Richard Childress has now decided to return to racing as an 80-year-old, making it NASCAR’s most talked-about story of the season. The RCR owner is now set to compete at the Cleetus McFarland Crown Vic event at Stafford Speedway in July, marking his first competitive appearance in decades.

As excitement around the event grows, Austin Dillon has now dropped his comments stating how it would feel to compete alongside his grandfather.

When asked about what the last memory he had of his grandfather racing, this is what he had to say, “Competitively? That would be hard to tell you,” Dillon said. “I really don't know the last time he drove something competitively.”

This move comes against the background of a revelation by McFarland, who said that he had been in touch with several RCR members, all of whom had urged him to invite Childress, believing he still had that racing touch in him.

“The guys at RCR have been beating me up, saying, ‘You’ve got to get Richard in a race. You’ve got to do it, he’ll do it.’ So, I know he still drives aggressively. I hit him up, I said, ‘Hey, if you want to race Stafford, you know, we’ll do it.’ And he just texted me and said, ‘I’m in,'” said McFarland.

However, Dillon was quick to reflect upon a childhood memory he still had. “I remember when I was a little kid, he got in a go-kart and, like, messed with me in a go-kart,” Dillon explained. “We parked our go-karts, and I ran in the back of him. That's the last time I remember it.”

At the end of the interview, when Dillon was asked if he would move children out of the way for a win, he smiled and added, “I'd probably run blocker for him as long as I could,” he said, “and then maybe try and give it to him on the last lap.”

Richard Childress might seem like someone too aged to race at the track, but we would make a mistake by not acknowledging his racing prowess in his early years. Let’s take a look at his abilities.

Richard Childress was more than just Dale Earnhardt’s owner

Long before he decided to build a racing empire with Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress was a gritty NASCAR driver himself. Between the early years of 1969 and 1981, Childress was very competitive as he made 285 Cup Series starts and finished inside the top 10 in season standings five times.

The best year for him came in 1975 when he ended the season fifth in points during Richard Petty’s dominant championship run.

However, this all turned topsy-turvy in 1981 when Childress made the executive decision to step away from driving after 20 races and handed the No. 3 car to reigning champion Dale Earnhardt.

Even though Earnhardt left for Bud Moore, he returned to his friend and ally in 1984, starting one of the biggest legacies in NASCAR history, one that continues to shape the sport even today.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Uday Jakhar

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason