For our PRI Trade Show issue, we revisit with Richard Childress, NASCAR's legendary car owner who celebrates his 41st anniversary in 2010 as a team owner in NASCAR's top division.
As founder and head of Richard Childress Racing (RCR) located in Welcome, North Carolina, Childress has been at the car owner helm fulltime since mid-1981, when he exited the cockpit of his own Winston Cup race car to assume the duties as an official car owner for a young, champion caliber, Dale Earnhardt.
Childress openly shares some of the secrets to his success. As far as attracting and keeping sponsors for his race teams, he stressed the extras that his organization provides to its sponsors. "We do a lot of additional things for our sponsors that many other teams don't do," he said. "That pays extra dividends. If your competitive level is off a little on the track, sometimes it comes down to all those many extra things you do for a sponsor that determines a future longer-term contract with the company in question. But I'll also say that when you run up front like we have in 2010, it's easier to put the deals together."
Childress also cited the most important ingredient to RCR's success. "If you're a golfer, you better have a good caddy. If you are a doctor, you need a good nurse. If you are a race driver, you must have a great race team. So, when you are a race team owner you have to surround yourself with the best people available. That's the key to success in any business you deal in. And also, make sure you treat all the people the way you want to be treated," Childress added.
To read more of this exclusive interview with Richard Childress, please refer to the November 2010 issue of Performance Racing Industry Magazine.
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