity and Cup Series. Though his NXS career lasted 13 races across two seasons (1969 and 1971), Childress observed a lengthier career in the Premier level.

The North Carolina native began Cup Series racing for his owned outfit in 1972 and piloted a part-time entry for Warren Racing the same year. In 1973, he moved to Garn Racing for three consecutive seasons before marking his final return to RCR.

Childress reunited with his team for the 1976 campaign, registering his penultimate battle in 1981 at the Riverside International Speedway. Childress collected 76 top-10s in the Cup Series and 3 in the Xfinity Series.

Today, the team has two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and Richard Childress' grandson Austin Dillon on the roster. Meanwhile, Austin Hill and Jesse Love race in the Xfinity Series.