Richard Childress and Dale Earnhardt - Image Credits - IMAGN Images
Richard Childress and Dale Earnhardt - Image Credits - IMAGN Images
The Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress Racing partnership went beyond the race track. Behind the scenes, the two came together to build something that made a huge impact on the track.
Richard Childress Racing began as a one-man team. He drove for the team, was the head mechanic, and engine builder, and it was here that the engine-making journey began. Eventually, as RCR grew over the years, the team owner began focusing more on building the engines himself with some help from others.
Dale Earnhardt joined the RCR team in 1981, making a switch from Rod Osterlund's team after it was sold. Childress built the engine for the No. 3 driver's car himself.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - AUGUST 15: Car owner Richard Childress sits on pit lane before qualifications for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on August 15, 2021, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway Indiana. Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire AUTO: AUG 15 NASCAR Cup Series - Verizon 200 at the Brickyard Qualifying Icon116210815015200
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - AUGUST 15: Car owner Richard Childress sits on pit lane before qualifications for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on August 15, 2021, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway Indiana. Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire AUTO: AUG 15 NASCAR Cup Series - Verizon 200 at the Brickyard Qualifying Icon116210815015200
While talking about the engine shop in a recent episode of the "SPEED with Harvick and Buxton" podcast, Childress recalled building Dale Sr. his first RCR engine. "I built them (engines) myself. I was the engine builder myself for many years up until 1981, when we put Dale in the car. We hired some guys up from Osterlund, and I had guys helping me, but I always wanted to be able to do our own engines, cars, and chassis."
A few years after The Intimidator's death, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Richard Childress Racing (RCR) partnered to build their own engines in 2007. The company came to be known as ECR (Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines).
It provided engines for multiple teams, including Trackhouse Racing and Kaulig Racing. As for the 2026 season, the team provides engines for Rick Ware Racing through a technical alliance with Chevrolet.
Beyond NASCAR, ECR also built engines for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Prototype Championship in 2014 and 2015. Though Earnhardt unfortunately didn't live to see the establishment of ECR, the brand helps in keeping the legacy of the partnership that began in the 80s.
Richard Childress to get behind the wheel once again
45 years after hanging up his racing gloves to focus on his team, the RCR team owner is all set to get behind the wheel once again. The 80-year-old will be racing during one of Cleetus McFarland's Crown Vic events. McFarland, who signed a part-time development deal with RCR for the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, revealed this in a recent YouTube video.
McFarland highlighted that the idea stemmed from the team CEO’s "high-speed fender bender" incident. "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," said the 31-year-old. "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.'"
The Crown Vic event at Stafford Speedway will take place in July. It will be exciting for the younger fans to see Richard Childress step out of the team owner role and return to the role of a driver for a day.
You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!
Written by
Chionia Libania Colaco
Edited by
Yask Kotak