Did You Notice? … 25 years after burying his best friend, living through the biggest NASCAR tragedy in a generation, Richard Childress has to suffer through it all over again?
Life truly isn’t fair sometimes, is it. Lightning isn’t supposed to strike twice.
But the black clouds hover over Richard Childress Racing, packed with waves of grief as the race shop that once mourned Dale Earnhardt now turns their tears toward another racing legend: Kyle Busch. Between them, those drivers have 139 NASCAR Cup Series wins, nine championships, over 45,000 laps led and a Daytona 500.
Both men should have had plenty of time to rest on their laurels. Instead, those laurels are resting on tombstones that popped up decades before they should.
It’s heartbreaking, unrelenting melancholy multiplied by the millions experiencing it. NASCAR Nation stood in solidarity Sunday night (May 24) to pay their respects, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell leading the way with Kurt, Samantha, Brexton and Lennix Busch alongside as the rest of the garage wrapped around them and wept.
A bit to the side, at the edge of the shot, stood Childress.
One could only imagine the post-traumatic stress he was feeling. Anyone who lived through Earnhardt’s death in 2001 knows the unease that came over the sport, months of malaise that mirrors closely these last few days of Busch grief.
Childress was front and center through it all back then, dealing with the loss of his best friend while trying to keep a championship race team competitive.
Somehow, he did both. Three weeks after Earnhardt’s death, RCR revisited victory lane with Kevin Harvick and somehow ended the year seventh in owner points.
Looking back, it was one of the most Herculean efforts in NASCAR history or in any sport. In the midst of immeasurable sadness, Childress pulled strength and certainty from a conversation he and Earnhardt had taken years earlier. After a scare during a hunting trip, both men agreed that if something happened to either of them, the one left standing would keep on going.
“We looked at each other,” Childress explained, “And [Earnhardt] said, ‘If it ever happens to me, you better race.’ That helped make it a lot easier.”
And so, Childress kept on going. No Cup championships have come since then, but grandson Austin Dillon has won them in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts and Craftsman Truck Series. Forty-nine Cup wins have been added to the trophy case, from drivers like Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman.
None of them quite had the pedigree of Busch, with his record 234 wins in NASCAR’s top three series and two Cup championships. Childress, once an enemy despising Busch’s aggressive behavior, firmly became a friend with his signing for 2023 after Joe Gibbs Racing kicked Busch to the curb.
But Childress has been waiting for that 50th post-Earnhardt Cup win for a while now. Busch, after three 2023 victories at the start of his tenure, had been shut out ever since. At the time of his death, he was suffering through the worst average finish (20.8) since his rookie season of 2005 and hadn’t even registered a top-five result.
There was even no guarantee that Busch, in his final season with RCR, would be re-signing with the team for 2027. But that didn’t make him any less of a leader inside the building. It doesn’t make his death any less meaningful.
Grief doesn’t discriminate.
And it leaves Childress, who turns 81 in September, at a crossroads in the midst of the chaos. His Cup team sits in shambles once again, neither team in strong position to make the playoffs barring some sort of summer renaissance from Dillon. Those two charters appear bookmarked for his family — led by COO and son-in-law Mike Dillon — as his legacy, one Childress remains steadfast in holding onto.
Do the events of last week change all that? Long-term, does Childress want to shoulder the burden of grief counselor and chief rebuilding architect all over again? Like in the wake of Earnhardt’s death, Childress has options in-house for the open Cup seat. Austin Hill is one of them; he’ll run the car a second week in a row with the newly-numbered 33 in deference to Busch’s No. 8.
Hill has his own history of aggressive driving, suspended a race last year for contact that left Aric Almirola intentionally wrecked at Indianapolis. A go-his-own-way type of guy, it’s the same type of unrefined evolution Childress faced when Harvick replaced the hole Earnhardt left in 2001.
The other choice is Jesse Love, the reigning O’Reilly Series champion who’s younger (just 21) with perhaps greater upside. But Love hasn’t run better than 24th in seven Cup starts to date and would now be faced with the pressure of stepping into the shoes of one of the best NASCAR drivers who ever lived.
The problem is neither driver attracts the millions in sponsorship Busch did for the seat. It remains to be seen how many of those backers will stick around, creating weaker financial footing for RCR which, in theory, puts them further behind. It’s an endless cycle they were already fighting within a Chevrolet ecosystem that long ago put their golden eggs in the Hendrick Motorsports basket.
Rebuilding this time around is going to be so much harder.
Which means there’s also option C for Childress: none of the above. Like in 2001, no one would blame him if he chose now as the time to opt out. How much more trauma can one person take? Your 80s are typically the time to enjoy the grandchildren, travel and squeeze the most out of the life you have left.
For if we’ve learned anything these past few days, it’s that we never know when that last day will come. Living life to the fullest and letting people around you know how you feel about them is a lesson from last week we should all start living.
So, if you’re following that mantra, living in the moment and see Richard Childress walking around the garage? Give the poor man a hug.
He needs it while weighing options no one should ever have to face once, let alone twice.
Follow Tom Bowles on X at @NASCARBowles
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 50+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
Childress should get a driver from Reverend Gibbs since he would know how nepotism works.
Time for Dale Jr to explore a partnership with RCR his ties to Hendrick are in the O’Reilly Series
Richard Childress as you state has endured enough
I absolutely love that idea, if Childress is indeed ready to hang up his spurs. Junior as a Cup owner would be a breath of fresh air, though I’d hate to see him leave the booth. Also, it appears RC is grooming Austin Dillon to eventually take over RCR. Who knows, maybe Austin would be a better owner than he is a driver.
I can’t see RCR using Corey Lajoie or Alex Bowman when he has Austin Hill and Jesse Love in his stable already. Both of them have done well in O’Reilly, but it remains to be seen if that translates to the Cup level.
Sponsorship is so different than it was in 2001. I hope (and believe) that they will all stay at least through this season. Another option could be Alex Bowman if Hendrick does decide to make a change. He would really solidify the organization as they rebuild again. If Austin and Ty don’t want to take over for Richard than he could end up selling both the charters and saying goodbye. Wouldn’t blame him one bit but don’t see him ready to leave NASCAR yet…
Bowman is an interesting one. He is not signed yet for 2027. If Hendrick does not want him back, and given the season he has had, would he let him out of his contract early to go to sign with Childress for 2027?
But lets face it, Childress cars are just not that good, so the person coming into this equation will have to deal with that as well as filling the shoes of one of the best to ever do it. That’s a tall order.
If Childress quits NA$CAR where would Austen and Ty find rides?
The carnival or perhaps Six Flags.
regardless who rc puts in the 33….it’s still a completely different car than is current used in the O’Reilly’s series. that’s a huge adjustment. corey lajoie has seat time in this generation car…..maybe give him a shot? i think he’d do the sponsors well too.
if the sponsors that have contracts with childress racing pull back, that’s bad on them. but in the world today it seems like contracts mean very little.
i don’t envy childress…..i can only imagine how he’s feeling right now.
Though I’m not a fan of seniority being a strong criteria in decision making, from the outside looking in, I think Hill has earned the right to try and earn a Cup seat. If Kyle’s sponsors use this to terminate their contracts with RCR, it should be announced from the hilltops they did so, to allow fans to make decisions about what companies to support based upon what would be a crass decision. Rather, the sponsors should stay the course of their agreed upon contracts, and note their loyalty during terrible circumstances.
I don’t see an appreciable difference between Hill’s and Love’s skill, and let’s face it, Love’s championship was a fluke, achieved due to a flawed points system. So give Hill a shot, and if he can’t run to the level of his equipment in Cup, determine whether there’s reason to think Love could do better, or if it would be better to put someone else in the car who can bring sponsorship money to the table. Riley Herbst comes to mind here, as it seems Corey Heim will likely be replacing him at 23XI, and possibly Monster would re-up with Herbst at RCR, or possibly Herbst’s family would sponsor the car with their chain of gas stations.
To be clear, I don’t condone much of Hill’s antics in the lower series. But, this can be said of many drivers early careers. Kevin Harvick, and yes, Kyle Busch come to mind as drivers who had to learn to manage their emotions.
So sponsors can only sponsor cars and not drivers in your opinion? So you are giving RCR millions of dollars and you would be OK with Lake Speed or Buckshot Jones driving the car? Why not go big with Mini Tyrell, as Fox TV says he is the greatest driver ever. Of course he has never won a race but he did move out of his moms house and survive…
Your obsession with Mini Tyrell and Connor Zilisch is frankly quite disturbing.
I think the sponsors should adhere to their agreements, given the tragic circumstances. To do otherwise would be a crass business calculation, which could, and likely would lead to negative consequences.
Oh, and don’t include Lake Speed in your largely incoherent ramblings. The guy won a Cup race, and had 75 top tens, despite generally driving mediocre equipment.
I’ve said it before. Sir, please seek help. Your grip upon reality seems tenuous at best, and your relentless anger is both sad and worrisome.
Hate post as you like from here. I’ve run dry of empathy for your incoherent ramblings and ridiculous straw man arguments, and will not dedicate time to further interactions with you. Just know, there is something amiss within you, and again, I sincerely hope you find relief from whatever internal demons you are battling.