“We’d jump the fence, come in, and do our job”: $250M worth Richard Childress recounts his humble “peanuts and popcorns” beginnings at the Bowman Gray

Richard Childress, owner of the historic NASCAR team Richard Childress Racing, recently reflected on his early days in the sport as a driver. Before becoming a championship-winning team owner, Childress competed in over 300 races across the Cup and Xfinity Series, laying the foundation for his legendary career in NASCAR.

Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has a rich 50-year history, with over 200 wins and 16 championships, including six Cup Series titles with Dale Earnhardt. As the first team to secure championships across NASCAR’s top three divisions, RCR has also won the Daytona 500 three times (1998, 2007, and 2018). In 2025, their lineup features two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and former Truck Series champion Austin Dillon.

In a pre-race interview with FOX Sports ahead of the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, Richard Childress, worth $250M (as per Celebrity Net Worth), arrived with popcorn and peanuts as he reminisced his early days in racing. The RCR owner worked at the Madhouse before ever competing there, before he decided to pursue a career as a professional racer.

"As a kid, we jumped the fence right over here and come in and we just dropped. sell peanuts and popcorn. And then I hang out with all the race drivers back in the day before this was here and we had a heck of a time, you know, down here with the drivers and I said, 'Man, as much fun as they're having, I got to be a racing driver.' That's how I ended up doing it." Richard Childress said

"I came here this evening about an hour by myself. Nobody here with me and just sit there and thought about a lot of the old times and mainly things that happened here." he added

Meanwhile, Richard Childress Racing's #8 driver Kyle Busch was the only RCR driver to compete in the Clash. Busch started the race in P13 of 23 drivers, however, an on-track incident with Noah Gragson pushed him to the back of the field, leading to a P15 finish.

“I don’t feel like I could’ve given any more”: Richard Childress grandson gets candid about his crushing Bowman Gray turnaround

Austin Dillon, who pilots the iconic #3 Chevrolet for his grandfather Richard Childress' team shared his thoughts on not making it as a competitor in the pre-season Clash, unlike his RCR teammate Kyle Busch. Despite his misfortune, Dillon expressed that 'a lot of good' came out from the heat races.

In an interview with Frontstretch, he said:

"It's our first race communicating with my new, uh, crew chief, which was awesome. Um, I love his confidence over the radio, so there was a lot of good from today, and just, you know, being the first one out sucks, but everything else we did, you know, we finished as proudly as we could today," Richard Childress' grandson said.

Meanwhile, the Daytona 500 is scheduled for 16th February at 2:30 PM ET. Catch the race live on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM.